The Rev. John Hagee to Speak at Rally for Israel

The Rev. John Hagee, founder and national chairman of Christians United for Israel, will speak at "A Night to Honor Israel" at 6 p.m. Sunday at Without Walls Central Church in Lakeland. He will be joined by Ofer Bavly, Israeli Consul General in Miami.

Members of a Lakeland synagogue will participate as well. Cantor Victor Geigner of Temple Emanuel will sing the Israeli national anthem near the beginning of the service and a member of the temple will blow the ceremonial shofar, or ram's horn, Geigner said.

The rally is intended to demonstrate solidarity between Christians and Jews, said the Rev. Scott Thomas, pastor of Without Walls Central. It is the third such event hosted by the church.

"We want to let the Jewish community know we are standing with them and praying for them. ... The Bible tells us as Christians to stand for and with Israel. It's a scriptural mandate," he said. "Christianity could never stand without Judaism. The founding fathers of the Christian faith were the founding fathers of the Jewish faith."

Hagee is pastor of Cornerstone Church in San Antonio, a large Pentecostal congregation. In books and sermons, Hagee has stated that Israel is at the center of a scenario that will include the end of the world and the return of Jesus Christ to Earth, a theology known as "Christian Zionism." He has expressed unequivocal support for the policies of conservative Israeli political parties in Israel's land disputes with the government of the Palestinian Authority, and his organization also lobbies the U.S. government on behalf of Israel.

Last year, Hagee was forced to withdraw his endorsement of Republican presidential candidate John McCain because of previously published comments that charged the Catholic Church conspired with Adolf Hitler "to exterminate the Jews." Hagee subsequently issued an apology.

My response:

Humph...

Palin's 'going rogue,' McCain aide says

Well, looky, looky...

With 10 days until Election Day, long-brewing tensions between GOP vice presidential candidate Gov. Sarah Palin and key aides to Sen. John McCain have become so intense, they are spilling out in public, sources say.

Several McCain advisers have suggested to CNN that they have become increasingly frustrated with what one aide described as Palin "going rogue."

A Palin associate, however, said the candidate is simply trying to "bust free" of what she believes was a damaging and mismanaged roll-out.

McCain sources say Palin has gone off-message several times, and they privately wonder whether the incidents were deliberate. They cited an instance in which she labeled robocalls -- recorded messages often used to attack a candidate's opponent -- "irritating" even as the campaign defended their use. Also, they pointed to her telling reporters she disagreed with the campaign's decision to pull out of Michigan.

A second McCain source says she appears to be looking out for herself more than the McCain campaign.

"She is a diva. She takes no advice from anyone," said this McCain adviser. "She does not have any relationships of trust with any of us, her family or anyone else.

"Also, she is playing for her own future and sees herself as the next leader of the party. Remember: Divas trust only unto themselves, as they see themselves as the beginning and end of all wisdom."

Um huh...who's the Maverick now?

The Heffa Lied...

Republican campaign worker who told police she was assaulted by a man angered by a John McCain sticker on her car admitted she made up the report, the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, assistant police chief said Friday.

Ashley Todd, 20, of College Station, Texas, has been charged with filing a false police report, a misdemeanor, and may face more charges, said Pittsburgh police spokeswoman Diane Richard at a news conference.

Todd is incarcerated at the Allegheny County Jail but had not been arraigned Friday night.

Todd was a volunteer for a John McCain phone bank in Pittsburgh, the campaign said.

"This has wasted so much time. ... It's just a lot of wasted man hours," Assistant Police Chief Maurita Bryant said at the same briefing.

The woman told investigators a man approached her Wednesday night at an ATM in Pittsburgh's East End, put a blade to her neck and demanded money, Richard said.

Police said they found "several inconsistencies" in Todd's statement and she was not seen in surveillance videos taken at the ATM. She was asked to take a polygraph test Friday morning, Richard said. The results were not made public.

Later, Todd came to the police station to help work on a composite sketch of the alleged attacker. When she arrived, Todd "told them she just wanted to tell the truth" -- that she was not robbed, and there was no attacker, Bryant said.

Todd originally told police a man "punched her in the back of the head, knocking her to the ground, and he continued to punch and kick her while threatening to teach her a lesson for being a McCain supporter," according to a police statement.

The woman also told police her attacker "called her a lot of names and stated that 'You are going to be a Barack supporter,' at which time she states he sat on her chest, pinning both her hands down with his knees, and scratched into her face a backward letter 'B' on the right side of her face using what she believed to be a very dull knife."

Bryant described Todd as "very cordial, polite, cooperating," and said the woman was surprised by all the media attention. Asked whether the false report was politically motivated, Bryant replied, "It's difficult to say."

"She is stating that she was in her vehicle driving around, and she came up with this idea," she said. "She said she has prior mental problems and doesn't know how the backward letter 'B' got on her face."

However, Todd was the only one in the vehicle, and "when she saw the 'B' she thought she must have been the one who did it," Bryant said.

"We're talking with the district attorney's office and conferring on just how we're going to handle it," she said. "It's been different stories through the night and this morning."

She said there was no indication that anyone else was involved.

Richard said the woman had described her alleged attacker as an African-American, 6 feet 4 inches tall with a medium build and short dark hair, wearing dark clothing and shiny shoes.

Before the revelation that the report was false, McCain spokeswoman Jill Hazelbaker said that McCain and running mate Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin "spoke to the victim and her family after learning about the incident."

The Obama campaign also had issued a statement wishing the woman a "speedy recovery."

McCain Slams Rep. King’s Obama Comments

John McCain’s presidential campaign has condemned remarks by Rep. Steve King, who claimed that terrorists will be “dancing in the streets” if Democrat Barack Obama is elected president.

"The senator rejects the type of politics that degrades our civics, and this campaign will be about the future of our country," said Jill Hazelbaker, spokeswoman for the presumptive Republican nominee.

"McCain could not be clearer on how he views these types of comments, and obviously that view extends to Congressman King's statement."

My response:

I'm glad that McCain rejected those idiotic comments. It makes me feel better about possibly voting for him in the upcoming election if the Democrats do something stupid.

Read the rest here.