FACTCHECK.ORG

"He Lied" About Bill Ayers?

McCain cranks out some false and misleading attacks on Obama's connection to a 1960s radical.

By Viveca Novak and Brooks Jackson | factcheck.org
Oct 10, 2008 | Updated: 7:33  p.m. ET Oct 10, 2008

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  • Posted By: margee @ 11/01/2008 5:22:43 PM

    Comment: It is absurd for factcheck.org to take up for Obama at this point. I do not have to listen to McCain's ads either. The story has played out for the American people for quite some time now if you have been paying attention. I heard Wright's hate spewing from his mouth. I've heard the same hate from Ayers. I heard Obama say Wright was like one of his own family. Etc., Etc. on and on...the puzzle pieces all fit closely together and it is frightening. I am voting for McCain.

  • Posted By: FloridaGirlinJax @ 10/31/2008 4:08:02 PM

    Comment: McCain and Palin should be charged with inciting possible riots and hate crimes. The hateful descriptive language Palin continuously uses to mislead the American Voters should be considered criminal. The misleading and false statements made by Palin in relation to Obama's association with the Annenberg Challenge and therefore with Bill Ayers, such as "Radical" and "Pals" around with ???Domestic Terrorists??? in concert with also using Obama???s middle name, is specifically intended to lead the public to a ill-logical conclusion that Obama then too must be a Domestic Terrorist. McCain and Palin better pray that their irresponsible language does not motivate some truly imbalanced conservative follower to do something truly Radical which the World shall forever regret. Obama is truly an inspiring man. McCain should be ashamed, very ashamed. McCain and Palin should be charged with Hate Crimes! AND TO JUST GAIN POWER. And they profess to be Christians! Obama is the true Christian, after all of there false accusation and name calling, he is the one who follows the teachings of Jesus Christ, who taught us to turn our cheek.

  • Posted By: VoterinPA @ 10/29/2008 4:34:21 PM

    Comment: I just spoke with an Obama supporter. She was obviously unaware of the Florida journalist's question to Joe Biden because I asked if she agreed with the motto "From each according to his abilities, to each according to his needs". The Obama supporter said that she felt that this was "fair". Wake up America - the "shining city upon a hill whose beacon light guides freedom-loving people everywhere" is about to have a power outage.

  • Posted By: jidlo @ 10/28/2008 9:40:01 AM

    Comment: McCain did not lie about Ayers. He is a self proclaimed terrorist that should have got the death penalty but did not because of court mistake of proceedure. the anti-americans who can't seem to wait to be a communist America. Believe me you so called radicules will like it one bit when you get it. You will have noone to blam but yourselves

  • Posted By: Republican dog @ 10/24/2008 12:31:47 PM

    Comment: You can say that McCain and his campaign are tellling lies about Barack Obama's association the Ayers and Wright arent long standing or significant, but that is to deny reality. You want the Messiah in the White House and therefore your efforts are designed to protect him and that means you fail to examine these associations adequately or ignore them altogether!

  • Posted By: Republican dog @ 10/24/2008 12:29:31 PM

    Comment: I think the majority of the news organizations are protecting Obama and refuse to disclose the obvious long standing relationship Obama had with Ayers. The same is true for Reverant Wright. No doubt about it. Details are well known, but are closely guarded by the press who will stop at nothing to protect the Messiah!

  • Posted By: ken from Alabama @ 10/23/2008 6:36:29 PM

    Comment: Ayers in a radio interview . ttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0yq7BY8_Tg8

  • Posted By: ken from Alabama @ 10/23/2008 6:24:17 PM

    Comment: This is something that some of you want to check out in Hillary's own words.
    ://www.youtube.com/watch?v=112KQfOuOcc

  • Posted By: northcarolinaSTATE08 @ 10/22/2008 11:11:38 PM

    Comment: Yo think4yourself, obviously you need to go back to high school and learn some correct grammar. Ayers needs an apostrophe there bud.

    On a different note, I believe Obama was 8 years old when he (Ayers) conducted his acts of terrorism against the USA. I guess that makes sense, I know when I was 8 years old i definitely was "palling" around with terrorists. This is just another attempt to distract people from the real issues. I mean open up your minds people, don't your realize that McCain is attacking your intelligence with these ads? My Lord, if you honestly think Obama is a terrorist you've got to be an idiot. He is the epitome of the American dream, McCain on the other hand is just another spoiled, rich bastard that cares about no one but himself (that is evident from his infidelity to his previous wife, his VP choice, and the fact he owns 8 FREAKING HOUSES!).

    • Posted By: jidlo @ 10/28/2008 9:45:16 AM

      Comment: oObama may have been 8 years old when Ayer's done his dirty deeds but he is still the same person today he was then and admits it take off the blinders and open your eyes.

