Ayers And Keating

Yuval Levin at The Corner explains the non-comparison between Obama's Bill Ayers problem and John McCains's history with the Keating Five:

McCain’s response to that scandal should certainly be compared with Obama’s Ayers explanations. McCain has spoken and written about every detail of the Keating mess, has expressed open contrition for allowing himself to be drawn into it even tangentially, and devoted years of his career to combating corruption as a result. He even badly overreacted and pushed for vastly excessive regulation of campaign financing. He has said (in a book in which he details his and others’ actions in the matter) that merely the appearance of impropriety involved makes his involvement with Keating “the worst mistake of my life.”

Had Obama done and said something similar regarding the sort of radicalism Ayers represents, he would now have an answer to offer. Instead, he has worked with Ayers, supported his causes, and denied any significance to the links between them. That, too, makes this a legitimate question about a man who would be president.

Mega-dittoes.  But I guess by playing the Keating card Obama is showing his followers that he is tough and ready to fight back.  One might argue that he is also legitimizing McCain's attacks (and I guess I will.)

Comments

[matt]

so what is the content of Obama's character, as MLK once asked we by judged....

[bgates]

Obama is showing his followers that he is tough and ready to fight back
Does this mean Obama could be - *gasp* - taking the gloves off?

[PD]

Nah. You don't bring bare fists to a gunfight.

[aardvark]

I'd always thought McCain's great strength in defending the Keating affair was that he'd acknolwedged making a huge mistake, and spent his career repenting by recasting himself as a reformer.

So when his campaign puts his lawyer on the line with reporters to contest the details of a congressional inquiry that, largely, let McCain off the hook, doesn't that cloud the sin-confession-atonement dynamic a bit?

link

[aardvark]

In Halperin's account, McCain lawyer John Dowd described McCain's "former relationship with Charles Keating as 'social friends,'" and called the situation a "classic political smear job on John."

link

So McCain is retracting his admission that it was “the worst mistake of my life” and calling it a smear job.

So I guess you'll admit that the Keating story is worse than the Ayers story? After all, McCain had some level of involvement with Keating's crimes while Obama had nothing to do with Ayers' crimes.

[aardvark]

Keating was no ordinary constituent to McCain.

On Oct. 8, 1989, The Arizona Republic revealed that McCain's wife and her father had invested $359,100 in a Keating shopping center in April 1986, a year before McCain met with the regulators.

The paper also reported that the McCains, sometimes accompanied by their daughter and baby-sitter, had made at least nine trips at Keating's expense, sometimes aboard the American Continental jet. Three of the trips were made during vacations to Keating's opulent Bahamas retreat at Cat Cay.

McCain also did not pay Keating for some of the trips until years after they were taken, after he learned that Keating was in trouble over Lincoln. Total cost: $13,433.

When the story broke, McCain did nothing to help himself.

"You're a liar," McCain said when a Republic reporter asked him about the business relationship between his wife and Keating.

link

[Chris]

So I guess you'll admit that the Keating story is worse than the Ayers story? After all, McCain had some level of involvement with Keating's crimes while Obama had nothing to do with Ayers' crimes.

Posted by: aardvark | October 06, 2008 at 10:21 PM

Define crimes aardy. TM is correct in noting that the criticisms are legit. Were they not, then why respond? That's what surrogates are for. Cue the "swiftboat" meme... 3, 2, ...

[Chris]

An investment can be passive, by the way. A passive investment doesn't necessarily make one a partner. Serving on a board with Keating, well that would be another matter, perhaps.

[Cecil Turner]

So I guess you'll admit that the Keating story is worse than the Ayers story?

Did I miss the part where Keating killed some folks? Or where McCain sat on a board doling out money with him? Or the reiteration of a willingness to do it again? Or them lying about the connection?

And in any event, it's still a tu quoque defense, and Obama is still lying about it. Ain't like he's got a record of accomplishment to fall back on, or anything. Jus' sayin'.

[motionview]

Suggested McCain response:
Barack Obama and Bill Ayers managed to spend $150M of other people’s money to improve education in Chicago, and somehow managed to make the Chicago Public School system worse. How? Bill Ayers is an extreme left ideologue, literally a bomb-thrower in his youth and a small c communist to this day. Ayers teaches revolution, not math. Increased self esteem, not spelling. Kindergarten sex-ed, not reading. Of course Senator Obama, while condemning Chicago’s public school children to this ideological dead-end, managed to send his own children to good private schools. Senator Obama should step away from his radical mentors, defy the teachers unions, and put America’s children first, by endorsing my school choice program.

