With friends like these ...McCain finds his own radical friend

[babylonsister]

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/oped/chi-oped0504chapmanmay04,0,3136852.column

With friends like these ...
McCain finds his own radical friend

Steve Chapman
May 4, 2008


snip//

Liddy was in the thick of the biggest political scandal in American history -- and one of the greatest threats to the rule of law. He has said he has no regrets about what he did, insisting that he went to jail as "a prisoner of war."

All this may sound like ancient history. But it's from the same era as the bombings Ayers helped carry out as a member of the Weather Underground. And Liddy's penchant for extreme solutions has not abated.

In 1994, after the disastrous federal raid on the Branch Davidian compound in Waco, Texas, he gave some advice to his listeners: "Now if the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms comes to disarm you and they are bearing arms, resist them with arms. Go for a head shot; they're going to be wearing bulletproof vests. ... Kill the sons of bitches."

He later backed off, saying he meant merely that people should defend themselves if federal agents came with guns blazing. But his amended guidance was not exactly conciliatory: Liddy also said he should have recommended shots to the groin instead of the head. If that wasn't enough to inflame any nut cases, he mentioned labeling targets "Bill" and "Hillary" when he practiced shooting.

Given Liddy's record, it's hard to see why McCain would touch him with a 10-foot pole. On the contrary, he should be returning his donations and shunning his show. Yet the senator shows no qualms about associating with Liddy -- or celebrating his service to their common cause.

How does McCain explain his howling hypocrisy on the subject? He doesn't. I made repeated inquiries to his campaign aides, which they refused to acknowledge, much less answer. On this topic, the pilot of the Straight Talk Express would rather stay parked in the garage.

That's an odd policy for someone who is so forthright about his rival's responsibility. McCain thinks Obama should apologize for associating with a criminal extremist. To which Obama might reply: After you.

[maseman]

1. Kicked. I had forgotten about G Gordon Liddy

[FrenchieCat]

2. The Hypocrisy from the McCain Camp is stunning!

[Sugarcoated]

3. This is also at Media Matters:

http://mediamatters.org/items/200810040004

[nam78_two]

4. Recd,nt

[abumbyanyothername]

5. If only . . ..

If only Barack can go back in time and undo all the harm that has been done by the Republican Party supporting the Nixonian path.

Millions of young black men released from prison as recreational drugs favored by the antiwar movement are legalized and regulated.

America's foreign policy based on humility rather than dominance.

A culture of Hope and Unity rather than one of Fear, Divisiveness and Oppression.

A nation that lives on what it produces, and exports more beyond that rather than blind, corporate profiteering for the entrenched companies.

<sigh>