ARKANSAS News:

Dennis Hastert - Money - Accounting - Oil - Iraq - Military - US - Ill - Ark - Va - "Republicans See Storm Clouds Gathering: Week of Bad News Highlights Difficult Challenges for GOP in Fall Elections." ... "It started with the loss last weekend of the seat held for two decades by [Illinois Republican Representative and] former House speaker J. Dennis Hastert (R-Ill. [Republican-Illinois]). It got worse when Republicans lost potentially strong challengers to Democratic senators in South Dakota and New Jersey, and failed to field anyone to oppose the reelection bid of [Arkansas Democratic Senator] Sen. Mark Pryor (D-Ark. [Democratic-Arkansas])." ... "The latest blow came with the revelation that the former treasurer of the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) had allegedly diverted hundreds of thousands of dollars -- and possibly as much as $1 million -- from the organization's depleted coffers to his own bank accounts." ... ""It's no mystery," said [Virginia Republican Representative] Rep. Thomas M. Davis III (R-Va. [Republican-Virginia]). "You have a very unhappy electorate, which is no surprise, with oil at $108 a barrel, stocks down a few thousand points, a war in Iraq with no end in sight and a president who is still very, very unpopular. He's just killed the Republican brand."" (1, 2) -By Jonathan Weisman with contributions by Paul Kane -WashingtonPost

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John McCain - Rod Parsley - Terrorism- Language - Military - Religious - Politician - Arizona - Ohio - Arkansas - Huckabee - 2008 Election - "McCain's Spiritual Guide: Destroy Islam." ... "[2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate and Arizona] Senator John McCain hailed as a spiritual adviser an Ohio megachurch pastor who has called upon Christians to wage a "war" against the "false religion" of Islam with the aim of destroying it." ... "On February 26, McCain appeared at a campaign rally in Cincinnati [Ohio] with the Reverend Rod Parsley of the World Harvest Church of Columbus [Ohio], a supersize Pentecostal institution that features a 5,200-seat sanctuary, a television studio (where Parsley tapes a weekly show), and a 122,000-square-foot Ministry Activity Center. That day, a week before the Ohio primary, Parsley praised the Republican presidential front-runner as a "strong, true, consistent conservative." The endorsement was important for McCain, who at the time was trying to put an end to the lingering challenge from [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate] former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee, a favorite among Christian evangelicals. A politically influential figure in Ohio, Parsley could also play a key role in McCain's effort to win this bellwether state in the general election. McCain, with Parsley by his side at the Cincinnati rally, called the evangelical minister a "spiritual guide."" ... "In a chapter titled "Islam: The Deception of Allah," Parsley warns there is a "war between Islam and Christian civilization." He continues:"

    "I cannot tell you how important it is that we understand the true nature of Islam, that we see it for what it really is. In fact, I will tell you this: I do not believe our country can truly fulfill its divine purpose until we understand our historical conflict with Islam. I know that this statement sounds extreme, but I do not shrink from its implications. The fact is that America was founded, in part, with the intention of seeing this false religion destroyed, and I believe September 11, 2001, was a generational call to arms that we can no longer ignore."

    "There are some, of course, who will say that the violence I cite is the exception and not the rule. I beg to differ. I will counter, respectfully, that what some call "extremists" are instead mainstream believers who are drawing from the well at the very heart of Islam."

Barack Obama - Tim Russert - John McCain - John Hagee - Religious - Homosexual - Woman - Racist - Book - History - Media - Politics -  - 2008 Election - Illinois - Arizona - Arkansas - Texas - US - Israel - Germany - "Will MSNBC devote as much coverage to McCain's embrace of Hagee's support as it did to Obama's rejection of Farrakhan?" ... "Summary: On February 27, MSNBC devoted significant coverage to an exchange from the most recent Democratic presidential debate in which NBC Washington bureau chief Tim Russert repeatedly questioned [2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate and Illinois Senator] Sen. Barack Obama about praise he received from controversial minister Louis Farrakhan, whose statements Obama has denounced. The same day, Pastor John Hagee -- who has made controversial comments about homosexuality, Islam, Catholicism, and women -- endorsed [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate and Arizona Senator] Sen. John McCain, who embraced Hagee's support. Hagee's endorsement and McCain's response to it raise the question of whether MSNBC will report on them as extensively as it did on Farrakhan's praise." ... "A March 7, 1996, article (accessed via the Nexis database) in the San Antonio Express-News reported that Hagee was going to "meet with black religious leaders privately at an unspecified future date to discuss comments he made in his newsletter about a 'slave sale,' an East Side minister said Wednesday." The Express-News reported:"

"Hagee, pastor of the 16,000-member Cornerstone Church [in Texas], last week had announced a "slave sale" to raise funds for high school seniors in his church bulletin, "The Cluster."" ... "The item was introduced with the sentence "Slavery in America is returning to Cornerstone" and ended with "Make plans to come and go home with a slave.""

