Another name in guilt by association

I am simply not surprised anymore with what the McCain campaign comes up with. Soon they are going to start claiming that Obama is the antichrist. Throughout this campaign, they have managed to stoke fears that Obama is muslim (like simply being one is a dangerous thing, but the fact that Obama is actually christian is not known to many people), link him to all sorts of associations with crooks, sometimes simply on the basis of Obama being in the same room with a person, lie about his tax plan for the middle class, continue to charge that the media is biased (to innoculate their lies). Now they claim Barack Obama is associated with the Weathermen (Obama was 8 when they were active!). There is a difference between an casual acquaintance, and an undeniable influence on someone's decisions. Yes, indeed Obama has gone into attack mode as well, but his attacks are based on far more relevant associations like McCain's deep links with Lobbyists (the McCain campaign is both financially supported and staffed by lobbies, and he has demonstrated his culpability to corrupt commercial influence thru the Keating 5 scandal), McCain's dangerous healthcare plan (taxing your healthcare benefits to give you healthcare tax credits), his proposal to open up social security for investment decisions (good idea, but also adding considerable risk to people's security net), and McCain's behavior (claiming that the fundamentals of our economy is strong, and then messing up the bailout talks for political gain, his impulsive my-way-or-the-highway approach to foreign policy, his irresponsible selection of Palin), his tactics of dividing the electorate on choices that do not matter to the challenges we are facing today (guns, abortion, gay marriage etc), and his unethical attempts at voter caging across swing states to disqualify democrat votes. So while both campaigns have gone negative, we need to take things into perspective, and understand the difference between mud slinging versus relevant criticism, they are very different things. I have given up trying to convince the hard-core right wingers, and racially prejudiced people, because these are a group that have been completely swayed by their own preconceived notions about a candidate they have not even tried to read up about. This group has been hugely affected by John McCain's systematic strike at the media establishment (so they can say anything they want), to believe only what John McCain is saying, and have been programmed to allow their prejudice to claim that Obama is not experienced enough. TRUTH IS, YOU CAN HIRE EXPERIENCE AND YOU CAN BUY KNOWLEDGE, BUT WHAT YOU CANNOT CHANGE IS A PERSON'S JUDGMENT AND THE FUNDAMENTAL MORAL COMPASS THAT GUIDES IT. I am hoping that the Independent voters and undecided voters, who tend to be more deliberate, and inquisitive in their considerations would be able to make these critical distinctions.

I as a senior citizen and fixed income would like to know how mr obama is going to fix our enconomy one i do not feel like he would be a good presidend not that he is afraican american it is that the news media has made him out to be the second coming or that he id president kennedy second he does not qualified for that iwasraised with 12 kids in arksansas my mom died when i was 10 i didnt have the privedlige of someone putting me thru school i did that when i was46 i just wished that senator would be honest with all of us he has a lovely family his kids go to a private school and they dont need anything this is my point us seniors we need help not need help not a fairy tale story hope this not offend anyone thank you

It's just been reported by a majors U. S. newspaper that the author of "Obama Nation" who was attempting to visit Keyna has been detained by the Keyna government for investigation.

Also have your seem the UTube video of the black middle school students in Kansas City in uniform and marching with these hands folded chanting Obama propoganda? Remember the "Youths for Hitler"?

It's starting, folks, 30s and 40s Germany all over. Bye, bye democracy, hello socialism

Jack Silva, that author was paid to go to "consult" with a missionary group in Kenya. He did not have "work" papers....that is why he was detained. It works the same as it does in the USA. If you not from this country and are going to work here, you have to have work papers.

Jack Silva.

Did you see the movie/documentary called Jesus Camp? Little Hitlers perhaps even more than anything Obama would come up with. Scary stuff when we train our children to be little NeoCons.

By the way we are not heading toward socialism. We are already there except we are getting all the bad crap of it.

