McCain Embraces Intolerance

From today's Paul Krugman column in the New York Times:

During the 2000 campaign, Mr. McCain denounced Mr. Falwell and the Rev. Pat Robertson as ''agents of intolerance.''
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On ''Meet the Press'' yesterday, Mr. McCain was asked to explain his apparent flip-flop. ''I believe,'' he replied, ''that the Christian right has a major role to play in the Republican Party. One reason is because they're so active and their followers are. And I believe they have a right to be a part of our party.''

You might recall that Jerry Falwell's contribution to our 'national healing' after the traumatic events of 9/11, included the now classic quote: ''I really believe that the pagans, and the abortionists, and the feminists, and the gays and the lesbians who are actively trying to make that an alternative lifestyle, the A.C.L.U., People for the American Way -- all of them who have tried to secularize America -- I point the finger in their face and say, 'You helped this happen.' ''

Falwell also referred to the prophet Muhammad as a terrorist on 60 Minutes.

After each of these incidents, by the way, Mr. Falwell issued what were described as ''apologies.'' But they weren't apologies -- they were statements along the lines of, ''I'm sorry that some people were upset by what I said.'' It's clear that in each case Mr. Falwell's offensive remarks were not a slip of the tongue; they reflected his deeply held beliefs.
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[W]hen Mr. McCain said that the Christian right had a right to be part of the Republican Party, he was in effect saying that Mr. Falwell's statements were within the realm of acceptable political discourse.

Just to be clear: this is a free country, and Mr. Falwell has a right to say what he thinks, even if his views include the belief that other people, by saying what they think, brought down God's wrath on America. By the same token, any political party has a right to include Mr. Falwell and his supporters, just as any politician has a right to make a political alliance with Mr. Falwell.

But if you choose to make common cause with religious extremists, you are accepting some responsibility for their extremism. By welcoming Mr. Falwell and people like him as members of their party, Republicans are saying that it's O.K. -- not necessarily correct, but O.K. -- to declare that 9/11 was America's punishment for its tolerance of abortion and homosexuality, that Islam is a terrorist religion, and that Jews can't go to heaven. And voters should judge the Republican Party accordingly.

As for Mr. McCain: his denunciation of Mr. Falwell and Mr. Robertson six years ago helped give him a reputation as a moderate on social issues. Now that he has made up with Mr. Falwell and endorsed South Dakota's ban on abortion even in the case of rape or incest, only two conclusions are possible: either he isn't a social moderate after all, or he's a cynical political opportunist.