John McCain’s Festivus Moment

None of it made a bit of difference. The race is the same as before the debate. These debates are about style/comfort-level and not much about what is actually said (for better or worse, it’s just the way it is), that’s something McCain is just not going to win.

Water off a duck’s back

Now that we’ve had the Airing of Grievances, let’s move on to the Feats of Strength!
McCain certainly needs a Festivus Miracle!

McSame: Old, nasty, rude, smug, erratic, lying, seething with anger, and most definetly NOT fit to lead this country anywhere but straight to hell.
Floridians for Obama!

McCain didn’t have the stamina to keep punching the whole hour and a half.
He came out all juiced up but after the first half hour, he flagged. I have to wonder if he ate a doughnut or something right before coming out…sugar high fizzled? McCain had a brief good moment when he said he wasn’t George Bush…but lost it when he proceeded to give Bushian arguments defending his Bushian positions on health care, abortion, etc. His abortion thing was particularly bad…he may have fed some red meat to the base but I bet he lost a lot of independents right there. Even people who wouldn’t have abortions like the idea of a fail-safe should someone in their family need it.
How come Schieffer let McCain have the last word so often? McCain got the last word far more often than Obama did, although Obama did get to close the debate, the result of a coin toss I guess.

That zinger from Obama deflated McCain’s blimp of grievances.

Would McCain squirm, smirk, and roll his eyes during a meeting with Putin? Not quite Presidential demeanor.

“The nominee with 8 homes and 13 cars is more concerned about airing his personal grievances than solving the problems of the American people. ”
I know. Who is John Kerry really?

“Would McCain squirm, smirk, and roll his eyes during a meeting with Putin? Not quite Presidential demeanor.”
As opposed to Obama’s smirks?

Those of you continuing to push ACORN and Ayers – how has that helped your candidate in the polls? It’s a losing strategy for you and yet you continue to push it.
That is the definition of insane – something doesn’t work so just keep repeating it over and over does not alter its outcome.

McCain is a joke! Palin is even worse!

what I saw was an angry man(McCain), that just seemed p.o.’d at the world, not a good quality for a president….

I thought he came off as a whiner during those bits mentioned in this article. The eye-rolling, heavy sighing only added to the spoiled brat appearance of a whiner. Ridiculous! I thought Bush looked like a moron when he is under fire, but McInsane took the prize last night.

James…you are wrong, but maybe you should be asking why John McCain spoke at a rally for ACORN and told them to
“keep up the good work”….

Sad part is the Pub supporters think that the meaningless attacks wotk to McCain’s advantage.
They don’t.
Sure, McCain’s dwindling “base” is happy. But those McCain needs to capture, the undecided middle class voters don’t give flip about useless BS.
They see McCain’s rallies on TV and realize it’s just an AMWAY convention gone bad.
Oh well, I say keep up the negativity! It’s been working great so far!

I think McCain is going to have a couple of “issue” based problems coming out of this debate.
1. Teachers: McCain made this comment at the end of his talk on education. Does he believe it is okay for our teachers not be certified?
“We need to encourage programs such as Teach for America and Troops to Teachers where people, after having served in the military, can go right to teaching and not have to take these examinations which — or have the certification that some are required in some states.”
2. The condescending air quotes when discussing pro-choice and a “woman’s health”. No matter what side of the aisle you are on, this did not play well and is offensive to women.

Mack…funny you should bring that up. McCain, early this year, at a diplomatic meeting, grabbed another foreign diplomat by the collar when he said something McCain didn’t like.
Great qualities to be president!!!

Well, why not? Crying unfair and having hurt feelings has worked very well for Obama.
But the reality is, Obama’s ads have been very negative. We just don’t hear about it as much.

“Does anyone really care how many homes or cars McCain has?”
When he tries and act like he knows MY problems getting and keeping ONE house and car, yes I really care how many he has and so should you. The man has absolutely NO idea what problems the average American has to face today and if he can’t understand the problems how on earth could he ever solve them?

Paige…you are right on about the certification oif teahcers. I am working towards mine now.
Plus you are right. The comment on women’s health did hit a very sarcatic note. I believe McCain has no respect for women at all unless they are rich, beautful and can vote for him.

ACORN has been accused (by Republicans)of fraud in several elections now. And yet, NOT ONE case of voter fraud has ever been discovered.
In the words of Biden, “Let me repeat that…NOT ONE!”
Yes, registrations such as Micky Mouse have been submitted as a joke, but unless Micky has a valid ID, Micky doesn’t vote.
This is a a smokescreen to try and cast doubt and give GOP lawyers a shot at deciding the election…as they did in FL and OH.
This year it won’t work. It’s not going to be close. Obama is kickin butt in every swing state now.
McCain can’t compete with the superior canddates and the superior campaign.
Had he picked someone other than Palin, he could have hammered the “experience” issue. But Palin cost him his best defense.
I love it!
Palin = Dems MVP!