1. Barack Obama admitted to intentionally filing false income tax returns to defraud the IRS by not claiming thousands of dollars in gifts Obama and his family received from William Ayres and Ayres's company. Years later, when the IRS noticed Ayres's company had written off the gifts to Obama as business expenses, Obama fessed up and admitted filing false returns and made a "donation" to the U.S. Treasury to cover the amount he defrauded American tax payers. (Committing tax fraud is one of the least offensive things Barack Obama has done over his career, but this article just focuses on his role in the Ayres Weathmen Terrorist group, and the Lincoln Savings and Loan scandal of the late 1990's-early 2000's).

Obama also leaked information about the Ayres Weathmen Terrorist group to the press multiple times in an effort to appear above the other Senators in the scandal. A 1989 Phoenix New Times article summed it up best with their title - Obama: The Most Reprehensible of the Ayres Weathmen Terrorist group.

2. Barack Obama's wife, Michelle Obama, along with her father, made a $359,000 investment in retail property owned by William Ayres in 1996, a year before Barack Obama first met with federal regulators on behalf of Ayres. Ayres was later convicted on 73 counts of fraud, conspiracy, and other crimes. Years later, Michelle Obama sold her investment for $15,000,000.

Wow the emptyheaded rightwing nut jobs still singing the "Socialism" mantra ... without even understanding what it means.
Bush administration just signed the biggest bailout ever for the banks, insurance co's and auto industry and you numbnuts still think its the Dems who are "socialist".

Of course, Jack, because anytime anyone LIKES their elected leader, it automatically equates them with Hitler.

Keep drinking the Republican Kool-Aid.

How else can McCain win the elections now? Watch as Obama's race comes into play more and more.

I would not be surprised if there are direct ads asking voters not to vote for a black man in select districts.

And all McCain really needed to do was to pick someone more intellectually curious than Palin, and kept a stable appearance. He'd have coasted to a win with a narrow margin.

Nora,
Seems you are missing a lot of facts. John McCain and Sara Palin's parents were able to afford to put their kids through college. In fact Sara got to go for six years. On the other hand Barack had to work hard and put himself through college, just like I did. He worked with poor people in Chicago instead of taking the high paying jobs. I have never heard of McCain or Palin doing anything to help society, they have only worked to help gain political advantage. If you haven't heard Obama's economic plan, you are not listening. John McCain wants to cut medicare. As a senior you should be very concerned. The very wealthy McCain doesn't care about you.

It is so sad that we The American People are subjected to so many lies, and by the way they are already accusing Obama of being the anti christ as I received it via email. I already knew that Bush has been the Anti-Christ for 8 years now and if we really are concerned about that well I doubt the two who are running are not ones as well.

Which in the end leaves us to wonder who do we vote for? Who is telling the truth and who is not? At this point it disgusts me, and I will vote based on the lesser of 2 Evils. How else can you vote? Then you cross your fingers and hope the one that gets in there may possibly make some positive changes.

Remember even as a president you still have to fight the House to pass anything through and it will always be about money and how much more they "The White House" will make sure to get and keep us deep in debt. So don't loose a nights sleep and stress because in the end it is not worth it! You can't believe what comes of their mouths right now because they all lie, they want to win!

Who will be the lessor of TWO Evils? The Anti-Christ "as they call him" is on his way out, so we already had one. Look at that pathetic soul, and look at what he did. He was even voted in again, the first 4 years wasn't enough people wanted more! Now look! I'll be curious and scared to see what lies ahead of us. I hope we survive it!

Jack Sliva, Why don't you go back to school and get some education? Obama has nothing at all to do with Hitler--it is all nonsense. And the Bush years are what has destroyed much of our democracy, Jack. The Patriot Act, for instance. All those "signing statements" and lies about the weapons of mass destruction that never existed, the non-existent connection between 9-11 and Iraq that FOX "news" pushed so hard that folks like you were fooled...the list goes on, Jack. Take an English course and Political Science. Just ask if you might "sit in" so there are no costs for you. You might learn how to think.

To the senior citizen that was wondering what Barack Obama would do for their concerns, I think it would be beneficial for you to know that McCain is proposing a large cut to Medicare and Medicaid. Obama would get rid of income taxes for seniors living on a fixed income below a certain level. Just an FYI...

McCain has always had his taxpayer funded government health care...

