Pastor John Hagee, whose negative comments about Catholics has caused trouble for his pick for president, John McCain, has written a letter of apology to William Donohue, president of the Catholic League for Civil and Religious Rights:

“Out of a desire to advance a greater unity among Catholics and Evangelicals in promoting the common good, I want to express my deep regret for any comments that Catholics have found hurtful.” (Here’s a link to the complete letter.)

In response, Donohue said:

“The tone of Hagee’s letter is sincere. He wants reconciliation and he has achieved it. Indeed, the Catholic League welcomes his apology. What Hagee has done takes courage and quite frankly I never expected him to demonstrate such sensitivity to our concerns. But he has done just that. Now Catholics, along with Jews, can work with Pastor Hagee in making interfaith relations stronger than ever. Whatever problems we had before are now history. This case is closed.”

Although the U.S. presidential election is still several months away, the “51st state” has already picked a winner: Obamamania is sweeping Britain. The Populus survey, which revealed that 48 percent of British voters prefer Sen. Barack Obama, also found that more than half of British voters want to see a Democrat win in November.

Senator [John] McCain is probably being tarnished by a strongly anti-Republican mood among British voters, fuelled by the unpopularity of President Bush and the Iraq war. Back in September 2004, Populus asked whether British voters preferred President Bush or Senator John Kerry to win the presidential election that November. The Democrat came out ahead by 52 to 29 per cent. And for all the talk of a neoconservative alliance, Tory voters backed Senator Kerry over President Bush by 50 to 35 per cent.

The poll shows the extent of transatlantic disillusionment after the Bush era, and, by implication, the potential for rebuilding of relations after the new president takes office next January. The trouble with Obamamania, however, is the risk of excessive expectations, and consequent disillusionment when/if American policies change less than hoped.

If Obama wins in the fall, do you think the nation–and world–will have “excessive expectations” for his White House performance as compared to what would be expected from either Hillary Clinton or McCain? And if so, what kinds of “excessive expectations” do you think he’ll face?

Earlier this month, Barack Obama confirmed on “Meet the Press” that he is still a member of Trinity United Church of Christ, saying, “I think that the American people understand that when I joined Trinity United Church of Christ, I was committing not to Pastor [Jeremiah] Wright, I was committing to a church and I was committing to Christ. And it is a wonderful church.”

But closer inspection of the church’s weekly bulletin reveals more controversy originating from people other than Wright:

In a column in the April 15, 2007 bulletin, the Rev. Reginald Williams, the associate pastor for social justice at Trinity United, said he was not surprised by the racially charged remarks that talk-radio host Don Imus made about the Rutgers University women’s basketball team because “the major networks are run by right-winged conservatives who still see black people as subhuman and portray black people as such.”

In the April 22, 2007 bulletin, Williams called for shutting down the Pentagon’s WHINSEC School of the Americas, saying the school “in no uncertain terms trains Latin American soldiers in counterinsurgency, sniper training, commando and psychological warfare, military intelligence and interrogation. In short, the United States Army trains students at this school of terrorism.”

According to a Trinity United staff member, the political articles are to inform congregants about world affairs, like newspaper commentaries where the opinions expressed are those of the writers, not necessarily the church. Even still, doesn’t such material reveal a troubling pattern and raise more questions about the type of church Obama has committed himself to?

The Navy recently released John McCain’s military records, but if you were hoping for any startling revelations, you’ll probably be disappointed:

From his five years in a North Vietnamese prison camp to his tenure as the Navy’s liaison to the Senate, John McCain’s Navy record boils down to a series of unadorned paragraphs that bestow upon him some of the nation’s top military honors.

A nice contrast to the controversy that surrounded John Kerry’s Vietnam War record during the last presidential election.

