I've stated before that I have no horse in this race -- I'm leaning more favorably toward Obama than Clinton, but I'm not rooting for either.
I simply want a great candidate who is willing to make the commitment to undo ALL the damage of the George W. Bush Administration and the Republican party, including pursuing accountability and -- where called for -- criminal charges.
That also includes nailing whatever Democrats were complicit through their knowledge and silence, if -- by the time November rolls around -- there aren't some major steps taken by them to undo the damage they've assisted in levying against our nation, the environment and the world.
With that out of the way, I want to address some issues that are forming a bonfire of flames that need to be addressed and dispelled, if possible, ASAP. These are NOT Hillary & Bill related items, either.
Note: I'm not doing this to incite flames, flame wars, candidate wars etc. -- I want these issues addressed so that if there are solid rebuttals, I'll have them available. If I notice a similar attack against Clinton, I'll likely do the same if nobody else steps up to. Now, jump...
If this is truly a political blog interested in getting Democrats elected, then -- regardless of your chosen candidate -- we must all work together to examine the attacks that candidates are likely to undergo and provide what information we can to confirm, deny, affirm, dispel or at least ascertain the facts.
If we want truly Progressive candidates, then we must examine them closely to ensure we are aware of any cracks in the edifice that oppositional forces may seek to exploit, even if those cracks are minor. If they are major, then we'll want to carefully weigh and balance our choices and determine the best method to hold the candidates accountable and keeping them in line, while doing our best to ensure that their strengths are not buried in the avalanche of desperation and vitriol that the Reich-wing pundits will heave against us.
There can be no question that nearly anyone would be a significant improvement over the current Republican legacy; the George W. Bush Administration and all the Republicans providing cover for it have insulted, degraded, undermined and weakened our nation to an obscene degree, and they are too myopic, arrogant and greedy to stop themselves from desperately clinging to Party-over-Country ideals.
We don't want to be like them.
A recent piece by Larry Johnson mimics some of the Conservative talking points I've been seeing glimmers of; the desperate among the Republicans, horrified that someone with brown skin and a middle name of Hussein may actually win the Presidency, are awash in fits of apoplexy as they attempt to find cracks and crevices to exploit.
They are currently re-working their thoughts on Hillary Clinton, realizing that their standard attacks are not as effective as they want but happy that the Democrats themselves are infighting between the two candidates. We'll deal with that burning bridge when it starts to loom a little more closely.
And so, onward.
I've seen attacks and defenses against Obama; I haven't invested a lot of time into investigating them. The current post by Larry Johnson, linked above, combined with news on the Rec list about Rezko's fundraisers and a suggestion that donation numbers aren't being honestly represented, comprise a serious attack.
I want to see the response, point by point with whatever proper evidence can be obtained via link and reason. Is there a response for the three main issues that Johnson cites? Are the sub-issues buried within significant? If not, why not -- are some merely opinion and emotional appeals over logical evidence?
Johnson names three significant individuals that will be used to tear down Obama's image as things heat up: Tony Rezko, William Ayers and Rashid Khalidi. He provides some detail on each issue and why it's apparently significant.
Without flaming anyone or flying off into soaring rhetoric, please address and respond to the post. Let's see if we can put the ducks in order and stacked 'em up appropriately, and where that gets us.
We'll then do a corresponding item for Clinton (any takers for doing this please volunteer below).
Then we'll have at least a good idea of what to expect from the attack dogs regardless of who wins the nomination, and we'll have (hopefully) detailed and accurate responses that deal with facts. Ideally, we'll also include a list of accomplishments for each candidate to provide a well-detailed playing field that negates the "level of experience" and "significance of contributions" issues -- both candidates have strong strengths, and whether you support one and despise the other or not, you'll need to know what those strengths are.
So...
Rezko:
There is a growing body of material in the blogosphere on this issue (looseheadprop has an excellent overview), but the mainstream media has paid little attention and most Americans know nothing of Rezko’s bribery and corruption trial. [...snip...] He cannot deny his longstanding friendship with Rezko. A man who has played a significant role in raising funds for his political campaigns and a man who helped Obama and his wife get the home of their dreams.
When addressing this, check out and include any relevant references from the looseheadprop piece that Larry links to, please.
Ayers:
William Ayers is an unrepentant terrorist, though he is normally described as a distinguished education professor. [...snip...] he himself acknowledges planting bombs in U.S. Federal buildings. There is now undeniable proof of a longstanding relationship between Barack Obama and William Ayers. We are not talking about two guys who just happened to bump into one another on the street. [...snip...] ...we are talking about William Ayers hosting a fundraiser for Barack Obama and actively working with him to secure Barack’s first electoral victory in Illinois. But wait, there is more. Barack and Ayers also served on the board of the Woods Fund. And they worked together to give money to some other folks, including a group with ties to the PLO.
[...snip...]
Do you think that Republicans will ignore Obama’s ties to Ayers? The two were serving on the same board in 2002. We are talking less than six years ago and the record will come out showing some questionable grants by these two characters...
I don't know much about Ayers, so I've nothing else to recommend or add. I do know that in combination with this, I can see blowhards tying in the Che Guevara flag issues, too -- those should be non-starters in a reality-based world, but unfortunately we don't seem to be living in one yet and when combined with Republican attack dogs, that could hit unsuspecting folks pretty hard. If Obama is going to be the nominee, then there needs to be a way to disarm the virulence.
Khalidi:
...guess who helped broker the appearance of Iran’s Ahmadinejad last summer at Columbia University? Professor Khalidi.
[...snip...]
...guess who helped broker the appearance of Iran’s Ahmadinejad last summer at Columbia University? Professor Khalidi.
[...snip...]
Feelings of hope and inspiration about Obama will evaporate when the commercials tying him to a convicted felon slumlord, an unrepentant terrorist who hates the troops, and a Professor of Middle Eastern Studies who has been a PLO official spouting anti-Israel rhetoric.
There it is. The veritable best of the worst, unless there's something hiding in a closet.
This is not a time for fighting each other or for insults, flame wars or trolling.
Larry Johnson is a definite Clinton supporter, but he just made an excellent and concise list of attacks to expect against Obama, and is even being cited already by lunatics on the reich as evidence that Obama can't "win" the Presidency.
Now it's time for all folks -- Obama's supporters AS WELL AS Clinton's -- to examine and probe those attacks. Think of it as a chance to derail the Kerry swiftboaters or to more quickly expose the Jeff Gannon stuff. Whatever works to get you all to work together to examine the claims for any chinks that will weigh in on whether or not these constitute any kind of "winnable" attack and how, in case Obama wins the nomination, to address them.
We have two potential candidates. Both have issues. Let's deal with this candidate's issues now, and we can hit the next one later this week.
I, for one, do not wish to wait. We can't afford it. Our nation is too fractured, battered and torn from six years of total Republican control of the WH and Congress, and we need to be certain that we'll be able to work together to weather any storm.
Namaste.