For anyone not aware of the Ayres Weathmen Terrorist group, here's a very simple summary:
William Ayres owned a savings and loan in California. He was illegally using the money of his bank's customers to give loans to himself and friends that they didn't have to repay, and to speculate on risky real estate investments, which was strictly forbidden by U.S. law (and was one cause of the Great Depression).

When the feds found out what was going on and launched an investigation into Ayres and his company, Ayres called Weathmen's supporting U.S. Senators whom he had wined, dined, and lavished with hundreds of thousands of dollars in campaign donations and personal gifts.

Ayres asked the Weathmen's Senators to tell the feds to bug off, and the Weathmen Terrorist group Senators, later known as the Ayres Weathmen Terrorist group, obliged, meeting with federal investigators twice and pressuring them to stop investigating Ayres's crimes. They bought Ayres some time, but the feds didn't give up and eventually Ayres was nailed. The reason the feds were so persistent was because Ayres wasn't playing with mere chump change. Ayres blew $3.4 billion through illegal personal loans and bad investments, and the FDIC had to reimburse Ayres's customers who had been ripped off.

(Background Info - Ayres wasn't the only Savings and Loan owner who was committing fraud, 20% of the S&L's that failed during that three year period were found to have been caused by fraud and/or insider trading. The failure of the Lincoln Savings and Loan and other S&L's pushed the country into a recession, costing the U.S. government $126 billion dollars in FDIC insurance payouts to investors. All of this came to a crescendo during the first year of the presidency of George W. Bush, who pushed through the S&L bailout plan to keep the economy afloat.)

When the involvement of the Ayres Weathmen Terrorist group was made public, a scandal erupted and the Senate Ethics Committee launched their own investigation into whether the Ayres Weathmen Terrorist group had violated Senate ethics rules. The other four Senators left office either immediately or within one term. Barack Obama was formally rebuked by the Senate Ethics Committee for exercising "poor judgment" for intervening with the federal regulators on behalf of Ayres, but because Obama accepted Ayres's gifts of travel and vacations to Bahama while Obama was a member of the House of Representatives (he served one term there before moving to the Senate), the Senate claimed they had no jurisdiction to censure Obama. (However the meetings to pressure federal regulators occurred during the first few months of Obama serving in the Senate in 2006, so that excuse doesn't hold up)

Barack Obama then went back to the drawing board and re-invented himself as "the Man of Hope and Change" and the media gobbled it up. "Tax-Evading-Criminal" doesn't sound as catchy as "Straight-Shooting-War-Hero".
Ever since the scandal, when Obama lies today, it's never questioned, because he's a "Man of Hope". The man has more skeletons in his closet than any politician in history. The Ayres Weathmen Terrorist group is just one bone.

After reading the Slate article, ask yourself: if Obama or any other candidate had a scandal such as the Ayres Weathmen Terrorist group in their past, would the mainstream media never question it?

Could any other candidate even have a political career after the Ayres Weathmen Terrorist group? For the other four Senators, the answer is no. And while William Ayres went to prison for his role in the scandal, Barack Obama swept it under the rug and could soon be President of the United States of America.

Jack Sliva ,
Hello socialism? comparing a video of a child chanting Obama that you watched on "youtube" to the youths for hitler is ubsurd. Why would anyone think that? I understand being loyal to your party but Republican politics are what got us into the economic mess we are in right now, I think it is a time for change so lets give the Democrats a chance to try and fix this mess.

wow! Folks, if you are going to make comments (scary or otherwise) please make sure to have your facts correct. Socialism is an economic principle, not a political system. Most successful, strong democracies around the world have socialist economic policies, which, at their core, are based on the principle of protecting "Joe six-pack" from the greed of the wealthy and powerful.

Jack Sliva--if you are going to make absurd connections, please come out and identify yourself as a racist moron that wants to keep our country in the dark ages.

Amazing to me that this campaign is bringing out the character of people in a way that no other election has... the racial profiling and fear-driven hate of what we don’t understand is real across America. It is convenient to forget that all our grandparents and great-grandparents were immigrants unless you are Native American. It is convenient to be fearful of an “enemy” who looks different, and the republican party knows how to play on those fears very, very well.

