The Republican Red Scare: The Smearing of Obama

The Republicans "October surprise" predictably unveiled itself last week as a virulent smear campaign of racially-tinged, fear-mongering insinuation. In a desperate attempt to deflect attention from an economic crisis and a faltering campaign, John McCain and Sarah Palin have begun shamelessly using Obama's "blackness" and alleged "Muslimy-ness" to suggest the biracial senator from Illinois is an extremist terrorist.

During the second, monumentally flaccid presidential debate, a condescending and smarmy McCain pointed to Obama and referred to him as "that one."

It would have been truly maverick had McCain simply dropped the ambiguous rhetoric, boarded his professed straight talk express and instead called him out as "that quasi Muslim," "that Hussein" or "that guy whose name rhymes with Osama."

Not to be out-mavericked, hockey mom and moose hunting vice-presidential nominee, Sarah Palin, recently stated that Obama might "pal around with terrorists" due to his tangential connection to William Ayers, founder of the 1960s radical group the Weather Underground.

Furthermore, Palin took the racial cue from Senator Clinton and dusted off last spring's Reverend Wright card to imply Obama's anti-whiteness and racial radicalism. When William Kristol asked Palin about Wright, she replied:

"I don't know why that association isn't discussed more, because those were appalling things that that pastor had said about our great country. [Obama's former pastor said "God damn America for treating our citizens as less than human."]

Palin continued:

"To me, that does say something about character. But, you know, I guess that would be a John McCain call on whether he wants to bring that up."

Undoubtedly, since both mavericks have now brought that up, one naturally assumes they adhere to the principle that a candidate's "association" should presumptively reflect his character. Employing their own standard, let's investigate Governor Palin's and Senator McCain's character based purely on their friends and associations.

Regarding extremist religious mentors, Sarah Palin's pastor, Larry Kroon of Wasilla Bible Church in Alaska, beat Obama's pastor in a "God damn-off" by suggesting the sinful conduct of Americans would invite God's wrath:

Listen, [God] is gonna' deal with all the inhabitants of the earth. He is gonna' strike out His hand against, yes, Wasilla; and Alaska; and the United States of America. There's no exceptions here -- there's none. It's all.

Not to be outdone in associating with angry, reactionary religious leaders, Senator McCain originally courted influential pastor John Hagee's support for his candidacy. The same pastor -- known for his anti-Catholic, homophobic and anti-Semitic remarks -- bellowed these tolerant and benevolent words of wisdom:

It was the disobedience and rebellion of the Jews, God's chosen people, to their covenantal responsibility to serve only the one true God, Jehovah, that gave rise to the opposition and persecution that they experienced beginning in Canaan and continuing to this very day ...

Although McCain conveniently renounced this endorsement after a media firestorm, he originally said:

"All I can tell you is that I am very proud to have Pastor John Hagee's support."

One wonders what the crucial, yet undecided, Jewish voters in Florida think about such an association.

Sarah Palin, a political neophyte who made her national introduction only a month ago, recently stated that "it's really important for Americans to start knowing who the 'real' Barack Obama is." Apparently, two years of strenuous vetting by the media have conclusively shown Obama has never been a card carrying, registered member of the Islamic faith. Furthermore, he attended an Indonesian elementary school, or madrassa, during his youth, which was conclusively proven not to be a jihadi, Islamist terrorist training camp.

Meanwhile, Governor Palin, already embroiled in the unresolved Troopergate and Bridge to Nowhere controversies, has aggressively avoided impromptu press questions, instead opting to sit for only two thoroughly embarrassing one-on-one interviews. However, we do know that Sarah Palin's husband, Todd, twice registered as a member of the Alaska Independence party, a fierce states' rights group that favors Alaska's secession from the US, which is a treasonous and criminal act showing disloyalty to one's nation.

Yet, true character has been exclusively reserved for John McCain, a man who takes immense pride in his sage wisdom borne from years of experience as a war veteran and US senator. He assures us his clarion judgment will help steer America from the brink of economic disaster towards a new destination of financial prosperity.

