Either that, or he’s a fucking moron. Seriously, it’s the only way one could come to the same conclusion he did last weekend when he said the following in an video interview:

While it’s certainly not news that 55% of Americans are idiots, it is a bit annoying that a man trying for the nation’s highest office could be so clueless as to the contents of our country’s founding document. The interview, which was conducted by Beliefnet.com, a multi-denominational Christian website, contained many other inaccuracies and shocking statements. We’ll get to those later, but I want to take this point-by-point here.

First of all, it’s true that McCain proceeded to qualify the above statement by saying that he meant the above in the “broadest sense” and that the Country is founded on Christian “principles”. That’s all well and good (and historically questionable in itself), but it’s light years from the Constitution setting up a “Christian Nation”.

There are exactly two explicit references to religion in the U.S. Constitution. They are in Article 6:

And in the First Amendment:

That’s it. That’s the extent of the explicit religious mentions in the Constitution. Two passages. Both go out of their way to separate the government from religion and establish the United States as a secular state. There is no reference to “Under God” or (as McCain claims later in the interview) “In God We Trust”, nor does the presidential oath say anything about swearing upon the Bible or “so help me God”. None of it. The U.S. even signed a treaty less than a decade after the Constitution’s ratification that emphatically stated:

People like McCain or the other 55% of people out there are just living in self-important delusional fantasies if they think the framers wanted a “Christian Nation”. They’re just fucking wrong and for a presidential candidate to associate himself with this dimwittery is shameful.

Naturally, McCain didn’t stop there in his effort to mollify his Christian critics and up his God-O-Meter rating. Oh no.

Well, thank goodness he said that he admired “the Islam” before saying they would not be qualified to be president. Otherwise, I might think he were applying a religious test to his voting decisions. And even if he were, that would be OK because I’ll bet 55% of Americans think the Founding Fathers were big fans of religious tests for public office too.

But how does Captain Christian Principles feel about Mitt Romney? After all, Mormons are kinda different too.

McCain, after taking heat from Jewish and Muslim groups for the above statements, did some of his trademarked straight-talkin’ backpedaling.

So, to sum up: he digs the Islam, but they are way lower on the Magnificent scale than Mormons so he’d be very uncomfortable voting for a Muslim for president. Also, he would vote for one if he or she would lead the country and defend our values.

Makes perfect sense. Way to stand on your principles, champ.