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This Is What Democracy Looks Like
www.NationalView.org's Note From a Madman
October 7, 2008
The Choices
Anything Goes or Losing with Dignity are the only two options left in this
political campaign. John McCain lives by the former and Barack Obama needs to
remember that. As I listen to all of the talking heads and callers to America
Left (XM Satellite's Liberal Talk Show Channel) I hear many say that McCain is
playing dirty.
He is, but isn't it to be expected?
And while at the same time they complain about McCain's distortions and lies
they tell those of us tuned in that Obama must stay above the fray. They want
Obama to play by the rules that they - the hosts and callers with enough time to
wait for airtime (how much time have you got?) - set in their own minds.
It doesn't work that way and we have two - yes, two - election cycles to prove
it.
Doesn't anyone remember what George W. Bush, with the help of Karl Rove, did to
Al Gore in 2000? Doesn't anyone remember the swift-boating of John Kerry in
2004? And, most of all, doesn't anyone on either side of the aisle remember what
Bush's agents did to McCain himself during the South Carolina primary in 2000?
Here's a reminder - hate, division, distortions and out-and-out lies work. If
McCain didn't know that in 2000 (after he and Bush agreed to "no dirty tricks)
he has certainly learned it today.
But McCain has a problem, and this time the problem doesn't rest with rumors
about his (second) wife Cindy's drug convictions (exaggerated by Bush in 2000,
but real nonetheless) or a "black child" which was "pushed" by Bush agents
through "push calls" to South Carolina's White GOP Primary voters. (Some of you
might remember the calls which went something like this: "Would you be more or
less likely to vote for John McCain if you knew he had a child with a black
prostitute?") This time McCain is being forced to answer real questions about
his involvement as a charter member of the Keating Five.
Somehow the GOP and McCain campaign are crying "foul" when the mere mention of
McCain's former friend, Charles Keating - the man who bilked thousands out of
millions and cost the nation millions more - with his con game out of McCain's
Arizona called the Lincoln Savings and Loan. McCain was one of the first and
foremost politicians financially supported by Keating and, either as a direct
result of that support or by mere coincidence (yeah, that's it - coincidence!),
McCain and the other four Senators made sure that the laws allowing Keating and
other Savings and Loans to practice their shady deals went away.
And Keating, the millionaire who still says he did nothing wrong, used to pal
around with senator McCain as well whether it be on elaborate vacations or just
a nice meal, they were close. Although McCain admitted to some "mistakes", he
has never really answered the tough questions about his relationship with
Keating. Those who support him believe that he shouldn't but are the first to
bark out misinformation and rumor as "Fact" when it comes to Senator Obama.
And that isn't all:
McCain's running mate, Governor Sarah Palin of Alaska is doing her best to
emulate her idol, President George W. Bush. She refuses to answer questions
regarding the Trooper-Gate scandal claiming, like Bush, a sort of executive-type
of privilege that appears nowhere in her state's, or the US Constitution.
Additionally, her husband, Todd, refuses to answer questions by way of his very
own subpoena. Todd Palin is a private citizen. Just what "privilege" is he
citing? Maybe it's the "Right to remain silent."
Today, to add even more checks to the McCain campaign, it came out that McCain
had his own terrorist problems even as he and his campaign are trying to tie
Obama to a sixties radical they say is in cahoots with Obama. Check out this
Associated Press headline from this morning:
"McCain link to private group in Iran-Contra case,"
-The AP
"McCain himself was closely connected to a private group that supplied aid to
rebels trying to overthrow the leftist government of Nicaragua during the
Iran-Contra affair.
"The U.S. Council for World Freedom was part of an international organization
linked to former Nazi collaborators and ultra-right-wing death squads in Central
America,"
-The AP
And there's more: according to retired Army Maj. Gen. John Singlaub, the group's
founder, McCain is still a member. according to McCain, the "Maverick" said that
he left the group in 1986, just before beginning his senatorial campaign.
Singlaub and Joyce Downey, the groups day-to-day operations manager disagree:
"That's a surprise to me. This is the first time I've ever heard that,"
-Singlaub
"I don't ever remember hearing about his resigning,"
-Downey
But I guess that this bit of news should be off-limits too. After all, belonging
to a group linked to nazi collaborators isn't really a group that "a Maverick"
could really be linked with...
Could it?
McCain has much to answer for and the only way to stay out of the A&A chair is
to attack, attack, attack. It is a lesson learned from Rove and not lost on the
Arizona Senator. But Obama must keep up his attacks as well.
We've had many a Democratic candidate for the White House lose because they
wished to stay above that fray. it didn't work for Michael Dukakis; it didn't
work for Jimmy Carter (1980); and it won't work for Barack Obama.
The good news is that Senator Obama knows that and he won't be blitzed or
"Swift-boated" by the likes of McCain and his McCain-aics or Palin-istas.
If the attack mechanism works for either side, however, it works better for the
GOP. The Republicans are always trying to keep poll attendance down. It's their
contention to make each and every possible opponent vote a challengeable vote.
They target minority-dominate neighborhoods; check rolls of recently bankrupted
individuals and make other barriers to get in the way of a fair and honest vote.
If making some leaning Left stay home because Obama has to answer the false
charges Kerry, for one, didn't answer in 2004, then that, too, will work in
McCain's favor. Those on the Right have no conscience problem when it comes to
electioneering, it appears.
But Obama must keep up this fight.
And on January 20, 2009, he must take the oath of office as the 44th President
of The United states.
-Noah Greenberg
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-Noah Greenberg