Expected debate question:
How racist is your program to destroy America’s public school system through this fundamentalist “voucher” scheme? (quotes denote “air quotes”)

[hit and run]

Nah. You don't bring bare fists to a gunfight.

Well, and you don't go sticking your bare hands in the water trying to grab a barracuda, either.

Keep those gloves on, Obama. For your own good.

[Rick Ballard]

Cecil,

Don't you consider Obama's spirited opposition to the Born Alive Infant Protection Act an accomplishment. I know that baby killing doctors did. It allowed them to continue killing infants without fear of repercussions for having botched the job.

There are very few politicians who have successfully blocked legislation protecting babies and remained in office.

I believe that Barack Obama deserves recognition for his protection of baby killers - it is an accomplishment.

[Antimedia]

Cecil, don't you know that the sins of Republicans are always greater than the sins of Democrats? Therefore, a murdering terrorist is equal to an influence peddling banker. Furthermore, sexual sins of Republicans are private matters for Democrats.

I'm surprised you don't already know this. ;-)

[Cecil Turner]

Dang . . . guess I need reedjamecation.

[Jim Ryan]

Expected debate question:
How racist is your...

...claim that it was somehow loans to poor people struggling to buy houses that caused the financial crisis and not greedy rich businessmen and President Bush who are to blame?

Etc.

[clarice]

http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2008/10/its_official_rezkos_talking.html>Guess who's talking?
Rezko's talking and O's home paper says it's lucky for him that sentencing's been delayed, suggesting Rezko's confession would be bad for Obama's election effort.

[Rick Ballard]

Clarice,

Obama pushed the legislation that allowed Blag to pack the boards which which were rented (like Obama) by Rezko. The legislative record of the quid pro quo is as clear as Obama's protection of baby killers.

About the only thing Rezko could add would be the dates and times when he paid for Obama's vote - if he paid more than the $200K+ in "donations" that we already know about.

[Charlie (Colorado)]

Okay, I've got a piece on American Thinker tomorrow entitled "What if McCain knows what he's doing?"

[MayBee]

Did you see Scott Shane at Global Labor says he would have reported it had he found Obama and Ayres met at Columbia?

I wonder if he did any investigation into that, and if so, what. He didn't report on it. But then, he didn't report on his interaction with Steve Diamond. Not even to discredit it or report the other side.
Two people that support Obama say it happened one way, and that's what he wrote.

[Rocco]

Therefore, a murdering terrorist is equal to an influence peddling banker.

Uh, Anti...he's not a murdering terrorist, he's a former murdering terrorist.

[Ranger]

What Rezko can add is the intent, and the recognition of a bribe as a bribe.

[aardvark]

"What if McCain knows what he's doing?"

Like he's intentionally throwing the election because he's betting against himself in Intrade? Now that would be diabolical!

I betcha he's got the word that his cover up of his wife's drug thefts are about to be made public. Clever boy; might as well make some scratch on the way out I guess.

[motionview]

Ayers is a 60’s radical leader; is there any more self-absorbed creature on the planet? There is not a chance in hell that he didn’t approve who became chairman of his baby, Ayers big chance with a huge piece of The Man’s cash and a charter to preach revolution to the next generation. It is equally certain that Ayers would make that pick on one main criterion – political reliability.

[Charlie (Colorado)]

Earthpig, I guess you'll just have to read it.

In the mean time, you might just contemplate how it is that Obama finds himself suddenly on the defensive again about his connections, enough so that you're having to drag out the Keating Five and Cindy's drug problems.

[Charlie (Colorado)]

Jennifer Rubin has a nice piece up on the Commentary blog. It makes the point that the one constant in Obama's career, the one thing he never comes out as being against, is graft.

[Elroy Jetson]

All they have to do is plaster that picture of the aging hippie with both feet planted firmly on the American Flag all over the place.
"Not the Bill Ayers I knew" just doesn't cut it.

[aardvark]

enough so that you're having to drag out the Keating Five and Cindy's drug problems.

Ditto on the Ayers and Wright stories. But this is October and the goal is to have no ammo left in the box when the polls close. ;-)

[clarice]

I like Jennifer Rubin's stuff, don't you, Charlie?