However, he conveniently fails to mention his association with Charles Keating, he of the infamous Keating Five savings and loan scandal that cost the federal government nearly $2 billion and defrauded nearly 23,000 bond-holders, including senior citizens who lost their life savings. Although Senator McCain was cleared for his involvement in the scandal, the Senate Ethics Committee specifically criticised his "poor judgment."

Perhaps that poor judgment reflects his choice of advisers, such as campaign manager Rick Davis, co-founder of a lobbying firm, Davis Manafort, that was paid $15,000 a month by Freddie Mac for consulting.

According to the New York Times, "Davis took a leave from Davis Manafort for the presidential campaign, but as an equity holder continues to benefit from its income."

Furthermore, two of McCain's top advisers were recently lobbyists for Ameriquest Mortgage, a lender involved in the recent mortgage meltdown. In March, the Daily News reviewed disclosure forms and reported:

"John Green, [Senator McCain's] chief liaison to Congress, and Wayne Berman, his national finance co-chairman, billed more than $720,000 in lobbying fees from 2005 through last year to Ameriquest Mortgage through their lobbying firm."

One wonders how McCain can reform the economy when his closest associates consulted for some of the players deeply involved in the current crisis.

These questions warrant intelligent inquiry, honest disclosure and thorough analysis. Who has time for such elitist endeavours when fanning the flames of fear-mongering, racial hysteria and smear politics is so much more effective?

If indeed Senator McCain and Governor Palin believe one should be assumed guilty merely by one's associations, perhaps they are no better than "that one."

Comments

[write2bheard]

I just keep wondering why the mainstream press has not called Palin on her AIP connections - it is on many blogs, there seems to be a mountain of proof, and we deserve to know if one of her VP goals will be to help Alaska secede. I believe Obama is remiss for not bringing it up as it is a very dangerous association. End times proponents like Palin are often interested in sparking a war that will lead to Armageddon. They believe they have to help God out. White supremacy groups believe that will be a race war. Looks like Palin is trying to get a head start . We need to know what her beliefs and her motives are. We need the press to do their jobs and press her on these issues and get the info out.

[alenaspoppa]

The mainstream press doesn't bring it up for 2 reasons:

1) Most of them are owned by mega-conglomerates who skew right.
2) The lesson that it seems many new organizations learned from these wonderful Bush years is that they don't want to be seen as the "liberal media" anymore, and they've gone overboard in trying to balance favorable and negative news for liberals and conservatives. It seems to me that if John McCain were to shoot a grandmother holding a baby on national television while screaming "Charlie's coming! Charlie's coming!" that CNN would also feel the need to create something that was unfavorable for Obama, and then would give the two stories equal weight.

I've read five recent books on the "death of the media", and they're all saying similar things. There aren't really any reliable news sources anymore.

[Halsey]

Okay...admittedly this is a total nonsequitur..but..I have to share: a friend of mine (immigrated from an Eastern European country)...works for a chi chi catering company. Recently...they catered a fundraiser in...ORANGE COUNTY, CA (aka aryanville)...for Mrs.Palin...what this person noted..besides all the WHITE people...in Chanel...dripping with diamonds, etc...was that these uber wealthy...stood in line for TWO hours for a photo taken with Mrs. Palin... my friend...couldn't stop laughing..saying "it reminded me of the bread lines we used to have in Poland"....

I just thought it was funny enough to share...

[LanguagePolice]

That's not funny- it's HILARIOUS. I hope it gets legs. You should try to get Olbermann, or maybe even Biden, to take note of that.

Letterman would really love to pop up with this one. Would that not be hilarious delivered by Letterman?

Unfortunately, the only email address I have is [e-mail]. There is [e-mail] too, and she might run with it or give it to Keith.

LOL indeed.

[Whinger]

Everyone knows where camp McCain is coming from, their smears are like the campaign, a failure!

Unless they have something of substance to say on economic issues, they should be ignored!

