Lieberman speaks to controversial pastor's group

By Andrew Miga
Associated Press Writer / July 23, 2008

WASHINGTON—Sen. Joe Lieberman delivered a message of unity Tuesday night to a conference hosted by the controversial pastor John Hagee.

"We live in a world where Americans have real enemies; we do not need to make enemies of each other," Lieberman said. "There are terrorists out there who really do want to destroy our civilization and murder millions of Americans ... This is a moment in our history when Americans must stand united against our common foes, or we will, God forbid, divide and fall."

The independent Connecticut senator spoke at Hagee's "Christians United for Israel" summit in Washington.

Lieberman's appearance has sparked criticism, particularly among some liberal advocacy groups who have urged him to sever his ties to the Texas evangelical preacher.

Lieberman supports presumed Republican presidential nominee John McCain, who rejected Hagee's endorsement in May citing the pastor's claim that God sent Adolf Hitler to help Jews reach the promised land. McCain at the time called the comment "crazy and unacceptable."

Lieberman, an orthodox Jew, tackled the controversy head-on Tuesday.

"As you may know there has been an organized and pretty aggressive campaign to convince me to cancel my speech this evening, following the political controversy that broke out over Pastor Hagee and some of the comments that were attributed to him," Lieberman said.

"But the bond I feel with John Hagee and each of you ... is much stronger than that and so I am proud to stand with you tonight."

Hagee has referred to the Roman Catholic Church as "the great whore" and called it a "false cult system." He has linked Hitler to the Catholic Church, suggesting it helped shape Hitler's anti-Semitism. Hagee apologized to Catholics earlier this year.

Hagee, who leads a megachurch with a congregation in the tens of thousands and has an even wider television audience, has also said Hurricane Katrina was God's retribution for homosexual sin.

Lieberman said although Hagee has made some comments that were hurtful and offensive, he prefers to judge people by a broader yardstick.

"No, I don't agree with everything that Pastor Hagee has ever said," Lieberman said. "I know, and he knows, that some of the things attributed to him were hurtful and offensive to people."

Lieberman urged people to look beyond Hagee's comments. He praised Hagee for devoting much of his life to fighting anti-Semitism and improving relations between Christians and Jews.

"I know about his hard work on behalf of many noble humanitarian causes," Lieberman said.

Lieberman was the first Jewish vice presidential nominee in 2000 as Al Gore's running mate. His campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2004 failed.

Lieberman has been one of McCain's strongest backers during the 2008 race. He also has been mentioned as a possible running mate.

Yeah, like that gang of apocalyptos Joe hangs out with who are so tired of their gray little lives they're pants-antsy to put a torch to Israel and get Armageddon going. Like, tomorrow. Before lunch.

Okay Joe, either you're humoring them for your own ends, or you actually believe you'll face a convert-or-die choice to be one of the 144,000 Jews who won't get smoked. Either way, you're a greasy little sewer dweller.