[clarice]

Rick, That would be nice though it looks it will come out tooo late to matter if it's true. In any event bribery is difficult to prove. Of course, Brocko's a legal genius and would be hard to trap. (HEH)

[Elliott]

One might argue that he is also legitimizing McCain's attacks (and I guess I will.)

I think he'd say that his own campaign is a distraction before he'd cop to that.

[RichatUF]

In any event bribery is difficult to prove.

Especially when the money exchange is caught on tape, using marked bills, and the crook has the money still stached in the freezer in zip-lock bags.

[aardvark]

All they have to do is plaster that picture of the aging hippie with both feet planted firmly on the American Flag all over the place.

And a nice litho of Vogler's 'damn America' and Sarah's witchdoctor's rants right beside it.

[kim]

Look, aa, about all that shows is the ridiculous little memes that an exhaustive search of Alaska showed up. Much more interesting memes turning up in Chicago, since they hadn't been looked for by the press. And Palin, having been unmercifully scrutinized, is going to be the one to ask questions about 'Who is Obama'. He apparently doesn't want us to know. Why is that?
================================

[Jor]

Country in financial crisis -- Tom Maguire -- leading the king of the hacks in "turning the page on econommics". Country first my ASS.

[pollyusa]

Yooouk.

[Charlie (Colorado)]

Wow, they must be hurting.

In any case, earthpig, let's just recall, as I pointed out before, that the particular nutcase you mention died two years before Todd was involved with AIP, and Palin's "witchdoctor" blessed her once, three years ago.

Obama withdrew from Wrights church, when? The end of April. 2008. Six months ago. After 20 years there. During which he apparently slept through all the sermons.

[Charlie (Colorado)]

I like Jennifer Rubin's stuff, don't you, Charlie?

in general, yeah. She's a little too strident sometimes, and then since I'm not a social conservative we end up on different sides a fair bit.

John Podhoretz and I don't get on well, ever since he made a big point of telling me "well, I've read Proust in the original French" and I came back with "So, I read Goethe in German, Lao Tzu in Chinese, and the Sutras in Sanskrit."

[aardvark]

since they hadn't been looked for by the press.

Only true if you don't consider Fox 'the press', which, of course, I don't.

If you got the goods, trot 'em out. But people aren't in the mood for dark stories and innuendo when their 401k's are tanking.

A good set of bank floor plans and weapons training seems like a reasonable route to retirement right now for most people, so maybe Ayers doesn't seem all that extreme in light of current circumstances, while Keating, with his abuse of the financial system, has more resonance with the current zeitgeist.

[Patrick Tyson]

Okay, I've got a piece on American Thinker tomorrow entitled "What if McCain knows what he's doing?"

Somnething to look forward to.

[wadikitty]

Charlie (Colorado): Obama withdrew from Wrights church, when? The end of April. 2008. Six months ago. After 20 years there. During which he apparently slept through all the sermons.

I wonder if Reverend Wright was preaching his “God D**n America” sermon on this particular Sunday?

[Elliott]

Palin's "witchdoctor" blessed her once, three years ago.

Does this guy get results or what?

[Verner]

Maybee:Did you see Scott Shane at Global Labor says he would have reported it had he found Obama and Ayres met at Columbia?

Steve Shane, in the tank--but hey, he has a week or so to redeem himself. I mean really, how far is it from the NYT to Columbia?

[kim]

Sorry, aa, Ayers, Rezko, and Wright are going to hurt Obama a lot more than Keating hurts McCain. Obama was tight with all three THIS YEAR; Keating and McCain are ancient history. The American people aren't the fools you think they are.
================================

[motionview]

Dirty Harry has a CNN link:

CNN investigative reporter: “But the relationship between Obama and Ayers went much deeper, ran much longer, and was much more political than Obama said.”

http://dirtyharrysplace.com/?p=4873

[jor]

kim you are right -- "the fundamentals of the economy are strong". The american people aren't fools, just the peeps that inhabit the internets.

