McIlheran: You can call my mother church a whore -- as long as you're a Republican!

When it came to light last year that some bloggers who worked for John Edwards had said some crude things about Catholicism, Patrick McIlheran could barely restrain himself.

Keeping them on was a clear signal to Catholics that Edwards held them in "vulgar contempt," McIlheran fulminated.

But now that John McCain, the GOP nominee for president, has actively sought -- and retained -- the endorsement of megachurch minister John Hagee, who has called the Catholic Church a "great whore" and an apostate religion, what do we hear from McIlheran?

Crickets. Quietism.

Shoot -- even the Catholic League is denouncing McCain and Hagee (no doubt because it recognizes the Dems are going to roll in November and wants to maintain a figleaf of nonpartisanship to retain its tax-exempt status).

No doubt McIlheran is holding his tongue because he wants McCain to win.

You know what's truly worthy of contempt? Picking and choosing which candidates to denounce for purported anti-Catholicism -- and make no mistake, McCain's sin is far greater here -- based on your partisan leanings.

Cross-posted at Whallah!