Seems to me that McCain has been personally offended his whole political career.
When is he going to find out that the Presidency is not about him? That Government is not about him. When is going to accept that he is responsible for his statements, and the style of his campaign? When is going to wake up to the fact that Obama ran his own campaign, and was not obligated to run McCain’s?
McCain’s the Devil made me do it defense is absurd; I used it as a small child, and it was McCain looks like to me. It is time he grew up.

McCain won the debate last night.
Obama will win in November.

Mack…I cannot believe you said that. This is a way to get into a war really quick.
You cannot just fly off the handle over anything!!!
We need a cool, collected and thoughtful president. Not one whjo would get in a fight over a misstated word.

thought McCain should went for the metaphorical throat instead of all the light jabs.
Senator Government clearly lied about his involvement Ayers, McCain let it slide.
Senator Government clearly lied about his stance with the Born Alive Infant Protection Act, McCain just let it walk on by.
Senator Government clearly stated he wants judges legislating from the bench, not spotlighted by McCain.
Senator Government reiterated his claim that 95% of people will receive tax cuts, which is not just untrue, it’s impossible.
Amongst others.
Posted by: Concerned in OH | Oct 16, 2008 10:55:07 AM
_———————————–
OH HECK NO THEY DID NOT SLIDE WE HEARD!
Senator government, lol lol lol
SLICK RICK THAT ONE IS SENATOR GOVERNMENT!!
Silly sad lying obuma now has to scrub his past plans and put in his new babble! I wonder who he will steal from next, if he see he can use someones good Idea he snatches it!

And it turns out that some of those things the Obama supporters claim to know just ain’t so such as the “kill him” allegation in Scranton. The Secret Service says it didn’t happen. The Scranton timesleader has the story on their web page.
Why does Obama have to lie and cheat to win? This was an easy victory for the Democrats until they nominated the bean counter. They can still win but is it worth a billion just to say to the world we aren’t racists?
Send tax payers the billion and you can call us anything you like.

“We need a cool, collected and thoughtful president. Not one whjo would get in a fight over a misstated word.”
No we don’t. We need someone that will roll up their sleeves and get to work, not someone that will perform speeches read from a teleprompter in front of a faxu-Greek temple that cost millions of dollars to build. If he was spending my money like that, I’d smack him in the back of the head. Keep donating fools. He has blown a mind-boggling amount of money on attack ads. He could have probably fed and clothes the poor for 10 years with the money that he has spent. What a shame.

McCain should know that Sarah Palin’s new baby has Downs Syndrome not autism. It helps prove McCain is confused and poorly informed.

My children watching the debate commented “Mommy! We get in trouble for that!” Why is that man doing it?”
In reference to McCain rolling his eyes and sneering throughout the debate.

Yes, I told them Gordon Liddy was a bad man.

Sometimes I think McCain’s biggest problem is that he thinks American voters are smarter than they actually are.
“Woman/mother’s health” is currently – under RvW and related cases – considered to include emotional and psychological health. So lower courts have interpreted the rules to allow post-viability abortion (i.e., the fetus/baby could survive outside the womb) when the mother cites emotional/psychological trauma as the health concern. Even Obama has acknowledged this needs to be tightened, so that women can’t get late-term abortions because they’re feelign a little blue.
“But the law today also covers some women who are in “mental distress,” those women who would suffer emotional and psychological harm without an abortion…. … This standard has long been understood to require less than “serious clinical mental health disease.” Women today don’t have to show they are suffering from a “serious clinical mental health disease” or “mental illness” before getting an abortion post-viability.” (from Jan Crawford Greenburg, ABC)

What do I think? I think the Obama campaign would love to see McCain’s attacks on Obama portrayed as the crazed, grumpy rantings of an old man. It’s what they have not-so-subtly been trying to do from the start, and you couldn’t have played their tune for them any better. Well done. No doubt this will help with your access to the next president.

Gotta love McCain giving a shout out to his Arizona Cardinals!!!

commrat72, Sounds like you are stuck in the 1950s. Bush just socialized the banking industry, the “communism” boat no longer sails. What’s next a Jane Fonda reference from the 1960s?
People will vote for Obama because of the economy. Silly remarks devoid of analysis no longer resonate.

