The Guilt By Association Game
by BarbinMD
Sun Oct 05, 2008 at 02:15:12 PM PDT

As discussed here earlier, with John McCain facing the prospect of getting his ass handed to him in November, he has decided that the mavericky thing to do is to swift boat Barack Obama by playing the guilt by association game. Great idea, Senator Straight Talk...but it's no fun to play alone, so let's add a couple of more players:

There's McCain's association with G. Gordon Liddy:

Liddy served four and a half years in prison in connection with his conviction for his role in the Watergate break-in and the break-in at the office of the psychiatrist of Daniel Ellsberg, the military analyst who leaked the Pentagon Papers. Liddy has acknowledged preparing to kill someone during the Ellsberg break-in "if necessary"; plotting to murder journalist Jack Anderson; plotting with a "gangland figure" to murder Howard Hunt to stop him from cooperating with investigators; plotting to firebomb the Brookings Institution; and plotting to kidnap "leftist guerillas" at the 1972 Republican National Convention -- a plan he outlined to the Nixon administration using terminology borrowed from the Nazis. (The murder, firebombing, and kidnapping plots were never carried out; the break-ins were.) During the 1990s, Liddy reportedly instructed his radio audience on multiple occasions on how to shoot Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms agents and also reportedly said he had named his shooting targets after Bill and Hillary Clinton.

Liddy has donated $5,000 to McCain's campaigns since 1998, including $1,000 in February 2008. In addition, McCain has appeared on Liddy's radio show during the presidential campaign, including as recently as May. An online video labeled "John McCain On The G. Gordon Liddy Show 11/8/07" includes a discussion between Liddy and McCain, whom Liddy described as an "old friend." During the segment, McCain praised Liddy's "adherence to the principles and philosophies that keep our nation great," said he was "proud" of Liddy, and said that "it's always a pleasure for me to come on your program."

Point: McCain

And from Paul Begala:

But John McCain sat on the board of a very right-wing organization, it was the U.S. Council for World Freedom, it was chaired by a guy named John Singlaub, who wound up involved in the Iran contra scandal. It was an ultra conservative, right-wing group. The Anti-Defamation League, in 1981 when McCain was on the board, said this about this organization. It was affiliated with the World Anti-Communist League – the parent organization – which ADL said "has increasingly become a gathering place, a forum, a point of contact for extremists, racists and anti-Semites."

Point: McCain

And we can't forget the mini-Maverick and her close and personal relationship with an America-hating secessionist group:

So, we have Sarah Palin, actively involved with a secessionist group that professes its hatred for America, and whose husband was a card-carrying member of the group for seven years. And don't forget, Todd Palin isn't just the spouse of an elected official. He has been called a Shadow Governor, attending private meetings, being sent on fact finding trips, and being copied on emails that were later "prohibited from being released to the public due to executive privilege." This man would be a 72-year old heartbeat and a pillow away from the presidency.

Point: Palin

And let's add Palin's pesky, but largely ignored, preacher problem. Thomas Muthee, the preacher that Palin said helped her become governor:

...founded his ministry with a witchhunt against a Kenyan woman who he accused of causing car accidents through demonic spells.

And while praying with Palin standing by his side, Muthee:

...implored Jesus to protect Palin from "the spirit of witchcraft." The video archive of that startling sermon was scrubbed from Wasilla Assembly of God’s website, but now it has reappeared.

And during that same prayer, Muthee also said:

The second area whereby God wants us, wants to penetrate in our society is in the economic area. The Bible says that the wealth of the wicked is stored up for the righteous. It's high time that we have top Christian businessmen, businesswomen, bankers, you know, who are men and women of integrity running the economics of our nations. That's what we are waiting for. That's part and parcel of transformation. If you look at the -- you know -- if you look at the Israelites, that's how they work. And that's how they are, even today.

Yes, Palin listened to him calling for God to take banking and business out of the hands of Jews and later praised him and his sermon.

Point: Palin

Oh, and one more that we can't forget. John McCain's association with four men...in fact, if it wasn't for John McCain's intimate association with them, the Savings & Loan crisis that cost the American taxpayers $2.6 billion, would have been known as the Keating 4 instead of the Keating 5 scandal:

The Keating Five became synonymous for the kind of political influence that money can buy. As the S&L failure deepened, the sheer magnitude of the losses hit the press. Billions of dollars had been squandered. The five senators were linked as the gang who shilled for an S&L bandit.

S&L "trading cards" came out. The Keating Five card showed Charles Keating holding up his hand, with a senator's head adorning each finger. McCain was on Keating's pinkie.

Point: McCain

And on the other side we have Barack Obama who served on charitable boards, along with many others, with William Ayers, who was involved with a radical group when Obama was 8 years old. Oh, and they share a zip code.

Point: Zero

And the winner is, McCain and Palin. But when you think about it, this game really isn't fair. While Obama had no association with Ayers' radical past and has repeatedly denounced it, both McCain and Palin were personally involved with all of their players. But let's let them enjoy their victory here. It's the only one they'll get.

Fred, the only thing Sarah changed was the subject.

She changed her image but not her issues. She might not be a washington insider but she is supercoached by them (and the ones from bush's former advisers). Anyway, it is always good to see that a woman can deliver but the bottom line is Joe Biden is great and makes a skilled and thorough VP. I trust him to reconcile us with our allies, especially in those times of crisis where everything goes wrong in our country and restore our image and pride in the world.
Right now we are mocked, compared to the Fall of the great Babylon..

