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McCain's Evangelical Endorsers: Catholicism and Islam are Satanic.

Sarah Posner's important new book, God's Profits, takes the most detailed look at the right-wing McCain evangelical advisers, including Rev. Rod Parsely, and Catholic-bashing, apocalyptic pro-Zionist Rev. John Hagee.

As a CQ's PolitiFact.com points out in an analysis of a MoveOn.org alert to members, quoting the email:

"McCain has sought closer ties to the extreme religious right in recent years. The pastor McCain calls his ‘spiritual guide,’ Rod Parsley, believes America’s founding mission is to destroy Islam, which he calls a ‘false religion.’ McCain sought the political support of right-wing preacher John Hagee, who believes Hurricane Katrina was God’s punishment for gay rights and called the Catholic Church ‘the Antichrist’ and a ‘false cult.’ ”

Some of MoveOn’s points are correct. McCain has accepted endorsements from Parsley and Hagee, both evangelical ministers who have said some attention-grabbing things about other religions.

Hagee heads the Cornerstone Church in San Antonio, Texas, with 17,000 members. He has a nationally syndicated television show, a sprawling Web site and numerous books. His dominant issue is the defense of Israel: He founded the advocacy group Christians United for Israel in 2006, and his book Jerusalem Countdown takes grim satisfaction in predicting a nuclear confrontation in the Middle East with the United States and Israel on one side and Iran on the other.

Parsley heads the World Harvest Church and an affiliated Bible college based in Columbus, Ohio. He also hosts a nationally syndicated television show, and his books include Silent No More, a collection of Parsley’s opinions on political and moral issues, and Culturally Incorrect, which urges Christians toward greater civic and political involvement. Parsley also founded a group, the Center for Moral Clarity, to advocate for his concerns on conservative social issues.

In political circles, Parsley may best be known for his role encouraging large conservative voter turnout in Ohio for the 2004 presidential election, in which George W. Bush narrowly beat John Kerry. In 2006, Parsley endorsed Republican Ken Blackwell for Ohio governor, but Democrat Ted Strickland won the race.

The churches of Parsley and Hagee are not affiliated, but the ministers move in the same circles. Their television shows both air on Trinity Broadcasting Network; they’ve shared a book publisher in Strang Communications; and Parsley serves as a regional director for Hagee’s Christians United for Israel.

Parsley and Hagee are part of an evangelical movement that seeks to restore traditional values to American government, said John C. Green, a senior fellow in religion and politics at the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life, a nonpartisan research group that does not take positions in policy debates. Their endorsements could motivate evangelicals who have been important to Republican political success in recent years but have not always embraced McCain.

“John McCain has a real challenge in motivating evangelical Christians to support him in the upcoming campaign,” Green said. “There’s evidence that McCain sought these endorsements, and there’s also evidence that these men were happy to give their endorsements.”

Media Mouse: God's Profits: Faith, Fraud, and the Republican Crusade for Values Voters - Book Reviews - Grand Rapids, Michigan News & Independent Media

Hear Kate Rusby, the Folksinger with England's Most Beautiful Voice.

It's all courtesty of Imeem, a legal music sharing website. Anyone can join www.imeem.com and access on-demand playlists of practically any artist. (If you don't want the hassle of registering, feel free to use my log-in info: artslevine@yahoo.com and password: delta1) After logging in, you click on the Art name in upper-right hand corner to hear a few of my playlists. I have a far more extensive collection of tracks acccessible with the same log-in information at MediaMaster.

For now, enjoy Kate Rusby, and you can go online and find playlists for other artists.

Joan Osborne Sings Her Heart Out

To get a full sense of Joan Osborne's singing power, check out this excerpt from the Motown documentary, Standing in the Shadows of Motown, "What Becomes of the Brokenhearted." She didn't perform the song at Thursday night's Birchmere show, but she still blew the crowd away with the power, range and versatility of her singing. After the first Motown song plays, there are thumbnail images of Joan underneath the main screenshot that can be clicked on to hear further killer vocals from this talented and under-appreciated singer. She has a new album, Breakfast in Bed, that includes this "Brokenhearted" song from the Motown show, soulful cover songs and originals. You can learn more about Joan Osborne at her home page and this Web music aggregator, FoxyTunes Planet that includes her videos, albums, lyrics and bio. Then see the playlists in the next post.

Joan Osborne sings, from a Imeem streaming music playlist. She performed tonight at Birchmere in Alexandria, VA and did a great job. She's far more versatile than just the offbeat folkie singer-songwriter known for "If God were One of Us." Check out her smoldering version of "What Becomes of the Brokenhearted" from the great documentary on the Motown sidemen,Standing in the Shadow of Motown. You can also check out her songs at music blogs via hypemachine or search for full-length tracks via Songza. And check out my borrowed playlist:

Hear the D'Antoni and Levine Show, every Thursday at 5:30 p.m. EST:

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D'Antoni and Levine|2008

Hear more streaming music from my MediaMaster Radio Station: