McCain and Palin's campaign has become something ghoulish
I didn't think it was possible for the Republicans to run a dirtier campaign than the one they ran in 2004. I mean how much lower can you go then suggesting that John Kerry a Vietnam veteran did not honorably serve his country, or that he was soft on terrorism?
But yet 4 years later, the Republicans are openly attacking the Democratic candidate not as being soft on terrorism but as a terrorist sympathizer. They are trying to suggest that Obama is something he is not.
A letter to the editor to the Star Tribune
Philosophers and logicians have long taught that guilt by association is a fallacious argument. Nevertheless, in recent speeches, Sarah Palin and McCain attempt to smear Barack Obama with his acquaintanceship with William Ayers, who undoubtedly committed some crimes 40 years ago. To describe the joint service of these two men on charitable boards decades later as "palling around together" is laughable and reflects a desperate strategy.
The centerpiece of Christianity is redemption. Do they who preach redemption and forgiveness every Sunday propose that we deny it to anyone whose political views do not mirror their own? More to the point, what would it take to satisfy these religious fanatics' standard of redemption? Does Ayers' laudable work to improve public education and authorship of 15 books on the subject count for anything? Treating Ayers as a rehabilitated person, as Obama has, is not proof of anything except his Christian faith.
So the McCain camp wants to talk about terrorist connections?
John McCain is closer to Bush than Obama is to Ayers. Ayers has redeemed himself and does a lot of good work in the community helping those in need and those who face hardships. Bush is more of a terrorist than Ayers ever was. And Bush has done nothing to redeem himself. 4,000 American soldiers killed, hundreds of thousands of Iraqi's killed. McCain seeks to continue the Bush tradition of rabid nationalism and militarism.
Everyone has a dark side- the American psyche has a dark side but Republicans (in order to win elections) tap the dark side of American politics excessivly. Their history of elimination rhetoric mixed with their current attacks on Obama is a dangerous mix. And we begin to see its consequences when more and more of the rightist base accuses Obama of treason, terrorism and violence.....
Obama is tapping into something better in the American psyche-- our ability to love, to want to help others, have empathy and compassion, to be reasonable and understanding as we confront difficult challenges.
McCain is tapping into base attacks that only zombies will accept with out question.