We need to make a U-turn from the last 8 years, just for the sake of not pursuing a proven failed domestic and international policy.
She might be a great debater (but not great in interviews) but she definitely chose the wrong horse to ride. Mccain is not a Maverick at least on the economy, foreign policy, war on terror and more importantly on helping the middle class. If small-town Joe six packs and Hockey moms do not understand what is at stake for them and their children then let it be.
You can't save people in spite of themselves.
They'd rather have a surgery done by a likeable surgeon than by a skilled and experienced one. As for Mccain's experience vs Obama. McCain has certainly a lot more experience but like Bush, his experience served the wrong purposes and led the country to the wrong direction.

A lack of "experience" in national security and military 6 years ago would have spared America the shame of that war.

KABA Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Shripathi Kamath Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > A student who scores 3% on an exam and fails,
> gets
> > an F.
> >
> > If the student improves to 36% on a subsequent
> > exam but still fails, she still gets an F.
> >
> > The fact that she was 12 times better is of
> little
> > consequence.
> >
> > The fact that a supposedly smarter student in
> her
> > class has been scoring in the low twenties and
> > getting Fs is also of little consequence.
> >
> > Palin was a TV anchor. She is good at reading
> off
> > a teleprompter. She is good at answering
> > questions to which she has crammed answers.
> She
> > is good at memorization. So was Miss South
> > Carolina, till they asked her a question for
> which
> > she had not been trained to respond.
> >
> > If and when she can show that she understands
> what
> > she memorized and can respond to questions that
> > are being asked rather than blather responses
> that
> > she has memorized, you can start handing out
> > passing grades.
> >
> > As it stands, she demonstrates no intellectual
> > curiosity to even be in consideration.
> >
> > Like indithinker said, Fred, this endorsement
> of
> > yours should be an embarrassment to yourself.
> > Miss South Carolina too, looked good the next
> day
> > on TV shows in comparison.
>
> I know you wrote she, but did you really mean
> "they". Biden memorizes votes, policies,
> statistics, names, places and events too.

Correct, and when asked a follow up, he knows the subject that he memorized. That is the difference. Palin does not. And heaven help her if she was asked anything her handlers did not prepare for.

I am not picking on Palin, for example, because she got the name of the commander in Afghanistan wrong. (And just so that you do not think I am being one-sided, Biden had his share too, when he cited the wrong article of the Constitution).

She was basically only prepared for a certain set of questions, most of which were anticipated ones. When the question was slightly different from what was asked, she basically went back to the same old song and dance.

Those gaffes are part and parcel of any public speaker, although some like Reagan, Bill Clinton, were/are far better at not making them.




> He
> crammed for this one too. Neither should be
> called to mat for this....it's the way it is.
> They had to, because there was no telepromter.
> Not sure why you even brought that point up. In
> fact, just about everything you wrote is
> completely irrelevant, Miss South Carolina? Let
> it go.
>

I will as soon as McCain lets her go, or she improves.


> Given some better articulation on your part, you
> might have made a good point. Memorizing doesn't
> make a person smart or adept, it only allows a
> person to have a number of facts at their disposal
> to make good decisions. How you put that data
> together, interpret that data, that's the key.

And Palin did NONE of that.


> Palin hasn't proven she can have an original
> thought using the data she has stuffed in her
> brain over the last month. I'm not saying she
> can't, only that she hasn't.

There is plenty of evidence that she can't. I am not saying that she can't, just that there is plenty of evidence that she cannot.

What does she do well?

Speak uninterrupted on something she has planned to speak on.

What doesn't she do well? Respond when someone probes just a little bit more.

When McCain chose her, and was asked about her foreign policy experience, Russia's proximity to Alaska was mentioned.

Now, she should know that this would be asked. She had time to prepare for this, possibly change the reason, possibly explain what could have been said. Obviously no one coached her to say anything in response.

And what does she offer.

In Miss South Carolina style, this:

"As Putin rears his head and comes into the airspace of the United States of America, where do they go? It's Alaska. It's just right over the border. It is from Alaska that we send those out to make sure that an eye is being kept on this very powerful nation, Russia, because they are right there, they are right next to our state."

Note that this wasn't something that simply sprung on her. This came *after* that thought was seeded in the media by the McCain campaign at least a week before, and *after* she had been ridiculed once already.



> Palin (and for that
> matter McCain against Obama) had some great
> opportunities to really knock Biden down.

Not Palin. A Mitt Romney or a Giuliani would have. Palin does not have the intellectual curiosity to even sense the opportunity.

> She
> passed, or missed, because either she thought to
> slow, or that issue of manipulating data in her
> head is a real one.
>

Anyone who will not examine the cause of a problem, and urges others not to do so, but instead go on with a fix like she did with global warming has problems.



> In the end, I agree with you on one point, I
> think. Nothing of real importance happened last
> night. That's what you were trying to say
> correct?

Nope. I am saying that Palin is a disastrous pick, and it was real important to gain a lot more evidence of that. McCain should dump her and pick someone else. I do not want this disaster to represent my party in 2012.

A student who scores 3% on an exam and fails, gets an F.

If the student improves to 36% on a subsequent exam but still fails, she still gets an F.

The fact that she was 12 times better is of little consequence.

The fact that a supposedly smarter student in her class has been scoring in the low twenties and getting Fs is also of little consequence.

Palin was a TV anchor. She is good at reading off a teleprompter. She is good at answering questions to which she has crammed answers. She is good at memorization. So was Miss South Carolina, till they asked her a question for which she had not been trained to respond.

If and when she can show that she understands what she memorized and can respond to questions that are being asked rather than blather responses that she has memorized, you can start handing out passing grades.

As it stands, she demonstrates no intellectual curiosity to even be in consideration.

Like indithinker said, Fred, this endorsement of yours should be an embarrassment to yourself. Miss South Carolina too, looked good the next day on TV shows in comparison.