Devil As Metaphor Update

On Sunday I took note of the hypocrisy surrounding the dual invocations of the devil in political speeches, one by Hugo Chavez about Bush, which was "despicable," and one by Jerry Falwell about Hillary Clinton, which was "just a joke." Amazingly, the GOP is rolling with this one, even Falwell's new best friend St. McCain.

BOB SCHIEFFER: Well, Senator McCain, the UN General Assembly met this week and there were some fairly tough things issued from the–from the podium up there. What’s your overall reaction? How about this guy Chavez from Venezuela?

Sen. McCAIN: Despic–despicable. In his case, he aspires to be this generation’s Castro. I think the people of Venezuela ought to look at the standard of living in Cuba before they would embrace such a thing. We were just talking off camera, Senor Wences, I guess it was, the sock puppet. Look, it’s despicable and the United Nations should not be used as that kind of forum [...]

Mr. HARRIS: Chavez called Bush Satan. And there’s Jerry Falwell in the news just today, said Hillary Clinton will do as much as Satan to energize the conservative base. You were just down there at his university. What did you make of Falwell’s comment?

Sen. McCAIN: I think he was joking. I’m–from what I was told, he was laughing. And for the record, even though Mrs. Clinton and I may have some disagreements, I don’t think she’s Lucifer.

For the record, Falwell himself refuses to apologize for the comment, again falling in behind the canard that he was speaking "tongue in cheek." Seems to me that when Larry Flynt wrote something tongue in cheek about Falwell in the pages of Hustler Magazine, Falwell sued him, on the basis of "emotional distress."

It's amazing how that works, doing unto others as you would not have them do unto you.