"To help students seeking odd jobs, his church newsletter, The Cluster, advertised a "slave" sale. "Slavery in America is returning to Cornerstone," it said. "Make plans to come and go home with a slave." Mr. Hagee apologized but, in a radio interview, protested about pressure to be "politically correct" and joked that perhaps his pet dog should be called a "canine American.""

"In his recent book "Jerusalem Countdown," Hagee wrote: "Most readers will be shocked by the clear record of history linking Adolf Hitler and the Roman Catholic Church in a conspiracy to exterminate the Jews.""

Mike Huckabee - John McCain - Ron Paul - Mitt Romney - Washington_State - Arizona - Arkansas - Texas - Massachusetts - 2008 Election - "Huckabee won't concede state; GOP resuming delegate count." ... "According to the Saturday tally [in Washington State], [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate and Senator from] Arizona Sen. John McCain won about 26 percent of delegates, [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate and] former Arkansas Gov. [Governer] Huckabee won 24 percent, [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate and Representative from] Texas Rep. Ron Paul finished with 21 percent, and [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate and] former Massachusetts Gov. [Governer] Mitt Romney, who has dropped out of the race, got 17 percent." ... "Pastor Joseph Fuiten of Bothell [Washington], who's heading Huckabee's volunteer effort in the state, said three Huckabee supporters in Pierce County [Washington] reported voting irregularities on Saturday." ... "Fuiten said one woman reported that she and a Ron Paul supporter were told that they wouldn't be allowed to run for alternative delegate positions — and that no actual vote was taken at the caucus. Instead, Fuiten said the woman reported that the caucus leaders simply tallied up the sign-in sheets to get the results." ... ""Counting is not so much the issue, so much as it is a concern about disenfranchisement," Fuiten said." ... "Paul's campaign is also not conceding the state." -By Janet I. Tu -SeattleTimes

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John McCain - Mike Huckabee - Political - Religion - Abortion - Gay_Marriage - Stem Cells - 2008 Election - Arizona - Arkansas - "Divided evangelicals key to election." ... "Widening political divisions in the once-united U.S. [United States] evangelical community as [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate and Senator of] Arizona Sen. John McCain closes in on the Republican presidential nomination could hurt the party in the November White House race." ... "McCain is an abortion-rights foe but his failure to support a constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage and backing of embryonic stem-cell research are among the political heresies that some conservative evangelicals cannot forgive him for." ... "With the influential James Dobson, the founder of the conservative advocacy group Focus on the Family, already saying he will not vote for McCain, analysts say evangelical turnout -- or lack thereof -- could be key on November 4 [2008 Election]." ... "Evangelicals comprise about a fifth of the U.S. population and according to Pew surveys account for at least a third of the Republican electorate, giving them serious clout in politics." ... "But the Republican evangelical vote remains divided, largely because of the continued presence in the race of [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate] Mike Huckabee, a Baptist preacher and former Arkansas governor." (1, 2, 3) -By Ed Stoddard with contributions by David Wiessler -Reuters

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Emergency - Tennessee - Alabama - Kentucky - Arkansas - People - Homes - History - "Tornadoes in South Kill 50 in Rare Winter Strike (Update10)." ... "The deadliest tornado outbreak in almost a decade tore across the southern U.S. [United States] late yesterday, killing at least 50 people, sparking a pipeline explosion in Tennessee and destroying homes from Alabama to Kentucky." ... "The ``extremely dangerous'' tornadoes, spawned by unseasonably warm temperatures, prompted the first high-risk weather alert issued in February in 10 years, AccuWeather.com said." ... "``Tornadoes in February, especially this many and this strong, is a rare event,'' Buddy Rogers, spokesman for the Kentucky Emergency Management Office, said by phone." ... "The twisters first struck in the late afternoon, killing 26 people in Tennessee, 13 in Arkansas, seven in Kentucky and four in Alabama, the Associated Press reported, citing emergency officials." -By Demian McLean -Bloomberg

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