31 May 2008
The collapse of John McCain's relationship with Christian Right leader John Hagee made for minor news in the mainstream media. Was this because the press doesn't think the Christian Right matters anymore? Or because they recognized that in their frenzy over Jeremiah Wright, they'd overlooked a genuine bigot strutting the national stage arm-in-arm with Straight Talk McCain? Or was it because McCain's reputation for straight talk comes with a wink? (Everybody in the media knew Maverick McCain was making nice with Hagee, an "agent of intolerance" so extreme that in comparison the late Jerry Falwell was as cuddly as Tinky Winky, out of political calculation.) Hard to say. But the fact remains that the man who drove Hagee out of presidential politics wasn't an investigative reporter for a major daily or a TV anchor, but blogger Bruce Wilson (disclosure: a friend of this blog), working with a budget of zero. Wilson tells a tale -- and provides a how-to for citizen journalism -- at Religion Dispatches.