“People will vote for Obama because of the economy. Silly remarks devoid of analysis no longer resonate.”
Then they’re not too bright because all economists agree that raising taxes during a downturn is a recipe for disaster. He’ll not only put us in a hole, he’ll bury us. Vote Obama and vote yourself out of a job.

I don’t think that we need an election in November. The news media has already declared Obama the winner. Why not save the taxpayers of this country the costs associated with an election.
On Good Morning America this week they interviewed a 106 year old nun from Rome and when the interview was over Diane Sawyer stated that she wouldn’t vote against the nun, who stated her support for Obama. To me that showed her favoritism.
Maybe th polls are a problem s everyone wants to go with a winner and the polls are deciding the issue before the election.

McCain (and you in your column) invoking ACORN is kind of self defeating when you consider that McCain was a *keynote speaker* at an ACORN event in 2006.
McCain (and his VP) bringing up Ayers is also idiotic in light of the fact that he is good friends with *Gordon Liddy, convicted terrorist*, even saying that he is “proud” of Liddy. Not to mention him hiring a *Saddam Hussein* lobbyist as an adviser. Then there is Palin being married to a *separatist* and telling his party to “keep up the good work”.
Republican Internet trolls conveniently ignore all these facts in their desperation.
The McCain camp (including the author of this column) are banking on the stupidity of the far right base. Meanwhile, anyone able to actually comprehend written English can see right through their hypocrisy and lies.
Result?: The only supporters McCain has left are the ones stupid enough to be fooled by the lies his campaign repeats and the sophists like the author who cynically continue to exhort them to new levels of ignorance.

When McCain started talking about the negativity in the Obama campaign and then tried to push Obama to repudiate Lewis he lost a lot folks I think. Obama gave him a couple of chance to drop it yet McCain kept pushing…..certainly gave credence of the image of John McCain as an angry old man not addressing issues that matter to people. I also thought his defence of Palin was lame compared to Obama’s defence of Biden, however I understand that he wasn’t working with much material in that instance…

Barack and Joe are strong likeable people compared to sarcastic and angry John and sarah Palin

“(AKA GEORGE W BUSH) No thanks John we already had one of them didnt work out to well for us! ”
If you wanted to run against George Bush then you should have run 4 years ago. Hah!

—a government by the media/Hollywood and for the media/Hollywood.
Is it true that Obama has special people hired just to track negative press and make it disappear (will this even be posted?).
Why shouldn’t we be interested in Obama’s character & who he pals around with. Didn’t your mother ever warn you about the importance of picking friends with good character…oh, I forgot we are being told how we are voting by the media and Hollywood money, and they have lots of character, right?
It will be interesting to see if Americans actually are run by the media and who has the most money. GOd help us all.

Poor Old John, Bush and his own party turned on him in 2000 and now his own lack of principle and ethics turn on him this year. Oh well, I guess there’s always 2016, he’ll ONLY be 80 at that time.

“Obama believes abortion is a means of birth control. ”
He believes that babies are a mistake that should be thrown in the trash if they aren’t wanted.

“If you wanted to run against George Bush then you should have run 4 years ago”
The same goes for you John, I didn’t see you running either. I guess you were to happy with Bush and his policies to upset the cart, huh.

“The people who dislike the negative attacks, the mud flinging, etc. are the people who are not voting for him or who are undecided. ”
I live in a swing state and have been seeing and hearing Obama attack ads on the airwaves for 3 weeks now and I’m sick of it. In one especially lame ad, he blamed McCain for building an air-conditioned ferris wheel in Iraq.

“What we must remember: after the election, we are all stuck in this leaky boat together. Whoever wins, we each need to take personal responsibility to make sure they succeed.”
Tried that the last 2 times with Bush and that didn’t work out so well. Obama is a far-left version of Bush.

11) “Nasssty Obama has the precious, yes he does. Must have it, precious, we wantssss it..”

Obama clearly lied about his involvement with ACORN -
Obama’s legal work was his only professional tie to the group, but he also spoke at volunteer training sessions and his campaign had a contract with a group that worked with ACORN. His campaign gave over $800,000 to ACORN groups during this campaign.

“Sarah Palin has an ethics investigation after 18 months in office.”
She was exonerated but called on the carpet for abuse of power. The guy threatened her family and tasered her nephew. I’m not casting a stone for that one unless it is at the trooper. Frankly, I’ll trust a woman defending her family before I’ll trust a Democratic prosecutor trying to upend a national campaign for that. Palin did the right thing.
“McCain had an ethics investigation as a member of the Keating 5, and was reprimanded.”
Try to come into 2008. You aren’t running against GW Bush and McCain was reprimanded for bad judgement for taking a trip. It was clear that he told them he would not help them with their legal problems. McCain did the right thing.
Obama has been consistently lieing since the beginning of his very brief political career. He repeated it last night. He misdirects, obsfuscates and refuses to commit. He votes present instead of taking a stand. He talks a good game but he never does the right thing.
Obama can’t be trusted.

“People with 401ks are responding to the economy, not sill “he’s a commie” insults.”
Their pulling their money out in anticipation of an economic catastrophe in the event that you fools elect Barry and friends.

commrat72, Wow. You debate well. I bet you are a success.

If John McCain wanted to run against Bush, HE should have run 4 years ago too. Instead he voted with Bush some 90 percent of the time. Maverick, indeed.

Jake, what evidence do you have that Obama is obfuscating on Ayers? Both the Washington Post (Howie Kurtz) and the New York Times did extensive reviews of this so-called relationship and came up with nothing. Either present some evidence or drop the innuendo.

geevill, why have polls in all four Presidential debates found that the Democrats won handily each time?

Ah, Jake, I was with you until “ones that seemed quite personal.” This man is fighting for his political life. He is in the last debate of the season. He is facing a man who doesn’t just buy ink by the barrel, as the old saying about the media goes, but buys advertising in all forms by the bushel-load. McCain, who took public financing as all previous presidential candidates have done and he pledged to do, simple does not have the money to respond to all the negative and incorrect information being disseminated by the Obama camp in the way Obama can respond to Republican charges. So he made sure, in his best chance to reach a lot of American voters, to highlight what has been going on. And you tut-tut that it’s “personal”?
In the list you provide, I see McCain setting the record straight on inaccurate ads (ask the watchdog groups like factcheck.org) on his positions on stem cell research and immigration. I see him asking for a repudiation of the out of line things John Lewis said, things that Lewis and the Obama camp walked back to a degree but would not apologize for. (It’s one thing to say it’s a matter of bad judgment to be involved — blurbing books for and funnelling grant money to– unrepentant domestic terrorists. It’s another thing to directly COMPARE a candidate to domestic terrorists, as Lewis did in comparing McCain to the bombers of the Birmingham church. Obama whines that he was 8 years old when Ayers was a bombthrower; Sarah Palin wasn’t born when the morons bombed the church.) ANd I especially see McCain reminding everyone, as he has done repeatedly, that he wanted to have frequent town hall meetings with Obama throughout the campaign, where differences could be addressed and people could compare their positions side by side in real time. What on earth do you see?

McCain and Palin just keep showing
their true selves. Hatred nasty
people. They do all kinds of terrible
things but I guess they are above all
their nasty tactics.
People who say Obama is a muslin,
a terriorist, etc. you really are
sad people. McCain and Plain just
fuel hatred and if this is what you
want running our country then I really
feel sorry for the ones who will vote
for these two pathetic people.
They are not fit to run this country
and neither was your Bush but you
voted him in twice.
You pay for his war, you pay for
his mistakes, you pay for his 700
Billion dollar bailout you pay for
the Iraq war that Bush has taken
so many lives. You pay.
You vote for this crap and you should
pay for your mistakes.
I did not vote for this fool and I want
vote for McCain and Palin to keep running this country into the ground
they lie and lie. They are filled with
hatred and lies.
OBAMA/BIDEN ’08

“Jake, what evidence do you have that Obama is obfuscating on Ayers? Both the Washington Post (Howie Kurtz) and the New York Times did extensive reviews of this so-called relationship and came up with nothing.”
Then why the need to lie about their relationship, as well as lying about his relationship with Tony Rezko? People usually don’t lie unless they are trying to hide something, unless he is a pathological liar.

The McCain campaign has tried to make this race about character rather than issues. They’ve been successful. It’s McCain’s character that’s now the issue.

200,000 fraudulent ACORN registrations in Ohio. airing more grievences.

“200,000 fraudulent ACORN registrations in Ohio. airing more grievences.”
Damm that’s a lot of cigarettes they had to hand out. Moneybags had better donate another 800k.

I thought the pundits tried very hard to spin this for McCain. They’d like nothing better than a close finish. It’s good for ratings. After the focus groups (even Fox’s) and polls started coming in, then the pundits tone switched to “McCain seemed angry and Obama won the debate.”
Obama won the debate.

“Huffington Post”
Trash.

“The worst was his closing statement in which he seemed to be saying, vote for me because I come from a long line of McCains, as if his family name infers royalty. ”
Barry could have topped him by bringing up his family tree which includes Brad Pitt, Cheney and Wild Bill Hiccup.

Mc Cain had his 40 minutes of fame .He was nothing in the second half but a tired old man hitting on everything but what he would do for this country.It was the same ole crap nothing new trying to Quote Clinton…He lied about Biden and he is so more cabable to run this country then Joe six pacl picture Dude in there?????
Obama and Biden will do lead country well….

What impressed me the most was Mc Cain wanting Obama to say he was sorry for Lewis. NOT—– he and Palin started the bull and keep it going until people yelled kill him and worse.They asked for this and some one had guts enought to tell them so and now they cry.Plain is a piece of crap and will stop at nothing to get what she wants,No loss to her and she said that herself…

cincyr: “Throughout the debate I got the sense that McCain was more concerned with himself than with the American people. ”
I did not get that feeling at all. I certainly did get the feeling that McCain was just out classed. But I am an Obama supporter and I have to say that after last night my opinion of Senator McCain improved. McCain is passionate about his country and seemed sincerely invested in serving it. It’s very personal with him. But I also feel McCain is just not the temperament or intellect I want calling the shots and setting the big picture direction. I wish him a long career in the Senate and hope Obama would seriously consider making him Secretary of Defense.
Seriously, with Obama giving him the big picture direction, I think McCain could be the guy who would rip the industrial-military complex to shreds, sift through it, and make it serve America again rather than the other way around. But I strongly believe McCain is NOT the right person to be President, his foreign policy and economic finesse are sorely lacking and he makes (poor) emotional personnel selections, but he really seems to be a faithful old soldier and I’m glad he’s in government. The Republican party looks like utter fools for not putting him in the Whitehouse in 2000.

McCain is finished.

concernedinohio, Waaaaaa! Cry me a river. Your gonna be cryin babytears for 4 years I guess. Just face it, McCain isnt half the man that Barack Hussein Obama is!! Plain and simple. McCain is old and angry. A bitter man, with anger problems. Barack is wise and presidential.

Obama is buying 30 minute time slots for informercials. This is a desperate move. People who are ahead do not spend this kind of money, and do not make this kind of desperate moves. This is a sure indication that Obama’s internal polling is telling him something different than the public polls are telling him.
One other thing…….Chris Matthews slammed the New York governor on Obama’s nonaccomplishments last night. If the news people think they are on the losing side, they start to slide the other way. Why? Because they want access to the President. If Obama loses, that would mean they have to deal with a President McCain. the hatchet job they have done on McCain, or rather, their allowing Obama supporters to have the floor to themselves, has already alienated McCain. If Matthews is making nice to McCain, then he probably knows something he isn’t telling us too.

McCain whoosed out on Ayers and ACORN, guessed he realized how weak his argument really was.

How long before a disgruntled conservative columnist suggests replacing Palin with Joe the Plumber?
How long before a disgruntled wing nut blogger suggests replacing McCain with Palin and filling Palin’s VP post with Joe the Plumber? None of the changes will impact geevill, Mack and nConcerned, because all they do is attack Obama.

After last night Concerned in OH, Mack, and geevill decided to form a Punked band called Smashing Keyboards.

Hahaha Ricky, I hear ya man. They are probably really getting mad because they wont be paid by McCain anymore in 2 1/2 weeks. At least there will be the band…

“Sarah Palin has an ethics investigation after 18 months in office.”
She was exonerated but called on the carpet for abuse of power. The guy threatened her family and tasered her nephew. I’m not casting a stone for that one unless it is at the trooper. Frankly, I’ll trust a woman defending her family……
————————
That argument might work if the report hadn’t indicated that the Palin family was never threatened by the trooper. It was a fabricattion to justify their actions AFTER they got caught. And she was cleared of “illegal” activity but not “unethical” activity.
The most shocking part is that Palin still says the report “cleared her of any ethical violation”.
Is she delusional? Every media source in America stated the report clearly stated she was GUILTY of Violation of Ethics and Abuse of Power.
Her 15 minutes are just about up!