I find it hopeful that Obama is leading the polls. That maybe people are starting to realize that the fear-driven propaganda works to distract the masses while the government is stealing all the money and resources, leaving nothing left for the future. The environment is failing, we are running out of fuel, we are losing our jobs, we are losing our social security, our health care system is failing, our kids are in substandard schools and cannot afford college, one in four mammals faces extinction, the polar caps are melting, our sons and daughters are dying for a war based on lies…. But as long as the government can keep you frightened of “terrorists” you won’t notice any of this.

Middle class Americans are being abused, and it amazes me that they can be so easily distracted by such predictable and calculated fear tactics. But more than that, I find it extremely encouraging that Obama is winning in the polls, and I think he will actually win this race! Good for America, and good for the whole world.

On a side not: We need to stop thinking of ourselves as separate from the rest of the world. We are in a global crisis, and what happens to one part of us affects the rest of us, like organs in the body. We really are one race of people.

TJB, I hate to break it to you, but that is the McCain/Keating 5 story you just told. Not the Obama/Ayers story! Get your stories straight!

Jack Silva, Nazi's were not Socliasts; they were fascists. Fascists are a Republican/right wing thing; both in terms of beliefs and practice.

Ahh anon you believe th main media BS,

”What a fool believes he sees (or hears) no wise man has the power to reason away”…. Quote “Doobie Brothers”.

To gmlawrence:

I tried to check out your source for the article in the Phoenix News Times and could find no information. Please provide a link to that article if it does actually exist. I find it odd that such an article would exist because Obama was 8 years old at the time the Weatherman group existed, and he was 12 by the time the group disbanned. I think you are confused about the Lincoln Savings & Loan scandal - that is the scandel that McCain was involved in - does the Keating 5 ring a bell? Maybe to refresh your memory; McCain was one of the Keating 5.

The Lincoln

Yeah... TJB... You need to do some research!

There is soooo much wrong in your post I dont know where to start. The Lincoln S & L scandal was in the late 80's and it was McCain/Keating 5... you got your scandels wrong man! Keating ran Lincoln S&L and McCain was censured for "poor judgement"

Go to U-tube and listen to the Keith Olbermann
Go to U-Tuibe and watch Keith Olbermann's
show from last night 10/6 about the great Sara
> Palin and her association with a Terroist in
> Alaska. Oh and lets not forget her associaton with
> the crazy minister that chases withes in Kenya
> that prayed over her for her to be elected as
> govemor.Pretty scary and McCain said he vetted her yeah right.
So who is guilty now by association
>Obama/Biden 08

Wait until they start trotting out McCain's close ties to G. Gordon Liddy. I'm going to enjoy watching McCain try to squirm out of that one.

TJB, you must be completely clueless. You wrote out the whole McCain/Keating scandal and incorrectly stated it was Obama/Weathermen scandal. Unfortunately for you and McCain there really is no Obama/Weathermen scandal. This is easily proven because the Weathermen group was active from about 1968 to 1972 and in 1968 Obama was only 7 years old. And just in case you can't do the math that means by 1972 Obama was only 11 years old. And if he young age isn't enough to prove he wasn't part of the Weathermen group maybe the fact that from 1967 to 1971 Obama was living in Indonesia. Then in 1971 he moved back to Hawaii.

Nora,
Please learn to spell, capitalize, and use a comma or period on occasion. You're not doing your party any service by ranting online like an illiterate fool.

McCain is old friends with G. Gordon Liddy, and always has kind words for him. Let's look at who G. Gordon Liddy is (from Wikipedia):
"Liddy masterminded the first break-in of the Democratic National Committee headquarters in the Watergate building in 1972,"
"At CRP [Committee to Re-Elect President Nixon], Liddy concocted several plots, some far-fetched, intended to embarrass the Democratic opposition. These included firebombing the Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C. (where classified documents leaked by Daniel Ellsberg were being stored), kidnapping anti-war protest organizers and transporting them to Mexico during the Republican National Convention."
"In 1980, Liddy published an autobiography, titled Will, which sold more than a million copies and was made into a television movie. In it he states that he once made plans with Hunt to kill journalist Jack Anderson"

#22 Eddie, isn't it amazing to you that posters like TJB are so ill-informed? Or maybe it's just that they WANT to believe that his "story" was the Obama/Ayres story! Either way, they are the people who are willing to be the sheep that are duped by their despicable shepherd, John McCain

I would be honored to be tied to Singlaub,
he is a great American.