  • Posted By: krohn2 @ 10/22/2008 5:09:10 PM

    Comment: FactCheck.Org is owned by the Annenberg group of Chicago! Talk about a conflict of interest! And Obama has been telling people on the trail to check out the site to verify his opponents claims. Funny, every time that he endorsed something, it turns out to be a part of his spin machine! Like he raised objections in the primaries when Indiana required photo I.D. to vote. He Protested that It took away people's right to vote! I
    knew then and there that he was up to no good! America, wake up from the MASS HYPNOSIS!
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pWTs1YyhFRg&feature=related

  • Posted By: think4yourself @ 10/22/2008 4:09:13 PM

    Comment: He also lies about not really knowing the guy. HELLO HE WROTE AND OP-ED PIECE FOR ONE OF AYERS BOOKS. The Chicago Tribune covered it. But the media wont. SHAMEFUL!!!

    Proproganda at its finest. THE GESTAPO WOULD BE PROUD.

  • Posted By: crave @ 10/22/2008 3:10:10 PM

    Comment: Why does Obama still not post where all his donations come from? What is he hiding? The people of America have a right to know the honest, true donations and before the elections

  • Posted By: sissyt @ 10/22/2008 8:08:37 AM

    Comment: How can White america be so stubborn, especially the rural areas, they believe everything they hear without reading, they say they read the bible, Now that is BULL.! Rural white america is stil stuck in 1952, they think everyone is under them and they should call the shots. well God is bigger than that attitude and america, real america, can read. your old ways, even with mccain in office. we stil see the truth your a racist, classist bigot. just hte rest of your founding fathers KROHNS Read sometime, stop listening to just fox news. move to alaska. (sorry alaska) but forgotds sake grow up This isn't about you anymore it is about people who have lost everything so you can keep your 400 k aig spa treats.

  • Posted By: r_doss @ 10/21/2008 4:28:43 PM

    Comment: John McCain is rightly accused of continuing the disastrous Bush policies. In 2004 he embraced Bush and campaigned vigorously for him. And in his own words, he "supported George Bush 90% of the time." Now he claims to be running on his own. But which McCain would we get as president? He changes from day to day, but he will continue the pamper the rich tax policies of the Shrub. The hell with that!

  • Posted By: krohn2 @ 10/21/2008 12:25:26 AM

    Comment: This is so true about how the election is already bought and paid for:
    http://www.againstobama.com/2008/10/what-is-it-that-barack-obama-knows-that-the-rest-of-us-don%E2%80%99t/#comment-1929

  • Posted By: krohn2 @ 10/20/2008 8:55:08 PM

    Comment: Obama, the excuses are wearing thin. what excuse do you have for this one?:
    http://www.againstobama.com/2008/10/obama-praised-searing-and-timely-book-by-ayers/

  • Posted By: Nins @ 10/20/2008 4:56:32 PM

    Comment: William F. Buckley's son, Christopher Buckley, who is a conservative Republican like his Dad, is supporting Barack Obama for President.

    Christopher Buckley was forced to resign from the right wing National Review over this endorsement. Chris has written a conservative column for years at the National Review, the journal his father founded. Chris has been a poster boy for the Republican party ever since his father, in a 1985 speech to Ronald Reagan, said that his son Christopher lived in a world of freedom thanks to the fact that the USA had not been afraid to use nuclear bombs in Japan and so end WWII.

    Twenty three years later, many prominent Republicans, including Christopher Buckley, Kathleen Parker, Susan Eisenhower and Colin Powell have come out in support of Barack Obama. Their primary reason for doing so is that they feel that Obama is the better candidate. But just as importantly, they are concerned by the growing tendency of the GOP to incite the masses based on false charges of terrorism, Muslim roots, etc. These lies feed a dark form of social unrest that is very destructive for America. (Look what it did in Nazi Germany.) They also all pointed to the inadequate choice of Sarah Palin as John's VP. These are prominent right wing Republicans speaking, not liberal Democrats.

    And while I am not prominent, I too am a Republican who is voting for Obama.

    Christopher Buckley's article about why he decided to support Obama:

    http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2008-10-14/sorry-dad-i-was-fired

    • Posted By: krohn2 @ 10/20/2008 11:35:27 PM

      Comment: Bull! you are just another Obama Camp employee blogger with your predictable, formula responses that have gotten so transparent and tired. Devoid of any creativity! These are some examples of the typical posts that might come from your nefarious organization:
      "White senior female supporting Obama!"
      "Life long Republican, retired Marine, now supporting Obama!"
      "Former Neo-Nazi sympathizer who now supports Obama!"
      The only line of attack that your camp has had is to say that people don't want more of the last eight years. And attempting to tie McCain to the Bush Administration because he happens to be a member of the same party! Talk about scare tactics! The Obama administration can't offer any solutions or plans that it's administration will do for America because it does not have any! It can only point to the Bush administration and say, " Nobody could be as bad as that guy, so you should vote for me, because I look good by comparison! And since John McCain is a member of the same party as that big bad boogy man Bush, it might remind you of the last eight years!" So, with that logic, you might as well say, " Vote for me because the nightmares of the Bush administration will come back to haunt you otherwise. It does not matter that I could be worse than any president in history. At least I am a fresh new face and I speak well from a teleprompter and look good in a suit. In other words, I am a poster boy president and the sight of me and my charismatic rhetoric will make the world heal and everyone will come together and sing Cumbayah!" God save America! The superficiality of this shallow culture of " American idol-esque" nonsense is just sickening!

