In 2004, America's malleable mainstream media allowed itself to be manipulated by artful Republican operatives into devoting weeks of broadcast attention and drums of ink to unfairly desecrating John Kerry's genuine Vietnam heroics while obligingly muzzling serious discussion of George W. Bush's shameful wartime record of evasion and cowardice.
Last week found the American media once again boarding Republican swift boats against this season's Democratic candidate armed with unfair and hypocritical attacks artfully designed by GOP strategists to distract attention from the cataclysmic outcomes of Republican governance. Vice Presidential hopeful Sarah Palin has taken to faulting Senator Barack Obama for his casual acquaintance with a respected Illinois educator Bill Ayers, who forty years ago was a member of the Weathermen, a movement active when Obama was eight and which he has denounced as "detestable." Palin argues that the relationship proves that Obama sees "America as being so imperfect that he is palling around with terrorists who would target their own country."
The Times dedicated a page one article to Obama's relations with Ayers and CNN's Anderson Cooper obliged Palin by rewarding her reckless accusations about Obama's patriotism with a major investigative report. Fox, meanwhile, is still riveting its audience with wall to wall coverage of this pressing irrelevancy.
But if McCarthy-era guilt-by-association is once again a valid political consideration, Palin, it would seem, has more to lose than Obama. Palin, it could be argued, following her own logic, thinks so little of America's perfection that she continues to "pal around" with a man--her husband, actually--who only recently terminated his seven-year membership in the Alaskan Independence Party. Putting plunder above patriotism, the members of this treasonous cabal aim to break our country into pieces and walk away with Alaska's rich federal oil fields and one-fifth of America's land base--an area three-fourths the size of the Civil War Confederacy.
AIP's charter commits the party "to the ultimate independence of Alaska," from the United States which it refers to as "the colonial bureaucracy in Washington." It proclaims Alaska's 1959 induction as a state "as illegal and in violation of the United Nations charter and international law."
AIP's creation was inspired by the rabidly violent anti-Americanism of its founding father Joe Vogler, "I'm an Alaskan, not an American," reads a favorite Vogler quote on AIP's current website, "I've got no use for America or her damned institutions." According to Vogler AIP's central purpose was to drive Alaska's secession from the United States. Alaska, says current Chairwoman Lynette Clark, "should be an independent nation."
Vogler was murdered in 1993 during an illegal sale of plastic explosives that went bad. The prior year, he had renounced his allegiance to the United States explaining that, "The fires of hell are frozen glaciers compared to my hatred for the American government." He cursed the stars and stripes, promising, "I won't be buried under their damned flag...when Alaska is an independent nation they can bring my bones home." Palin has never denounced Vogler or his detestable anti-Americanism.
Palin's husband Todd remained an AIP party member from 1995 to 2002. Sarah can be described in McCarthy-era palaver as a "fellow traveler." While retaining her Republican registration, she attended the AIP's 1994 convention where the party called for a draft constitution to secede from the United States and create an independent nation of Alaska. The McCain Campaign has reluctantly acknowledged that she also attended AIP's 2000 Convention. She apparently found the experience so inspiring that she agreed to give a keynote address at the AIP's 2006 convention and she recorded a video greeting for this year's 2008 convention. In other words, this is not something that happened when she was eight!
So when Palin accuses Barack of "not seeing the same America as you and me," maybe she is referring to an America without Alaska. In any case, isn't it time the media start giving equal time to Palin's buddy list of anti-American bombers and other radical associates?
Plus, lets not forget Obama is running a real "high water" campaign. He's tried to run above race, prejudice and instant gratification politics.
I dont think he really wants this story to be front and center. It would make him look more like Palin if he did. He wants them to be the "wild ones out there", which is completely the correct approach.
What bigger proof does this country need that basically anybody can become President of this country if they just say the right things which sound like they know what they are talking about like a bunch of parrots ? "Freedom is on the march" , "I want to do what's right for America", "Drill, baby, drill" etc.
And the like ...
Unfortunately, candidates like Palin survive and even thrive in this county because of one simple reason. Its the same reason why this country likes fast food, and low intellect TV.
This country is filled with "instant gratification" seekers. Thats the reason. And people like Palin and Bush are the perfect candidates for "instant gratification, fast food" politics.
This country doesn't like thinking about complexity. It wants simple answers to complicated questions, which don't exist.
Talk about terrorism! What Palin and her husband has done with this secessionist group is sedition at the least and treason at the most! This group is of the same ilk as McVeigh-the Oklahoma city bomber!
'Declaration Of The Causes And Necessity Of Taking Up Arms' - July 6, 1775
Below it in red is the following -
'Be it known by all, that the Alaskan Independence Party (AIP) does not advocate the taking up of arms first. We believe we can achieve our goals of FREEDOM by non violent means.
We attach this document to our site to show the comparison between the British and Federal Governments on their treatment on peaceable and freedom loving peoples.'
The opening words of the Constitution of the United States are - 'We The People'. The peoples of the United States have been betrayed by both the Republican and Democratic parties as a result of their misinterpretation of what those words really mean as well as their own party political self-interest. There is no comparison whatsoever between the AIP and McVeigh.