[narciso]

If you come from a Latin culture, one understands this as a 'despoilment' in otherwords a incantation to ward off bad thoughts, ill will. envy, rage. . .I think she needs a booster shot, after all the carp she's been subjected to. This whole guff about first Palin as a Buchanan acolyte; she was for Forbes, and now's as Joe Vogler's disembodied wraith is a little amusing, in a derangement sort of way. Less so, when you consider what certain publicists like Hearst's antipathy to MCkinley, the city fathers of Dallas had on JFK. The AIP only really succeeded when you had an old shoe candidate like Hickel fronting it; otherwise it goes the way of the Prohibitionist and the Raving loony party; sorry the Green Party. Seeing as Obama has qualifications ro speak of; either in the State legislature or the Senate; his work on the Woods & Joyce foundation boards; his receipt of contribution from Lehman, Countrywide, Fannie & Freddie (the incorporation of their whole board of directors)WaMu, et al; are the only things we cn judge him by.

[Rick Ballard]

Hannity on Obama - the whole show on You-tube.

Don't let your friends miss it.

[Molon Labe]

If anyone has access to the university archives at Columbia, they should see if there are contemporaneous accounts of Obama and Ayers in archived student publications.

[Charlie (Colorado)]

If you got the goods, trot 'em out.

Why? When someone does, the usual response is "Oh, look over there! Charles Keating!"

[Charlie (Colorado)]

Quote: "A lot of people were against the war, but not a lot of people formed a group and started bombing things." From CNN.

In the mean time, the frantic thrashing starts again tomorrow: the HuffPo now says that Governor Mark Sanford is "linked" to Ayeers because Ayers is a Distinguished Scholar associated with U of SC's Ed school, and Sanford is, ex officio, a member of the Trustees.

[Topsecretk9]

Steve Shane, in the tank

Did you notice his snotty "must be nice to be a blogger" and have no standards ect. responses?

Snort. This after his paper printed a front page story on rumors McCain was friendly and perhaps flirty with a pretty lobbyist with 2 unnamed sources.

[Topsecretk9]

Where's Joe Biden been? Did the campaign put him in Tupperware since last Thursday so he won't say anything stoopid before the next debate? He's, as I can tell, not slated to be out and about till T/F in Missouri.

[Dave]

pollyusa:

Yooouk.

Jeeeeeedd!

[Molon Labe]

Documentary on Obama corruption of Dem caucuses:

We Will Not Be Silenced

[Elliott]

Where's Joe Biden been?

He won't campaign again until Wednesday. His mother-in-law died on Sunday.

[Topsecretk9]

Elliot

I just learned that at Ace's. Thanks. Sorry to hear it.

[M. Simon]

Steve Shane, in the tank--but hey, he has a week or so to redeem himself. I mean really, how far is it from the NYT to Columbia?

A minimum of five weeks.

[MJW]

My but Obama is a modest fellow, hiding his executive light under a bushel. He doesn't talk about his chairmanship of the Chicago Annenberg Challenge, nor has he said much about is work from 1994 to 2004 as a director of the Joyce Foundation.

Pajama Media has an interesting article on the the foundation's work in regard to the 2nd Amendment during Obama's tenure.

Obama's response to the piece is revealing: nothing is actually denied. The defense is mostly that while campaigning for President, Obama made a number of mealy-mouthed statements that the rights of hunters and other gun owners are protected, "constrained by the needs and the rights of the community." That Obama might have (slightly) changed his tune when confronted with the political reality that banning guns is political suicide in a national election isn't considered.

Interestingly, one paragraph states:

2001: Obama "I Do Not Object To The Lawful Use And Ownership Of Handguns." Obama said, "I do not object to the lawful use and ownership of firearms, but I do think it is entirely it appropriate for the state to monitor it. Too many of these guns end up in the hands of criminals even though they were originally purchased by people who did not have a felony." [Chicago Defender, 7/5/01]

Note that Obama actually said "firearms," not "handguns." Since the right to possess handguns was the bone of contention in Heller, the difference is significant.

(Love the Firefox text formatter!)

[MJW]

Minor correction: Obama was a director of the Joyce Foundation from 1994 to 2002.

[Sara (Pal2Pal)]

I got sidetracked all evening and I haven't read thru all the comments, but I want to make a point before I go to bed and forget it.

The whole point of the Ayers' story should be in illustrating the progression of Obama's world view from his Muslim education in Indonesia, to the communist influence his first mentor, Frank Marshall Davis had on a young boy/man's thinking, to the tweaking of Soviet brand communism to the neo-Stalinist influence of Bill Ayers and the whole group of '60s radicals that make up the Ayers' circle that was critical to Obama's rise in politics, culminating in the influence that Wright's Black Liberation Theology had.

