Obama Challenges Radio Station For Airing Ayers Smears

Chicago Tribune:

Just hours after Democrats formally nominated Barack Obama for president, his campaign launched a call-in offensive to WGN radio to protest the appearance Wednesday night of a conservative Obama critic on the "Extension 720 with Milt Rosenberg" talk show.

"WGN radio is giving right-wing hatchet man Stanley Kurtz a forum to air his baseless, fear-mongering terrorist smears," Obama's campaign wrote Wednesay in an e-mail urging supporters to flood the stations phone lines with complaints. "He's currently scheduled to spend a solid two-hour block from 9:00 to 11:00 p.m. pushing lies, distortions, and manipulations about Barack and University of Illinois professor William Ayers."

Read the whole story: Chicago Tribune

Comments

[milo9]

Obama's camp should be allowed equal time, on air, for rebuttal. He should be permitted to reach the same audience that the program had poisoned.

As a contemporaneous observer, I would report that Ayers and his ilk sold out in the seventies and have been yuppies in good standing for more than 25 years. Furthermore there are icons on the right who were freakin' Trotskyites during the sixties. It's ridiculous, whatever Ayers was charged with, he either was exonerated or paid his debt to society long ago.

Republicans have alot in common with the Stalinists who would send people to the Gulag because they had been in a group where an Anti-Stalinist joke was told years before. My God man, Barack was like 6 years old when Ayers was a fire-breathing radical.

[KBAR]

"He got into the files just yesterday, so we wanted to have him on to find out what he found. And, if at all possible, we wanted to get the Obama campaign, to get their side of the story," Christenson said. "That's why the uproar is kind of amazing, because we wanted the Obama campaign's take as well."

READ the whole article next time. Or just be a regular DimLib and bitchabout something you know nothing about.

[DrCahill]

Your harshness is uncalled for!

[Meggie]

Does John McCain condone "enhanced interrogation techniques" on American troops? After all, it's not torture.

[milo9]

I read it.

The person qouted as offering Obama a place on the program was an architect of the smear job, so immediately he's suspect, both to his truthfulness (all, yes, all Righties lie) about the offer, and the fairness of any stage that he is offering. As we have seen in every Republican activity, the devil's in the details. The rational thing to do, would be for Obama to insist on equal time to present his case independent of the dog and pony show that the Righties have set up. What's wrong with that?

Now, as to your bit of nastiness, if you voted for Bush in '04, after observing his play for a full term, I would suggest that you, a proven dolt, sit this election out. Your country would owe you a debt of gratitude.

[sawdustinhershoes]

I don't have to read an article to know about the 24/7 slander of Obama on Fox and am radio. WE THE PEOPLE own the airwaves. Did you know that regular FascistRepub? Since we own the airwaves, it is only fitting that there be 1/2 the 24/7 am radio and TV programs set aside to broadcast the virtues of Obama and to spread the truth about McCain's ever so shady past.

It's only fair.

Since that's not the case, Obama's only access to the airwaves is Air America and paid ads. What do you think it would cost McCain's campaign if he had to pay for the 24/7 advertising that he's getting for free? $billions.

What's really funny, though, is that even with all the free propaganda for him, McCain's still trailing in the polls.

btw, don't come up with the comment that people won't listen to progressive radio and that's why there aren't more progressive media outlets. That's pure hogwash. The media is owned by big business, their agenda is not that of progressives. The big business stranglehold on our media venues is happening because these people want to keep the very pro-business republicans in power, regardless of what it does to our country.

[fflores]

Interesting that WGN decided to put this interview on the same night in which the entire 0bama team is a little bit involved in something like the Democratic National Convention.

I am a fan of WGN, but this was obviously set up to give the right a open forum knowing that there would be hardly anyone available from the campaign to rebuke it.

[ChiGuy]

Calling on a radio station to halt giving a CLEARLY biased pundit unfettered access to millions, in order to smear Obama, isn't "muscling". It's demanding fairness. Had WGN offered a liberal an opportunity for a two hour rebuttal, this never would have been an issue.

[connorin]

THEY HAD A CHANCE AT THE EXACT SAME 2 FREAKIN HOURS

[Middleclassvotingbloc]

Republicans, the last breath of of dying evil dragon. They will fight until the very end to hang on to power.

[Plowboy]

Sadly, you are wrong. The Republicans are evil. But evil never dies. It does sometimes change colors. Watch out that it isn't migrating to the Democratic Party to continue its game.
And it will not give up its hold on our media until we re-establish the old rules that the Republicans eliminated.

[milo9]

So true, Plowboy, so true. Evils springs anew, look how the righties want to elect someone to finish the job of destroying the nation, the job that Bush started.

[vippy]

Maybe they will need that gay Crist of Florida to help them with the voting machines again.
I don't trust them. Did I not read here lately that the voting machine problems of the past have
not yet been fixed? Maybe that is why the networks are running negative ads about Obama
24/7, pick apart every sentence and the polls, yes, the polls, are even with McCain's. Are they
trying to tell us something?

[UKThom]

Charlie Crist, I presume, is the married straight man you speak of...

And for Pete's sake...sto­p using the word "gay" that way...it's just boneheaded this day and age. Not to mention highly offensive.

[Middleclassvotingbloc]

Florida now has the paper ballots. This will make it harder for the Rpublicans to steal the vote. I think you will see Florida turn purple this time. Florida should not be a red state.

[littlepuffycloud]

First, O is not 'passionate' enough in defending the endless lies spewed against him...then when he and his supporters attempt to stop the illegal smears, he's accused of trying to 'muscle' ?

[honeydiva]

watch idiot, just sit back and watch.

[DesertLight]

It is clear that this Ayers association could ruin O. Otherwise, he would have no concerns if he could prove otherwise.