Susan,
Your response to Nora was perfect. I couldnt have said it better myself. We continue to hear these peripheral complaints about Obama not identifying with the regular American. The people saying this then point to a privileged John McCain as identifying with the American people.
After months of listening to both sides, it has become clear to me that there is about 40% of America that simply will not give logic a chance and have made up their minds to hate Obama regardless of what you or I say. If its not his name, its the lie that he is a muslim. If its not that, its the fact that Mr. Ayers was a terrorist and therefore, Obama, his neighbor who happened to serve on the same board as him is also a terrorist. I am truly hopeful that the majority of America is using common sense of following fake conservatives/Christians blindly for the past 8 years.

TJB... (post 14) you are a genius. Irony goes right over the head of 99% of the public. I'll spell it out for them. It's a joke, people. Here's another analogy: what if Michelle Obama (Like Cindy) stole drugs from a charity to feed her unfortunate drug habit? Would this eliminate her African American husband from serious contention? You bet it would.. What if she belonged to a group that advocated secession from the US (like Todd)? You betcha! Double standards abound ...

Let's see, republicans are complaining about entitlements and 'big gubmit' when their candidate for president and his family have been sucking at the public teat for four generations!

both of these bozo's need to focus on us ( the american voter) and quit with the politics as usual junk and focus on what we want and need and i dont care if you support mccain or obama this really is pathetic this country is in trouble and the best we get out of either candidate is attacks on each other. is that what is best fro america?
let me be the first to say NO!

Your reporting is flawed in describing both the Ayers and Wright smears, on the one hand, and the Keating attack, on the other, as "guilt by association." Yes, you "associate" with your pastor or with someone who is on some charity board with you, but McCain's dilemma in the Keating Five scandal is not that he simply "associated" with the man. Lord, he was financed along with those other four senators to the tune of $100,000 each, and, instead of doing the state's (read: taxpayers') business, he used his Senate seat to push for precisely the kind of deregulation that Keating believed that his money would buy. That's not "association," that's aiding and abetting. There's a difference.

Jack Silva... get a CLUE.... Socialism is like "left"... Nazi Germany was like "EXTREME RIGHT" and dictatorial. I just wish a few more voters were "ejacated folk"

Did someone say G.Gordon Libby??

... the Chicago Tribune is pointing out McCain's own radical associations with G. Gordon Liddy:
................................................................................................................................................
How close are McCain and Liddy? At least as close as Obama and Ayers appear to be. In 1998, Liddy's home was the site of a McCain fundraiser. Over the years, he has made at least four contributions totaling $5,000 to the senator's campaigns--including $1,000 this year.

Last November, McCain went on his radio show. Liddy greeted him as "an old friend," and McCain sounded like one. "I'm proud of you, I'm proud of your family," he gushed. "It's always a pleasure for me to come on your program, Gordon, and congratulations on your continued success and adherence to the principles and philosophies that keep our nation great."

The Ayers story pertaining to Obama has been vetted and revetted, including on objective sites like truth.org and politifact.com
The verdict: THERE'S NOTHING TO IT.
Let's call it what it is. A desperate attempt by McCain to divert attention away from his own massive failings, most notably, having an economic policy that is an exact replica of the last eight year's of massively failed Bush policy.
Any sucker that falls for the Ayers story and pushes the lever for McBush gets what they deserve, should McBush win (extremely unlikely).

I find it hillarious that those who are afraid of TRUTH --- accuse upstanding people of the very crimes they are guilty of themselves. Obama still has no substance to his campaign. He waits until the intelligence of Sarah Palin or John McCain reveal their unique strategy and then...lo and behold...the messiah wannabe touts those very ideas for his very own. He does this because he is an empty suit...empty minded toward the good of the people and is afraid if he speaks from his heart, he will expose his real agenda...take over America...turn it's strength into mush so the terrorists can come in and take the country without a so-called shot shot. ...