I don’t know why liberals just don’t seem recognize the personal-level attacks made by Obama, his campaign, and his supporters, and the double standard that’s in play here. It’s only when it’s McCain being offended that it’s always a problem. Obama gets a handshake from McCain, but to subjective observers it doesn’t seem friendly enough, so it gets reported, as it did here. In an unscripted forum, a debate, which is like an extended argument, McCain refers colloquially to Obama as “that one,” just meaning not himself, or “this one,” in response to his own “which one of us” question, and the media and Obama’s campaign wring it for everything it was worth (which wasn’t much). But then it’s always okay to get away from the issues to talk about this stuff, when Obama gives the okay. When McCain does it, that’s apparently the only time it’s a problem. Anybody have any evidence to the contrary?
Even the “lipstick on a pig” controversy said a lot. I’ve looked into it, and I’m still not sure if Obama’s remarks were scripted or not, but the indications I’ve gotten was that it was a speech, which would mean it was prepared beforehand. If it was, it doesn’t matter at all that “lipstick on a pig” is a well-known phrase. If it was a prepared speech, that defense, which the media heavily promoted for Obama, is a red herring. Because that was right after Palin’s speech and that soundbite of hers got universal coverage. So, when it came to writing and mulling over the speech, which would involve a team, they knew Palin would spring to mind. Of course use of that phrase had changed because of her speech, which was shown by the audience itself immediately reacting to Obama’s statement. It doesn’t matter that many others had used it before. It isn’t offensive in itself, but only in the context of Palin’s remarks the week before. Evidently, if Obama gave a prepared speech, the people responsible for it knew that if he used that phrase at that moment, there’d be a controversy. It would seem, then, that they wanted it, and it gave them and media a chance to accuse McCain of not focusing on issues and of phony outrage, and to act outraged themselves. So it really comes down to whether or not his remarks were prepared beforehand. If they weren’t, then it was a phrase he just happened to use, as McCain did with “that one,” on the spur of the moment, which we all know it is impossible to think of every possible objection anyone could make in one’s off-the-cuff speaking. But if it was a prepared speech, as it appears to have been, then of course nobody could write a speech, much less have it gone over by others, without, associating “lipstick on a pig” to Palin’s lipstick on a pit bull remark the week before. That would have been impossible.

Why is it that we think that a debate “winner” is the best “leader”?
That’s a little like thinking that good-looking, smooth-talking guy you meet at the bar is going to make a good husband….might happen sometimes, but the odds aren’t in your favor.

That’s a little like thinking that good-looking, smooth-talking guy you meet at the bar is going to make a good husband….might happen sometimes, but the odds aren’t in your favor.
——————-
So picking the loser gives better odds?
Wow.
It all makes sense now. Pick the loser. I finally get the GOP.
Thanks!

Why is it that the past criminal and morally corrupt actions of Cindy McCain have been swept under the rug? If she were a black woman, she would still be in jail. Because she had power and money behind her, she got a slap on the wrist and a ticket to the Inauguration. Only in America!

Jane or Terry,
“but do the people think about ALL THE DEMOCRATS that are making the decisions right now and have for the past two years?”
I’m not quite sure what you’ve been looking at for two years, but even though the Democrats have had a (slim) majority in the Congress, nearly every socially based bill they’ve tried to pass has been blocked by the Republicans, with the help of the Blue Dogs (who, in my opinion, are Democrats in name only).
If you’re going to indulge in sour grapes, make sure they’re from a vine and not plastic facsimiles.

Fairfax, are you aware that in 1970, William Ayers’ girlfriend at the time along with two members of the Weatherman were killed while constructing a bomb that was intended to be detonated at a dance being held at Fort Dix? Hundreds of lives could have been lost! William Ayers in describing what could have taken place he said, “tearing through windows and walls and, yes, people too.”
This is a man that to this day wishes they could have done more bombings. It has been reported that his mantra was “Kill all the rich people. Break up their cars and apartments. Bring the revolution home, Kill your parents.”

During the primaries Obama promised “hope and change” and a “different brand of politics”. Obviously those weren’t true, so now he’s on to new promises. Promises are easy to make. Much more difficult to keep.

Republicans really need to give up the Ayers schtick. No one cares but you guys. In fact it is just ticking off the people in this country that utilize logical thought to make decisions.
McCain made a huge mistake when he let the Neocons take over his campaign. He would have won if he had stayed the same guy he was six months ago.
I would have voted for him in a heartbeat. This John McCain I wouldn’t trust to run the local zoo.

how can someone who has such a bad record become a school teacher SCARY isnt it? ther are good people out there who cant even get a job at a fast food restaraunt or gas station. WOW!!

