. . . And John McCain's Flea Problem

In light of the controversy swirling around the endorsement of John McCain by career bigot Pastor John Hagee, Professor Bainbridge reminds us that there's an old saying that if you lay down with dogs you get up with fleas, while Glenn Greenwald notes that you shouldn't judge a candidate by the people who endorse them.

Both true. But while Barack Obama has repudiated Louis Farrakhan, to give an oft-cited example of an endorsement not wanted, McCain has gone out of his way to embrace hate-mongering Hagee, who is best known for his virulent anti-Catholicism but also has a special way with words, albeit a digusting one.

Some examples of Hagee-isms:

"Most readers will be shocked by the clear record of history linking Adolf Hitler and the Roman Catholic Church in a conspiracy to exterminate the Jews."

Hurricane Katrina was punishment from God because "New Orleans had a level of sin that was offensive to God and they were recipients of the judgment of God for that."

"All Muslims have a mandate to kill Christians and Jews."

"Do you know the difference between a woman with PMS and a snarling Doberman pinscher? The answer is lipstick. Do you know the difference between a terrorist and a woman with PMS? You can negotiate with a terrorist."

McCain said this week that he was very proud of Hagee’s spiritual leadership but was not endorsing some of his positions, which would be akin to Obama saying that he was very proud of Farrakhan's community and charitable work but was not endorsing some of his positions.

Obama, of course, has done no such thing, but the outcry from the right and efforts to try to tie him to Islam has been unending.

McCain wants to have it both ways with Hagee. He can’t.