Despite losing North Carolina and just narrowly taking Indiana, Hillary Clinton is vowing to press “full speed on to the White House.” Although she remains optimistic, this morning on Good Morning America, political correspondent George Stephanopoulos said “Barack Obama has a lead that can’t be overcome.” He also predicted that more superdelegates will now side with Obama and campaign dollars will dry up in the Clinton camp, further increasing pressure on Clinton to bow out.

But will she? Or is August’s Democratic National Convention going to be one heck of a showdown?

Usually when you talk about polls in hoops-crazy Indiana and North Carolina, you’re referring to college basketball rankings. But today, all the “polling” talk has been associated with the two states’ important Democratic presidential primaries. Will tonight’s results finally settle it between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, or will the race for the Democratic nomination go on and on? If it continues, maybe they should battle it out on the basketball court and determine the nominee with a game of H-O-R-S-E.

Stay tuned here as the results roll in. …

UPDATE (7:19 p.m.): Clinton leads early in Indiana.

UPDATE (7:30 p.m.): Polls close in North Carolina, and Obama is called the winner.

UPDATE (8:24 p.m.): CBS News calls Indiana for Clinton. … As of 9 p.m., they’re still the only one to do so.

UPDATE (9:15 p.m.): In a speech from Raleigh, N.C., Obama congratulates Clinton on her apparent victory in Indiana.

UPDATE (10:18 p.m.): Lack of Lake County (Gary), Ind., results is what’s keeping networks (other than CBS), AP, and others from calling Indiana.

The National Institute for Reproductive Health is worried: If John McCain wins the presidency, a couple more Supreme Court nominations could doom Roe v. Wade, making abortion illegal. But what would that mean for women who have one anyway? That’s the question the Naral offshoot is asking in a new ad that concludes by saying, “The straight talk about John McCain? He’ll make women, criminals.”

Thoughts?

Associated Press religion writer Eric Gorski points out that this week’s falling out between Barack Obama and his former pastor Jeremiah Wright has put black pastors and their congregations in a difficult position. Do they fall in behind the man who could be the first black president of the United States or do they rally to support a well-known preacher who some think has been unfairly maligned?

“What I am disappointed in is Rev. Wright’s continuing to be in the public eye,” said Bishop Charles H. Ellis III, the senior pastor of 6,500-member Greater Grace Temple in Detroit. “If he has a point to get across, make your point. We as ministers have to be very careful about our timing.”

Another Detroit pastor, Rev. William Revely of 300-member Holy Hope Heritage Church, who has known Wright since the 1970s, questioned Obama’s claim that he’d never heard any of Wright’s controversial remarks from the pulpit: “Anybody who has heard Jeremiah preach has heard that. Jeremiah, he’s a pastor, and as a pastor you have to see things as they are. Politicians see things as they want them to be.”

Others, such as the Rev. Bennie Whiten, a retired United Church of Christ minister, try to see both sides while hoping for eventual reconciliation: “I think we’ve got two very good men, two very strong men, who find themselves in an almost impossible situation from which neither can extricate himself.”

To read Gorski’s complete article, where he talks to several other black pastors who find themselves and their congregations at odds with one or both of these two men, go here.

Ron Paul may not have come out on top in any of the presidential primaries, but as of this posting, his new book, The Revolution: A Manifesto, is the No. 1 bestseller at Amazon.com.

Former Hillary Clinton supporter Joe Andrew, the former chairman of the Democratic National Committee appointed by Bill Clinton in 1999, has switched his allegiance to Barack Obama. With less than a week to go before the Indiana primary, the Indianapolis native urged other superdelegates to follow his lead and unify behind Obama: “[A] vote for Hillary Clinton is a vote to continue this process, and a vote to continue this process is a vote that assists [Republican] John McCain.” Andrew had been in the Clinton camp since she first announced her candidacy.

In losing Andrew, along with other recent gains by Obama, Clinton’s superdelegate lead has shrunk to just 15, 263-248. In overall delegates, Obama now leads 1,736.5 to 1,597.5 for Clinton, with 2,025 needed to win the nomination.