I think Ayres, in and of himself is not a threat anymore. I think he’s arrogance, in his not being repentant, is disgusting. But I do think the association is wrong.
There have been several versions of this relatioinshp, and now we choose…which ones the truth? I think it’s relevant, because….it ties in with everyone. Khalidi, Farrakhan, Wright, Odinga. This hasn’t been properly vetted, nor will it be, and possibly, now…to little to late.
I’m sure I’ll be attacked for voicing my why’s. But here goes.
Obama lied last night. Not just to me, but to millions. It’s documented, that he gave ACORN $800,000. It’s also on video, him telling ACORN they will be helping him to shape his presidential agenda.
He lied about Ayres. Ayres did throw the party.
Even Mr.Tapper wrote about it, and Mrs. Palmer.
“(Palmer, who changed her mind about not running for reelection for her state senate seat after being defeated in a US House race, was later unable to get on the ballot because Obama challenged her petitions to do so, in some hardball Chicago-style politics, a whole other interesting story.)
”
Mr. Tapper even alludes to it being problematic. But alas…people look the other way. Sure he was 8 when Ayres committed his crimes, I was 5. But I’m an adult now, and even 10, or 20 years ago, I knew enough not to make friendly, with trouble. But then again…I don’t want to be President of a country.
ACORN is being investigated by the FBI for fraud, and there is proof now, from Ohio, that voter fraud is playing a part. VOTER, not registrations.
Back then Mr.Tapper, when Hillary brought up these issues, as being a concern, I didn’t see you use the word squirrely.
Shame on you!

Fairfax said: Erika, I dont care who they yelled “KIll HIM” about, the point is they were yelling to kill anyone. You dont hear that kind of idiocy in an Obama crowd.
Ummm Nope. It didn’t happen. A Scranton PA reporter is the one who made the claim, but no one at the rally confirmed they heard it, and none of the secret service that were there, who are especially trained to listen for these kinds of remarks, didn’t hear it. He made it up. It DID NOT HAPPEN!!!
I knew it would be someone for Obama trying to tank McCain.

McCain had already lost my vote, but with his jittery, erratic, uninformed, rude performance which almost stopped my heart when McCain sneered about the “health” – the value of a woman’s life – at that moment, McCain lost my respect.

James Danley, yes Ayers is a teacher now. Again younger voters don’t care about that. It does not affect them or the issues they care about. But how do you know what Ayers teaches. Have you sat in on one of his classes.

D, let me chime in here. Since I am in academia I do know a bit about what Dr. Ayers teaches in his classroom. (Ayers holds an EdD, considered a terminal degree in education) Have you read any of his books? As you say, young voters may not be interested in the fact that the man once helped found a vile organization called the Weather Underground, which considered itself at war with the US government and which planted bombs as part of its strategy of disruption. They may not be interested in the fact that the only reason Mr. Ayers is not in jail is because the charges were dropped because evidence was illegally obtained. They may not be interested in the fact that Mr. Ayers spent a decade “underground” on the run from law enforcement. I find the lack of interest in any event that did not take place during their lifetimes that many of my own students display disappointing, but I take heart that there are many other students who do display a livelier intellectual curiosity.
But I digress. Even though these students may not care about Mr. Ayers’ past, as you say, they should care about his present. They may be more impressed that I was to learn about the door to Mr. Ayers’ office (sorry, I cannot bring myself to honor him with the title of Dr, even though he holds an EdD). Academics’ doors are often windows to our souls. Many of us decorate our doors with things that reflect our interests, things we think help show our students and other passersby a bit of ourselves. We might have cartoons, newspaper clippings, fliers for upcoming events we want to help publicize, art work, any number of things. I love to walk through different departments and look at people’s doors. What is found on William Ayers’ office door, to greet the students who come to talk to him about their early childhood education classes? Posters of Che Guevara and Mumia Abu-Jamal. Lovely. I know, its radical chic and many young people, and not so young people, might find that perfectly okay. Sigh.
Ayers’ views on urban education and on juvenile justice are disturbing to me. He does not believe that juveniles should be punished for their crimes, regardless of circumstance, for example. This is not a person I want molding the minds of young teachers, or that I would be funneling grant money to, as Barack Obama did.
But to your point– what young people should care about most is the inability of Barack Obama to settle on one version of his relationship with Ayers. Like his ever-evolving stories of his relationship with his former pastor, Rev. Wright, or his many versions of his interactions with Tony Rezko, we have to wonder why he cannot simply tell us the same story every time he is asked. I notice that his campaign has plenty of versions of his relationship with ACORN as well. If things are so innocent, why is there no consistency in these stories?
William Ayers alone might not be a major concern where Obama is concerned. But as part of an overarching pattern of associations with troubling figures and of not being open and honest about those associations raises questions in my mind and should in the mind of the young people to whom you refer.