Concentrating on individual acts or words of these characters or spending so much time on when Obama was or was not associating with them, misses the whole point.

Obama's entire world view of America the Evil, whitey the bad guy (a tenet of Ayers' philosophy as well as Wright's) and the totalitarian/authoritarian views instilled by all these people are what is important. It is what is illustrative of the way Obama would govern.

[pagar]

Good Morning to All!

"Ayers doesn't seem all that extreme in light of current circumstances,"

Anyone who doesn't think nails bomb planting in American NCO clubs is extreme is crazy. Even more extreme is the hijacking of the education of all American children. William Ayers is one of the most dangerous people in America today.

[Rocco]

Good Morning

If Barack Hussein Obama is elected, he will NEVER be my president. I will do everything in my power, legally of course, and founded with fact, to make sure this enemy of MY country will not be elected a second time.

[PeterUK]

"So I guess you'll admit that the Keating story is worse than the Ayers story? "

You don't think that palling up with a wannabe mass murderer show far worse judgement?
You have no more sense than when you were sferris.

[PeterUK]

It has to be admitted that Barack Hussein Obama learned one important thing when he was making his bones in Chicago,never spill the goods on former confederates.The loyalty shown by Obama to his patron the felon Tony Rezko is exemplary.
Since Rezko is not to be sentenced,how will the Singing Slum Landlord reflect on a possible Obama presidency? Or will Rezko emulate Pentangelli in Godfather II?

[PeterUK]

"Obama said, "I do not object to the lawful use and ownership of firearms, but I do think it is entirely it appropriate for the state to monitor it. Too many of these guns end up in the hands of criminals even though they were originally purchased by people who did not have a felony." [Chicago Defender, 7/5/01]"

This is simply a lie.Handguns were banned in Britain and confiscated.Now street gun crime is higher than ever.
The bottom line is,if criminals can smuggle billions of dollars of drugs into the country,not to mention thousands of people,what problem will they have with handguns?

[Jane Whitman]

So does it occur to anyone else that Ayers used terrorism to fight against the Viet Nam War and that Obama and his supporters have always been pretty close to that in their opposition to the Iraq war? I suspect absent 911 we would have seen a lot more domestic terrorism during the Bush administration - except the Bill Ayers of this world can't rely on getting off these days.

[Pablo Begala]

McCain associates with people who love America and kill communists while Hussein Obama associates with people who are communists and kill Americans.

Let the voters decide who is right for the country.

[Jim Ryan]

You can't make this stuff up:

The American author of a book critical of Barack Obama is being detained in Kenya....[SNIP] Obama is wildly popular in Kenya.

[DebinNC]

Good grief! They grabbed Corsi just as he was on his way to offer aid to Obama's hut-dwelling brother George? lol

[DebinNC]

Who Are You? 'Cause I Really Wanna Know

[sbw]

No matter which candidate is elected this november, the voters are going to get an education.

If McCain is elected, he will, no doubt, work with Congress, but also call many of them out for the grifters they are.

If Obama is elected, the opportunities to expose the institutional flaws that made him possible will become evident. Look for changes in education, the press, government. If we survive it, we will recover stronger.

[Lori]

Clarice and others,
Have you guys rejected the idea that Ayers was the ghostwriter for Obama's "Dreams From My Father"? It sounds wacky but several people have analyzed Obama's book and the language is similar to Ayers book "Fugitive Days":
Ayers:
"I picture the street coming alive, awakening from the fury of winter, stirred from the chilly spring night by cold glimmers of sunlight angling through the city."

The second from "Dreams":

"Night now fell in midafternoon, especially when the snowstorms rolled in, boundless prairie storms that set the sky close to the ground, the city lights reflected against the clouds."

LUN for more analyis

[hit and run]

GREAT article, Charlie!

What if McCain knows what he's doing?

Love love love it.

[Barry]

Trust in Me

[hit and run]

And Good Morning!

It's gonna be a great day, Sarah Palin is coming to my state today!

Wish I cold go.

::sigh::

[PeterUK]

From the Honolulu Advertiser Notice that Barack boosted his African credentials,how much time did he spend in Kenya? Interesting he used to pronounce Barrack the middle class British way Bear ack.
The man is a fake from way back.
BTW did Barrack Hussein Obama senior have connections with Mau Mau terrorism?

[PeterUK]

That was Barrack MkI.