[ghenry]

Look, it's time to stop explaining about Obama's upbringing, where he attended primary school, whether he is a Muslim or not. It has been explained and that is it. If you are talking about JMCain and SPalin, talk about them and say the things that need to be said about them. No need to lose focus by going over the same points about Obama that we know already.

Talk about Sarah and AIP and Muthee -- talk about that
Talk about JMCain and Hagee and Liddy and Singlaub -- talk about that.

You confuse the issue when you bring Obama into these discussions. It is not about him.

Talk about them and their hateful accusations. Make the case -- make it clear. But stop explaining about Obama. There no longer needs to be further explanation.

[dmack]

This is the same thing that happened back in March with the elite label and the "bitter" comment. It cost Obama then. He used too much time and resources to undo a false allegation. The same mistake should not be made again. Supporters for Obama shouldn't spend the rest of the Presidential race explaining false statements. Bring up Strom Thurmond. That All American racist was very close to McCain for a decade or more. Did he influence McCain? Maybe that's why McCain wouldn't support legislation to make MLK's birthday a holiday in Arizona. Obama can't spend the rest of the time defending false statements. Its time for Obama to play offense, because those statements about Ayers and ACORN are just the beginning.

[demfriend]

Sir: On Mccain you forgot to add the Iran Contra affair which he was a part of. G. Gordon Liddy is also a "pal" as well as Abrahoff so McCain has his list too of people who could be called a whole lot of things. But the push McCain has made over tim to help the companies move overseas with jobs is also often missed. Too much about McCain is known and yet his free pass from MSM hasn't stopped. That he was a POW and "hero" has still made MSM reluctant to tell the truth about McCain and his horrible voting record regarding those he "loves", the military. His latest record gained him a "D" grade for all that he has not done to support both the troops and vets. Don't let any military mag say all military backs him fool you as they counted the people who receive the publication as "supporters" of McCain which is just not true. Palin we are learning a lot about as are the Alaskans who voted for her never knowing any of the crap we know now.

[Salstar]

McCain is also an associate and "friend" of convicted conspiritor, G Gordon Liddy. In a Spring 2008 interview on Liddy's radio program, John McCain tells Liddy he is proud of him as an American and what he has done for our country and is proud of Liddy's family. Liddy has donated money to the campaign.
I think Liddy's a little to close for comfort when it comes to him supporting someone running for president.

[Bitter Clinger]

If Liddy had just had the balls to take out the security guard at the Watergate he would have made things a lot cleaner.

[Gidster]

It is sad that these truths only come out here. The MSM will never discuss them, or even investigate them, but a passing business relationship gets and holds the MSM attention for weeks, even after they themselves debunked it 5 months ago!

It appears that the owners and editors of these media outlets are McCain supporters showing their conservative bias.

[canuckjen]

You know, this might sound a bit crazy, but maybe Obama should take a little campaign trip to Alaska. There seems to be a lot of support for him there judging by what some of the Alaska bloggers are saying. He could give his usual positive speech about the choice he represents and the msm could get some great footage of all those Alaskans cheering him on - maybe a way to show that even in the GOPs VP's state, he has supporters - might be even more than before now that Alaskans have seen some more of Palin's twisted eloquence that has been broadcast around the world and made her quite the laughinstock.

After the video at the Flyers' game, seems hockey mom Palin might be a little less popular than she thought around Joe and Jane SixPack.

[ToddG]

A waste of time. He has an electoral lead already in the lower 48. He needs to focus on keeping in and trying to solidify FL, OH, NC and make sure McCain doesn't come back in PA.

[JoeAlvord]

As an Alaskan I think that would be AWESOME. I really want Obama to take the best possible strategy for the whole country, though, even if I miss him.

[Chillinout]

Obama is holding so many cards in the hole here. He can continue to run a positive campaign and be mostly above the fray as long as he is so far in the lead. `

Obama could slam Palin and or Palin with something twice a week for the last three weeks, if he wanted to do that.

[Chillinout]

....and or McCain.....