[small voice in the wilderness]

Does Billy Graham have dementia?

No. He has a much more serious disease: Deneedtobelovedbyeveryone. It's what you catch when you leave Bible truths for man's praise.

[Theodore R.]

Good point, it's part of the Popularity Cult in America today. But Jeremiah or Jonah or Paul would have repudiated "popularity." The Bible says that we cannot be all things to all men. It says that we should shun popularity. We cannot be popular and do the right thing.

[MinuteGal]

Politics aside for the moment.....I saw Billy at a mammoth crusade in Chicago more years ago than I care to remember. He was youngish and at the height of his preaching power.

Perched up in nosebleed territory, I was in a good position to watch the multitudes below. You cannot believe the hypnotic sway Graham could induce in a crowd while he spoke. Not a noise could be heard. He was riveting. I am not a person who tends to exaggerate. I had gone to the crusade event as a slightly cynical observer.

Perhaps other freepers who saw him decades ago can bear me out. It was almost unbelievable. I doubt if we'll ever see the likes of Billy Graham again.

Back to politics......Hillary and Bill's skilled operatives can use video shots and sound bites of their appearance with Graham in the next presidential campaign. Their appearance with the preacher will certainly soften their images (if even slightly) in the bible belts of the country. Not good.

The Clintons continually create situations (such as this one) and then find ways to turn the situations to their advantage in elections.

Remember, the Democrat party has always been a party of coalitions. The Clintons know how to mine pockets of votes no matter how small (read the felon vote, for example). Then they add the small pockets to the whole.

I agree with you, small voice. I've always felt that Billy suffered from the same disease you mentioned (to be loved and admired) that afflicts both GHWB and GWB to a degree I find uncomfortable at times.

Leni