[Pagar]

Documentary on Obama corruption of Dem caucuses:

We Will Not Be Silenced

Posted by: Molon Labe | October 07, 2008 at 03:02 AM

If you haven't watched this one you need to IMO.

If you haven't forwarded it to every American you know, you need to IMO.

Very well done and shows exactly why an American who has never done anything useful was able to steal the Democrat nomination.

LUN

[DebinNC]

It looks like the We Will Not Be Silenced folks have been silenced, as 3 of 5 of their videos are "no longer available".

[Greybeard]

Try 'em again Deb. They worked for me.

[bad]

Obama's surrogates continue to say Obama didn't know who Ayers was in 1995 at the time of the political launching at Ayers and Dohrns house. So when DID Obama find out about Ayers? Why is that question not asked?

[Neo]

Sen. Bob Kerry speaks before unanimous Senate passage of the Iraq Liberation Act -- Oct. 7, 1998:

“This bill, when passed and signed into law, is a clear commitment to a U.S. policy replacing the Saddam Hussein regime and replacing it with a transition to democracy. This bill is a statement that America refuses to coexist with a regime which has used chemical weapons on its own citizens and on neighboring countries, which has invaded its neighbors twice without provocation, which has still not accounted for its atrocities committed in Kuwait, which has fired ballistic missiles into the cities of three of its neighbors, which is attempting to develop nuclear and biological weapons, and which has brutalized and terrorized its own citizens for thirty years. I don’t see how any democratic country could accept the existence of such a regime, but this bill says America will not. I will be an even prouder American when the refusal, and commitment to materially help the Iraqi resistance, are U.S. policy.”

[bad]

Dr. Kurtz at NRO:

‘You’ve got only a couple thousand bucks in the bank. Your job pays you dog-food wages. Your credit history has been bent, stapled, and mutilated. You declared bankruptcy in 1989. Don’t despair: You can still buy a house.” So began an April 1995 article in the Chicago Sun-Times that went on to direct prospective home-buyers fitting this profile to a group of far-left “community organizers” called ACORN, for assistance. In retrospect, of course, encouraging customers like this to buy homes seems little short of madness.

Militant ACORN
At the time, however, that 1995 Chicago newspaper article represented something of a triumph for Barack Obama. That same year, as a director at Chicago’s Woods Fund, Obama was successfully pushing for a major expansion of assistance to ACORN, and sending still more money ACORN’s way from his post as board chair of the Chicago Annenberg Challenge. Through both funding and personal-leadership training, Obama supported ACORN. And ACORN, far more than we’ve recognized up to now, had a major role in precipitating the subprime crisis.

ACORN, Obama, Freddie and Fannie, etc.

LUN

[Rich Berger]

I want to thank Mr. Aardvaark for his public service to the readers of this blog. He's given us a window into the abnormal psychology that is the standard out on the left bsphere. Saved me the trouble of wading through it - sort of like Cliffs Notes.

After he's worn out there's no guarantee that his replacement will meet his high standards.

[DebinNC]

I hope it's just me, but now I'm seeing a whole lotta nothing.

[royf]

They worked for me Deb

[DebinNC]

Thanks, royf and Greybeard. Glad to hear it.

Thomas Sowell's latest: "Associations are very different from alliances. Allies are not just people who happen to be where you are or who happen to be doing the same things you do. You choose allies deliberately for a reason. The kind of allies you choose says something about you. Jeremiah Wright, Father Michael Pfleger, William Ayers, and Antoin Rezko are not just people who happened to be at the same place at the same time as Barack Obama. They are people with whom he chose to ally himself for years, and with some of whom some serious money changed hands."

[Ranger]

The CNN report from AC360 also makes very clear that the Obama campaign is outright lying about the Obama "coming out" party at Bill Ayers house. The CNN reporter found two people who attended the party who specificly stated it was not organized by Ms. Parker and that she was only there briefly. It was Obama's show.

[bio mom]

Better poll numbers today for McCain. Obama's lead in CBS at+3, in Democracy Corps (+3), In Reuters/Zogby +3. Stillat +8 in Rasmussen and in CNN however. I still stick with my mantra to ignore all polls.

[fdcol63]

The idea that Barack Obama did not know Ayers and his terrorist past is crap. The same is true for his associations with Wright, Rezko, and others.

