Rev. Caldwell: Thou shalt not joke

The pastor who officiated at Jenna Bush's wedding is horrified that John McCain made a joke:

"Well, I don't know a lot about John McCain's family history, I do know, however, that as recently as last week I think it was, the Senator made a comment in South Dakota regarding his wife entering some Buffalo Chips contest which is this topless deal and if she were to enter she would probably win it and my personal opinion and based on my understanding of the Christian faith, that's not not, N-O-T, not the type of expression that a presidential candidate, or anyone for that matter who is a follower of the Christian faith, ought to make," said the Rev. Kirbyjon Caldwell. "I don't know if that is a perfect case in point, but it surely does help to juxtapose the DNA of Senator Obama, if you would, versus the DNA of Senator McCain."

What part of "lighten up" doesn't he understand? Here's the obvious joke at the Sturgis rally:



ABC is engaged in Obama propaganda here, because while the pastor is introduced in the lede as having officiated at Jenna's wedding, it's not until the fourth paragraph that we are told:

Caldwell, a close personal friend of President Bush who supports Obama for president, is the senior pastor at Windsor Village United Methodist Church in Houston, Texas. Caldwell made his comments on a conference call with reporters sponsored by the Matthew 25 Network, a liberal Christian Group. Matthew 25 is planning to air a pro-Obama ad on Saturday during the Rick Warren forum with Obama and McCain.

So, a pro-Obama pastor is engaged in pro-Obama politics. Not surprising. The story, as written, is misleading.

This really kind of frosts me. Republicans suffer from the image of being uptight, stuffy prudes. But when a Republican makes a little joke -- My wife could win Miss Buffalo Chips, harharhar -- suddenly liberals cry foul. What next from ABC News?

Republican Jokes
About Homeless,
Transgendered,
Scandinavians

By Jake Tapper

GOP and McCain campaign officials yesterday denounced a right-wing Internet site that advocates violence against the homeless and Scandinavians.
"We absolutely abhor these ideas," McCain campaign manager Rick Davis said in a statement. "Senator McCain has many friends in the Scando-American community, and several of his former top campaign staffers are currently living
under bridges in cardboard boxes, so the Senator deeply appreciates the plight of the homeless.
The controversy ensued after complaints about an Internet blog site known as Ace of Spades HQ, whose Republican proprietor has repeatedly made comments about "beating up hobos," having sex with "Latino trannies," and has used terms like "lutefisk gobblers" to demean Scandinavians.
"We consider the term 'hobo' to be profoundly offensive to the homeless-American community," said Maureen O'Shaunessy, spokesperson for the National Alliance for Housing. "This kind of language constitutes an assault on the dignity of the millions of innocent people who suffer this plight as the result of the housing crisis."
Attempts to contact the pseudonymous proprietor of the Ace of Spades site were unsuccessful . . .

Continued on Page 213

UPDATE: Rev. Caldwell appears in this ad by the Religious Left group Matthew 25:

Allahpundit sees "a thinly veiled attack on McCain," but I don't see how that works, given that Maverick's been married to his current wife for longer than Barack has been married to his wife. To raise the issue of McCain's 1980 divorce is to suggest that whatever Obama was doing in 1980 -- keggers in college? -- is also fair game. I think Team Obama ought to heed the advice of the unnamed Republican strategist quoted by ABC: "My advice to the Obama people: 'proceed with extreme caution.' They don't want to get into a discussion of character and background."