Michelle, Your ignorance of facts is showing. LOL

Those who, despite Obama’s forthrightness in addressing the nature of his association (or lack thereof) with Ayers, continue to keep bringing it up should open their eyes and read about John McCain’s associations with criminals like Gordon Liddy (of Watergate notoriety, an advocate of domestic terrorism), his cozy relationship with Cuban terrorists, and his and his wife Cindy McCain’s intimate connections with organized crime, and so on… As for Sarah Pallin, David Brooks, a dyed-in-the-wool Bill Buckleyite conservative is right on the mark when he called Sarah Palin “a fatal cancer to the Republican Party”.

Ms. Burgess,
Hi, fellow academic. Sorry that my post about Ayers seemed to raise your ire. My central point, which you ignore, is that it is not the relationship with Ayers that disturbs me (I never claimed that they were best buds or anything, but I think it is disingenuous to suggest that they hardly knew one another, as some have done) but the pattern of going to great lengths to cover up the nature of Obama’s connections with a number of Chicago characters, including Ayers.
I’ll try to sail past your “holier than thou” charge, because that is not the attitude that I take, however you may have taken my remarks. As to your suggestion that as an academic, I should realize that we must often work with people whose values we do not share, I do not see that as germane to the case of Obama and Ayers. Of course I agree that in our professional lives we often work with people we would not want to have as a part of our private lives. As you suggest, in academia, I must deal with colleagues whose views I find unsavory all the time. And as you suggest, I deal with them by putting aside my distaste for their personal views and being a professional. Ah, the faculty meetings at which I have had to bite the inside of my cheeks until I thought they might bleed, in order to prevent myself from blurting out an unpopular opinion.
This is not the situation in which Obama found himself, at least not entirely, to my way of thinking. Yes, Obama did not control the makeup of the boards on which he sat. So he had to get along with Ayers in his capacity as a board member. Still, I have heard no suggestion that they disagreed on the merits of various educational projects they awarded grants to. There have been no suggestions that grant approval meetings were arenas where Obama challenged Ayers on his radical educational views or clashed with him on funding projects that championed such views.
But the connections between the two men, such as they are, are not confined to the board room. Obama voluntarily associated with Ayers– Ayers and his wife held a coffee at their home to help set Obama’s political career in motion. Obama apologists get caught up in nitpicking whether or not this was the actual launch of Obama’s campaign that year, citing other meetings in other places as the starting point. That hardly matters. Early in his political career, Obama chose to have his cause promoted by Ayers. Obama has told conflicting stories about whether at that point he knew about Ayers’ past with the Weather Underground. It seems highly unlikely that he did not have an awareness of the man’s past. He seems to have settled on the explanation that he “thought Ayers was rehabilitated” at that point, implying that he agrees that was not true and that at some point in time he figured out that was not the case. There is not clear indication of how his opinion of Ayers changed with this revelation or how he reacted to this bit of news.
Obama also voluntarily provided the Chicago Tribune with a hearty endorsement of Ayers’ controversial book, A Kind and Just Parent (the title is facetious). This was not something he had to do in a professional capacity. (I am not claiming, as some have done, that Obama “blurbed” the book. That would be quite damaging, after all. One does not blurb a book if one does not agree with its message; at least, I would never blurb a book if I were uncomfortable with any of its content.) Obama was enthusiastic in his praise of the book, so he was obviously endorsing its content. That’s not good, in my opinion. These were not examples of a man who had to, for professional reasons, get along with a radical who made him uncomfortable. They lived in the same neighborhood, as Obama has famously remarked, and they were obviously comfortable in the same social circles.
You say that I would find some unsavory characters in academia, and I wholeheartedly agree. We are a big diverse group, although not as diverse as much of society nor as diverse as we should be. I do not see that as germane to our discussion. You suggest that by my standards, I would have to vet every person with whom i have a professional relationship, an unworkable situation to be sure. I do not agree with your logic here. I am not saying that we should expect Obama to agree complete about everything all his colleagues have said or done. After all, he’s a member of the US Senate, for goodness sake. Now there’s a collection of unsavory (mostly) fellows. *G* I am saying that there is a pattern of him having connections, some (like Rev. Wright) closer than others (like Ayers) that he later repudiates or downplays. That’s the part that bothers me. It obviously doesn’t bother you, and that’s fine. Different strokes and all that.

what ever all the political pundits say about john maccain that he is going to loose to barrack hussain obama it will all wannish in the election day,john maccain will emerge as the real hero on nov4 then all the media will have to accept the fact,one thing everybodyshould understand that barrack is running against a real american hero,not against himself,
cheers,
swajan

I did not hear McCain repudiate the stump speeches of his running mate!
Obama/Biden 08!

Birds of a feather, “kill him” reflects the hate, aggression, and insincerity of McCain/Palin.