This idea is totally contradicted by Obama's own words in his book, "Dreams From My Father". Here, talking about his time at Occidental, Obama makes very clear that he chose his friends carefully:

"To avoid being mistaken for a sellout, I chose my friends carefully. The more politically active black students. The foreign students. The Chicanos. The Marxist professors and structural feminists and punk-rock performance poets. We smoked cigarettes and wore leather jackets. At night, in the dorms, we discussed neocolonialism, Franz Fanon, Eurocentrism, and patriarchy. When we ground out our cigarettes in the hallway carpet or set our stereos so loud that the walls began to shake, we were resisting bourgeois society's stifling conventions. We weren't indifferent or careless or insecure. We were alienated."

"But this strategy alone couldn't provide the distance I wanted, from Joyce or my past. After all, there were thousands of so-called campus radicals, most of them white and tenured and happily tolerant. No, it remained necessary to prove which side you were on, to show your loyalty to the black masses, to strike out and name names.

We're now supposed to believe that he changed his practice of choosing friends carefully when he decided to get into politics?

Absurd. This is when you become even more careful and deliberate in surrounding yourself with those who can help you in politics.

Ayers did this for Obama. In Chicago.

[Ranger]

BTW, the Rezko thing could be very bad for Obama down the road. A lot of people are going to end up getting indicted, and some of them will want to trade information for better treatment.

If Obama wins, Republicans should demand that there be an immidiate investigation into why he is asking Fitz to resign at this critical point in the investigation. Tag Obama as covering up for his corupt friends in Chicago from the day he takes office.

[Ranger]

Ms. Parker = Ms. Palmer

[PeterUK]

"Obama's surrogates continue to say Obama didn't know who Ayers was in 1995 at the time of the political launching at Ayers and Dohrns house. So when DID Obama find out about Ayers?"

Does it matter,isn't it more important to ask why Barrack Hussein Obama did not know Bill Ayers was a notorious wannabe mass murderer.
In any field of human endeavour, those involved know who the stars are,they know the movers and shakers,they cozy up to them,in the hope that some will rub off.
Quite simply if Bill Ayers was renowned enough to be involved with the Chicago Annenburg Challenge,he was well known enough for Obama to be fully acquainted with.
So either Obama is covering up,or he was utterly careless in his associations.Neither are good recommendations in a candidate for president.

[Verner]

Ranger, I saw Rudi on Fox this AM, and I think if MCCain sticks to his "narrative" it will be very effective. It's a pattern. He has obviously lied about Wright, and now Ayers.

Add all that to Resko, and all the money he doled out to friends, and you've got a deep pattern of lies and corruption.

The real Obama is a corrupt left radical. No one wants someone like that as Commander in Chief.

[DebinNC]

Newsbusters catches AP spinning for Obama again. Using Corsi's detention in Kenya as a means to debunk him and buttress Obama, AP says:

"Corsi's book claims the Illinois senator is a dangerous, radical candidate for president and includes innuendoes and false rumors — that he was raised a Muslim, attended a radical, black church and is secretly seething with "black rage."

AP helpfully directs readers to Obama's Fight the Smears website, which refutes Corsi's "Obama is Muslim/Kenya citizen" charges but doesn't mention TUCC at all, much less claim it too is "mainstream".

[PeterUK]

"When we ground out our cigarettes in the hallway carpet or set our stereos so loud that the walls began to shake, we were resisting bourgeois society's stifling conventions. We weren't indifferent or careless or insecure. We were alienated."

No,they were just being objectionable adolescent punks.Anything changed?

[clarice]

Charlie--good article.
I look over the morning's headlines and it occurs to me that the worst thing the media does is muddle facts so that busy but intelligent voters are left without any factual basis opne which to judge charges and counter charges and votte emotionally.

[Jane Whitman]

IRAN NEWS AGENCY SAYS U.S. WARPLANE VIOLATED IRAN TERRITORY, FORCED TO LAND IN IRAN...
Pentagon denies...

This brings back very bad memories of another democrat administration and 444 long days.

However, it could help McCain

[Jane Whitman]

Apparently, crisis averted:

The US Falcon and all those aboard left Iran for Afghanistan after receiving takeoff permission from Iranian authorities.

[Charlie (Colorado)]

Thanks, Hit, Clarice.

I look over the morning's headlines and it occurs to me that the worst thing the media does is muddle facts so that busy but intelligent voters are left without any factual basis opne which to judge charges and counter charges and vote emotionally.

Yeah.