[frappe]

The Republican party can be summed up in one phrase -- garbage in and garbage out.

These fools will not get away with their swiftboat efforts -- their blatant lies and deceptions -- which they hysterically employ in order to avoid "looking in the mirror" and facing the reality of their unprecedented and historic blunders and failures in just about every important facet of life and living and governance that there is.

[DesertLight]

You mean lies like, standing up the "phony soldiers" then back them up. Then cens0ring Rush for calling them out only to find that the guy was a farce. Harry Reid made a public a$$ out of himself for it. Yet, you dem0nize the right wing when you have trouble in your own camp.

[american2008]

KEATING 5 - KEATING 5 KEATING 5 - KEATING 5 - KEATING 5

[DesertLight]

You falsely assume that everyone who is a conservative blindly follows as you folks do. I have had many issues with JMC. I do not like him. I live in AZ and resent him for neglecting his own state.

But all you did is try to move the argument from your candidate with the typical "bait and switch" tactic that runs rampant here daily.

[SMP]

just another form of GOP swiftboat.­..........­..........­....hehehe­heee..on Ayers ruining O....not a snow balls chance in hell......­..........­.

[DesertLight]

Kerry would not have gotten swiftboated had he not tried to embellish his record. That is what you folks misunderstand. Had he tried NOT to make himself out to be something he wasn't. It wouldn't have happened. He lied and he got called on it.

Much like you feel these protesters are doing.

BTW can you give me an exact quote from Kurtz here you object to?

[Middleclassvotingbloc]

Desertlignt, have you ever known are associated with any who conducted their lives in away that you disagree with? And the bad conduct of the person happened when you were 8 years old? Should you be held responsible just because you know the person. This man is a professor and has long been apart of the community. This is all crazy. I think when this election is over their will be a lot of lawsuits filed, and they should be. These people should be taught a lesson, including Fox news.

[DesertLight]

I understand that. However, these new documents are "said" to establish a much closer relationship than was first stated. Let's have a look. That is all.

[filo]

What I like about this is it shows that Obama is not going to take any crap lying down. If the GOP tries to steal any states with blackbox voting schemes, Obama will fight it unlike Kerry.

[judyc]

Anybody know anything about the ad that McCain will run tonight during Obama's speech where he speaks directly to Obama?

McCain's campaign will only say it is "interesting" and will lampoon Obama's candidacy.

[littlepuffycloud]

They have no ideas of their own so they resort to the repugnicans usual MO: ridicule, mock and lie.

[rwe]

Read the story, the Obama campaign ,who's headquarters a re a few blocks away from WGN, was invited to participate but per the usual arrogance and knowing they can't defend they refused.

[kittyma]

why should they dignify and give credibility to pure S**T?

[joeyp404]

Especially when they can use strong arm tactics!

[shellshock30]

Hey Desertlight,

How about your boy McCain explain Carl H. Lindner Jr...it seems he has his own "Ayers" to worry about.

People who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones.

[DesertLight]

And the American people have a right to know about it. You should spend more time reading my posts or profile instead of ASSuming things. If you did you would know that I loathe JMC.

[american2008]

After reading your posts, I think it's obvious you loathe yourself also!

[Middleclassvotingbloc]

I hope you have a profile of John McCain and the Keating Five and the Neo-cons.

[KBAR]

Cincinnati millionaire Carl H Lindner Jr gave $250,000 to the national Democratic Party last year, citizens' lobbying group says

http://www-catalog.cpl.org/CLENIX/ACD-6193

[JohnTalbutt]

Nice try.. The link is phony.

[joeyp404]

How's that freedom of speech thing working out for you?

[kittyma]

Freedom of speech includes freedom to object and protest and organise a protest. Believe it or not , but not only those who smear liberals have freedom of speech. Although under Bush/Cheney, it appears that they tried to make it so.

[duchessdorleans]

Freedom of speech is freedom to express one's views and opinions, not freedom to to spread lies about a person to the detriment of their public image. That is called slander and it is illegal.

[Hedonist88]

hit these buggers hard and knock 'em out
we've had it with these swiftboaters

[harriscrl3]

If he is legal why the heck shouldnt he do it and its not muscling anyone. Huffpost need to be careful about their language its encourage folks to protest. Muscling would be getting his lawyer and threatening them if they had him on.

Carol

[oldwiseone]

slander is not legal. It especially is not American. A newspaper knows that one sided editorials are not balanced news.

[Pquilson]

Editorials are by definition not news, but opinion.

[rollingdivision]

Please explain how presenting the facts as documented in the records of the Annenberg Challenge which Obama was a leader, is a smear?

[johnu1974]

linking the actions to someone who was 8 years old when they took place is smearing. bill ayers and barack obama served on boards promoting education in illinois. oh BTW, bill ayers turned himself in and was found not guilty.

[littlepuffycloud]

It's the wording they used, which is illegal.

[oldwiseone]

OK, there are to conditions the law stipulates for a crime to have been committed. Actus reas and mens reas. The act itself and the intent. Both must be present. For example, a lady takeig anothers ladies purse out the store while the lady believed the purse was hers is not a crime, despite the fact that she took anothers purse. So the questin with Ayers is why did Obama have this relationship? From what I hear, Ayers was working toward improving the school system and founded the Annenberg project designed to give scholls million. He appointed Obama to be the director of this effort. So Obama's intent was not to acknowledge and leran from Ayers protest experience, but to help the schools.

When one is on a journey, one has to deal with the people met along the way.

[frappe]

It is smart of the Obama campaign to go after these swiftboat efforts with a vengeance. Don't let these fraudulent, deceptive, swiftboat-like fictional stories percolate in the public consciousness like Kerry did in 2004. Fight them hard from the very start. Expose those involved for the sewer rats and scum that they are.