'Just remember, especially in politics, that people who make statements as fact without knowing what they are talking about are just opening their mouth and letting their belly rumble.'
The 'Sanitization' of Scottish History - http://follonblogs.blogspot.com/
This connection between Palin and the AIP needs to be exposed to the American public. They have a right to know. Yet, as always, MSM is silent except Oberman and Maddow.
I just recently (the first Presidential debate) started watching the news again. I stopped watching the news, except for the BBC, after the last election because American media reports what they're told to report, not the whole story. (I stopped watching Fox in 2000). I was so happy to find that, for the most part, MSNBC seems to be on my side for a change in reporting this election, though they too have failed for the most part on this story. If you're not telling us everything, you're lying to us. Half truths are lies and has left me with no respect for most American news reporters.
I definately applaud Oberman and Maddow for at least getting out what they could on this before someone shut them up.
I also thank you Robert Jr. for this story. Why haven't you been on the air? We certainly need your voice heard more often.
THANKS RICK. HOPE THIS CATCHES THE ATTENTION OF ABC, CBS AND OTHER MSM. MORE FOLLOW UPS REQUIRED BY OTHER NEWS OUTLETS.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MODT4y90k90
CNN did a story about it yesterday afternoon but was it picked up by the other shows in the evening? NOPE. Oh but they made the ACORN story sound like something sinister and organized even though it was just a bunch of thugs hired by ACORN trying to get a paycheck without doing the work and COMMON with people who are hired to register voters. Of course MSNBC made it very clear that there is nothing here that will affect election day.
What is going on with CNN? they are so worried about being labled as biased that they purposely try and make stories about Obama more sinister than they are and let MCain and Palin get away with everything!
MSNBC would rather report the news, ALL of the news and get that label than not do their job.
It is OBAMA that has beard the brunt of all this and McCain and Paling getting away with so much! And yet he is still winning with a POSITIVE campaign.
I don't know what is going on with CNN anymore.
Everytime I hear Palin open her mouth, with ignorant, smearing attacks or just plain lying ; all straight out "blanket statements", I always invision all intelligent people wishing they could fly through the television screen and challange her with questions to throughly examime her attacks, and with accurate facts. Shake the believers. You know, that base.. the ones lacking in intellectual courosity; who soak up everything that is fed to them. I'm sure she'd be stumped. After all, that's not the fork she knows. A kind of salad metaphor..
I always find myself screaming inside ,"you hypocrite,! You hypocrite!
If McCain talks about Ayres in tomorrows' Debate, I hope Obama, brings up McCain's good friend G. Gordon Liddy, and a whole list of associations McCain has had. I hope he brings up Palin's
praise for the AIP and her husband's association with that group.
I see your Ayers+Wright, and I raise you a Keating, an AIaska Independence Party, a Troopergate, a Rev. Nagy, a Rev. Falwell, a Phil Gramm, and all the hate-mongers who you allow into your rallies without precondition.
There is a lot of dangerous GOP ante in this pot....
the pot that would call the kettle black.
Luckily, high-information voters are not falling for McCain's and Palin's empty attacks. It seems very shallow to be railing against a past association with a man who was not even convicted, when Americans are committing suicide from losing their jobs, their homes, and their minds.
The most important election story are the voter suppression tactics underway. GOTV, and make sure you are still registered, tell your friends to make sure they are still registered, be prepared to fill out a provisional ballot, and call 866-OUR-VOTE if you have any questions or problems on or before election day. RFK has been advocating that we be vigilant in fighting against disenfranchisement on election day. There promises to be a lot of problems with long lines in many precincts, not enough voting machines, and machines that will break down.
Don't back down. Make sure you cast your vote all the way up and down the ballot. Some congresspeople lost by 1,000 votes in '04 and '06 because voters were only voting for the top of the ticket.
http://www.alternet.org/blogs/peek/80253/
“I’m an Alaskan, not an American. I’ve got no use for America or her damned institutions.”
Sarah Palin became a member.
There's plenty evidence about Palin's affiliations with the AIP secessionists. A pity that the MSM is ignoring it. Is this a deliberate effort?
Now she attacks Obama with lies!
When will the media wake up to the truth about Sarah Palin?????
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-oe-brooks4-2008sep04,0,5675222.column
http://thebruceblog.wordpress.com/2008/10/06/country-first-sarah-and-todd-palins-troubled-ties-to-aip-alaska-first-secession-and-terrorism/
http://mirroronamerica.blogspot.com/2008/09/aip-official-on-tape-saying-sarah-palin.html
http://mirroronamerica.blogspot.com/2008/09/palin-connected-to-anti-american-fringe.html
http://mirroronamerica.blogspot.com/2008/09/lies-told-by-sarah-palin.html
Rick Sanchez ran a stroy on it and then CNN dumped it. Blitzer did not touch it, Larry King did not and neither did Anderson Cooper. But boy they will talk about Ayers until we are blue in the face. Actually it makes me see red.
ONLY MSNBC reports all the news and accurately. They are paying the price with being labeled but getting the news out is more important to them and I admire that.
CNN is pathetic.