Monday, October 13, 2008

"Have you no sense of decency, sir, at long last?"

The famous question that Joseph Welch asked Senator Joseph McCarthy during the McCarthy Hearings in the 1950s could as easily be asked of John McCain today.

The head of the GOP in Virginia, Jeffrey Frederick, has compared Barack Obama to Osama Bin Laden. This is no longer a campaign of sly, vicious innuendo. This man has come right out and compared Barack Obama to the worst terrorist there is. Comparing Obama to Bin Laden, he said: "'Both have friends that bombed the Pentagon,' he said. 'That is scary.'"

What is scary is that there are people out there making these absurd comparisons. And what else is scary? John McCain isn't repudiating them.

According to Talking Points Memo, McCain refused to condemn the comparison, saying he needed more "context" and once again brought up the idea that Obama has not been forthcoming about his real relationship with Ayers:

"'I have to look at the context of his remarks. I have always repudiated any comments that have been made that were inappropriate about Senator Obama. The fact is that William Ayers was a terrorist and bomber and unrepentant. I don't care about that. But Senator Obama ought be the candid and truthful about his relationship with Mr. Ayers in whose living room Senator Obama launched his campaign and Senator Obama said he was just a guy in the neighborhood.'"

Come on, John. You know as well as we do that there IS no possible context that would make that comparison acceptable or appropriate in any way, shape or form. And to follow up that "context" remark with yet another aspersion cast on Obama's so-called relationship with Ayers, is just disingenuous to the extreme.

John McCain has sunk to a new low and will never be able to regain the respect many people had for him until this campaign. It is sad in a way to see a person completely give up any remnant of their soul just to try to win an election.

I hope, in the most reasonable, above-the-fray way he can, that Obama will call him on this behavior in the debate on Wednesday. I hope McCain has the grace to look ashamed.

In the meantime, the latest poll shows McCain's favorability ratings going south while Obama's lead is now 53%-43%. You'd think McCain would realize that trying to tell the American people that Obama is a terrorist is just not working.

16 comments:

Ruth Hull Chatlien said...

No, I don't think John McCain does have a sense of decency. And it gives me no joy or satisfaction to say so.

Utah Savage said...

I'd like Obama to ask the questions that Dcup posed yesterday in her post. If I were one of the smart linky bloggers I would post these questions here. I do want Obama to ask McNasty specific questions about his smear tactics.

Mauigirl said...

Ruth - agree on both counts.

Utah, I like that idea - all of the suggestions on DCup's blog were good ones. I hope Obama will ask at least some of them.

Christopher said...

Jeffrey Frederick is a piece of shit.

But, the good news is, the more people like him yap, and yap, and yap, the higher Obama's polls climb!

Candace said...

The charitable foundation on which both Ayers and Obama served as board members was founded by MCCAIN SUPPORTERS, the Annenbergs. Why isn't that mentioned more often?

Comrade Kevin said...

I agree with Rachel Maddow. In another election, that sort of negativity might have worked. But with Obama playing the high ground, it makes McCain look desperate rather than justified.

Life As I Know It Now said...

With the mess the economy, the environment and this country in general is in, one wonders who in their right mind would even want to be president. But hey, I'm still voting for the Democrats because they have a lot of experience in cleaning up after republicans.

Anonymous said...

McCain wants to have it both ways. It won't work.

Frank Partisan said...

McCain did somewhat of about face in LaCrosse, Wisconsin, because the smear tactics are costing him indy votes.

Obama is not a fighter. Blogs like this support him more than he does himself.

I think people have to break with both parties. When Obama is up to his neck in Afghanistan, it'll be clear. The US needs a labor party.

Anonymous said...

i'm impressed with the obama campaign so far. he even seems to be taking it up a notch (i like very much the fact that he personally went knocking on doors.).

and i'm glad to see that it appears that many americans are turned off by the smears, which distract from the economic perils your country and the world face at this point in time.

Joan said...

A desperate man, blinded by his desperation, will do desperate things all in the name of winning. I'm only hoping that voters will recognize the character differences between the two candidates and vote for Obama who has managed to stay above the fray and retain the moral high ground.

dguzman said...

I can only hope that all those "true believers" who claim that McCain is an honorable man who deserves to be president will wake up and smell the truth--this guy is desperate, and any "maverick" or "honorable" or even "straight-talking" he ever may have been/done are gone. He's sold out to the Power-at-any-cost Beast. Sad, but true.

Mauigirl said...

Christopher, you're right. At this point I don't think I want McCain to change his tune. This is working well for Obama. I just worry that his campaign's rhetoric could incite violence.

Candace, amazing, isn't it? When I saw that ad mentioning a "radical education organization" or whatever it said, I looked into it to find out what this organization was. And it certainly wasn't a "radical" group; even more interesting that the Annenbergs were McCain supporters, which I didn't know!

Kevin, I agree, it is making McCain look desperate, which is good for our side.

Liberality, I know - I have no idea who would want either to campaign or to get the job. It is a nightmare!

DCup, yes, it's like he's doing a "good cop-bad cop" routine, trying to preserve his bipartisan image while his minions trash Obama. Although I think Jon Stewart or someone said last night it is more of a "Bad cop-worse cop."

Renegade, I'm hoping Obama doesn't get sucked into Afghanistan OR Iran. I would think he'd have better advisers than the current president or McCain would and if he got involved at all it would be briefly. And while I'd like to have a 3rd party, so far it has not been feasible here!

Kouji, I agree - and I was pleased to see a clip of Obama at a recent rally where he mentioned his "opponent" and the crowd booed and he said "Now now, we don't need that" or something like that. I think the more he remains above the fray the better. I don't think he needs to fight fire with fire in order to win. People are looking for security, not fighting.

Joan, I hope so too. So far so good; the American people may have finally seen that this character assassination stuff goes too far and is not helpful.

DGuzman, I think people are realizing it. And the more he and Sarah Palin actually call themselves mavericks the less credible they become.

Anonymous said...

I knew he would cop out and try to get any advantage from the slur, all the while not being a part of it. That is just the sort of slimy thing they do. John McCain is all about John McCain, he proved that long ago. His sense of honor is long gone, and I rather doubt he will get it back.

Fran said...

Sounds to me like McCain's been told to lay off the topic, so someone else is doing his dirty work.
Gawd I hope this tactic backfires big time.

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