G. Gordon Liddy: John McCain Finds His Own Radical

John McCain has had a field day with Barack Obama's tenuous associations with Bill Ayers, a former member of the Weather Underground who is now a Chicago professor.

Obama has said repeatedly that Ayers' radical past (he was involved in a handful of bombings in the 1960s) occurred when Barack was just a child, and he repudiates those actions. Nevertheless, McCain wants more. He claimed recently:

"I think not only a repudiation but an apology for ever having anything to do with an unrepentant terrorist is due the American people."

Now, however, 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."

For those who are unaware, Liddy helped plan the Watergate break-in that would cost Nixon his presidency and landed Liddy a four-year jail sentence.

But Liddy's career of inflammatory statements and actions exceed his Watergate actions.

Liddy, on Vitenam:

"I wanted to bomb the Red River dykes [sic]. It would have drowned half the country and starved the other half. There would have been no way the Viet Cong could have operated if we had the will-power to do that."

Liddy, advising Branch Davidians how to defend themselves from ATF agents during a radio show:

"If the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms insists upon a firefight, give them a firefight. Just remember, they're wearing flak jackets and you're better off shooting for the head."

Liddy, on the impact Adolf Hitler had on him as a child:

When he listened to Hitler on the radio, it "made me feel a strength inside I had never known before," he explains. "Hitler's sheer animal confidence and power of will [entranced me]. He sent an electric current through my body."

Comments

[ThePeoriaKid]

03:02 AM on 05/06/2008

Liddy, all you have going for you is you are in a free country that serves the rich and powerful. Umm, well, they used to call us free. Thanks to people like you, we ALL pay the price. You make people like Bill Clinton seem normal.(He'll get his, trust me) And I'm certain you know exactly what I'm talking about. I'm not a "Rhodes Scholar", but I'm hip enough to know you are not what ANY "creator" had in mind. You are a tyrant's dream, a true soldier of the dark side. And you're proud of that stature, I'm sure. Scum, pure and simple. You are simple. Complicated? Nah.. just simple. You're a rock. Simple as a rock. Pure. You have little to show for your efforts. Money? You have no idea how good it feels not to have any. And I hope you never will. You are simply a rock devoid of any natural feeling. If there is a God, he cast you as you are. Sorry bud, but you sold out, PURE and SIMPLE. You followed the script you were handed, I reckon. Choices? I doubt you ever had any. Pure evil never does.

[Redrover666]

04:38 PM on 05/06/2008

So stop trying to hide your feelings.
Tell this man how you really feel about him.

[mamacat]

02:57 AM on 05/06/2008

The comment about the Red River dykes is very important. During the Vietnam War, Nixon had the moral courage to not do something that would have helped the U.S. in the short run, but which would have been an indefensible human rights violation. Today, with the neo-con hijacked Republican party, those Vietnamese civilians would be toast. For these people, no immorality is too great in the name of making America "great;" just ask the Iraqis.

[MaracaKabob]

02:29 AM on 05/06/2008

Liddy looks like a QTip that was used to pull a flea from a dead dogs ear.

[UndercoverBlackMan]

02:21 AM on 05/06/2008

Ummm... at least Liddy "paid his debt to society."

[ThePeoriaKid]

03:06 AM on 05/06/2008

You mean he was executed? Ummm... I think he's still alive pal.

[CAPTAINSKIPPY]

11:52 PM on 05/05/2008

Celebrity criminal GGLiddy keeps pretending he is a patriot, despite his direct involvement in efforts to subvert democratic elections in the USA. Tho he was caught, and in Nixon's words, "mollycoddled by the courts" with a short sentence, he persisted in obstructing justice withholding most details of his and E. Howard Hunts episodes and ties to Nixon and the Bush family. Yet ironically, GWmdB has failed to give him the same level of recognition that McLame has. Nice that MagCane is taking up the slack for the current WWashH.

[Vik]

11:14 PM on 05/05/2008

The next time that Ayers is covered, I hope that the media covers this.

[DocJerome]

11:12 PM on 05/05/2008

Crazy.

[JMEB]

10:10 PM on 05/05/2008

My god, that Hitler quote helps explain his aesthetic...

[AnnoyedCanuck]

09:57 PM on 05/05/2008

Years ago, I read "Will", Liddy's autobiography. Weirdest f*ckin' book I've ever made my way through. As a boy, Liddy was a sissy who hated his weakness. He set out to turn himself into the toughest of the tough guys. He became almost a caricature of masculinity - thoughout his life he has taken every opportunity to prove his toughness, as if his maleness was constantly at issue. There's an odd insecurity that runs through the book, including many asides and unfunny jokes about gays.

I think Liddy has spent his life proving to himself he isn't a fag. Funny thing is, he's a big admirer of J. Edgar Hoover. Takes one to know one, I suppose.

[chronic]

09:19 PM on 05/05/2008

Good gawd, Liddy looks like an evil alien!!

[libmatters]

10:37 PM on 05/05/2008

Or a villain from an Austin Powers movie.

[Enid]

08:27 PM on 05/05/2008

The two of them make a great pair of nuts.

At first seeing the picture /glance/ headline
it accrued too me McCain had picked Liiddy as his Vice President.

NOT !.

[RobtBrock]

08:16 PM on 05/05/2008

Liddy is probably working on the Nixon Cloning Project in Brazil.

[BEHM777]

08:10 PM on 05/05/2008

I'll take Dr. Jeremiah Wright over G. Gordon Liddy any and everyday. Amazing how putrid the media has become. I wonder if they will pick this up and beat it to death...

[h20bird]

08:05 PM on 05/05/2008

1) GGL is irrelevant. You just gave him more publicity than he's had in a decade.
2) No doubt McCain will continue to enthrall us with his swift-boat-esque strategies during the next 6 months, but that doesn't mean stooping to his (or Rove's) level is a good idea.

Let's let this non-news die, shall we? Can I get a witness?

[LeoMarvin]

08:32 PM on 05/05/2008

If McCain rejected these tactics re: Wright and Ayers, I'd agree. But the sad truth is that such tactics work. So if you're going to let your opponent use them against you without at least countering with your own to rob his of their power, you may as well not run for office. Because you will lose.

[ObamaOhio08]

07:45 PM on 05/05/2008

Hmmm... I wonder if Liddy has any ties to Doug Coe. They both love Hitler.

Just throwin' it out there....