  • Posted By: Nins @ 10/20/2008 4:47:07 PM

    Comment: The GOP is grasping at straws. They have nothing substantive against Obama, but boy are they good at making up lies. This is the leading Karl Rove tactic for years, and if America falls for this again we should be ashamed of ourselves. Not to mention the obvious fact that this is all a smokescreen to keep the focus off of the fact that Palin has been found guilty of abusing the power of her office, and that she is in contempt of court for obstruction of justice. After Nixon and Clinton, Americans are to some extent jaded, but really, would you want a VP who refuses to attend hearings in her own defense, and instructs her employees not to testify?

    This year, the GOP offers you an angry old man and a woman who, while personable, is desperately uniformed on national and international issues. Both of them are far right politically. McCain used to be a maverick, but since 2004 he's voted 90% with Bush. McCain's policies are not original or reformist, despite how he's tried to co-opt Obama's popular message of change. Please go to the websites of both of the candidates and read their platforms. Obama's Blueprint for Change has more good ideas than McCain's plan. Compare them yourself. Obama's basic premise is that tax dollars should be spent to make America stronger and to improve the lives and well being of our people. For example, he uses education programs to train a new technology workforce, contributing to energy independence, creating jobs and improving the economy. When you read McCain's plan you will find no over-arching design to get America back on track. Instead you'll find more tax cuts for the wealthy, de-regulation of the health care industry, and a stated intent to overturn Roe v. Wade.

    I'm a Republican. Although I embrace some forward-thinking social values, in the past I've rarely voted Democrat. My thinking was that since Republicans grow robust economies, by voting Republican I endorsed a plan that would grow wealth for our nation, and then we'd be able to afford social programs. It was a good strategy for a couple decades, but I have to say that the tenure of W. Bush has changed my mind. Not only is there nothing fiscally responsible about today's GOP, the insidious alignment of the party with religious intolerance has really turned me off.

    On the other hand, the intelligent luminous thought of Barack Obama has ignited my patriotism. I want a President who puts America first and can get the economy back on track. In my mind, values voting takes a back burner when we are faced with a meltdown of the economy. It is time for a change, a real change. The Republicans have controlled the Presidency for 28 of the past 40 years, but they have fallen down on the job. The Democrats have a stellar candidate this year, and I am voting for Obama.

  • Posted By: johnnyr51 @ 10/20/2008 4:02:58 PM

    Comment: RevRon - you are one sick dude. The scripture does not state "of Muslim descent". You are a liar and a servant of the devil if there is one. It says he will come form "the east" and that could be India, China, or New Zealand. Let's see - who gathered all around his "god-given" attack of Iraq? Who, when he is in power would destroy everything? Only one : W. Bush

    • Posted By: Nins @ 10/20/2008 5:02:30 PM

      Comment: Actually, Johhny, RevRon is quoting JimJohnson's earlier post about Revelations, and saying that Jim is frightful for posting this.

      A similar blog was posted by Notsoquietmajority, who said that in Chapter 13 of Revelations Obama is predicted as a sweet talking Muslim who would destructively rule the world for 42 months, leading to Armageddon.

      The King James Version of the the Bible makes NO MENTION of "Muslims" nor of "42 months" in Chapter 13 of Revelations.

      Here is the full text:

      http://www.sacred-texts.com/bib/kjv/rev013.htm

      JimJohnson and Notsoquietmajority, you should be ASHAMED of yourself for intentionally mis-quoting the Bible to further your political agenda. Absolutely ashamed.

      You have lost all credibility on this blog site.

  • Posted By: RevRon @ 10/20/2008 2:14:52 AM

    Comment: "According to The Book of Revelations the anti-Christ is: The anti-Christ will
    be a man, in his 40's, of MUSLIM descent, who will deceive the nations with
    persuasive language, and have a MASSIVE Christ-like appeal...the prophecy says
    that people will flock to him and he will promise false hope and world peace,
    and when he is in power, will destroy everything..."
    *********************************************************************************************************************
    What bible are you reading? You cannot name specific versus to back up your claims because there are not any. The message of Jesus is not a message of hateful rhetoric but of love. Spent more time studying and understanding God's word instead of trying to use His word to spew nonsense. See John 3:16 - 21 and Acts 8:29-31

    • Posted By: RevRon @ 10/20/2008 2:18:24 AM

      Comment: Versus should be verses in my previous post.

  • Posted By: wilmaswan @ 10/20/2008 12:38:04 AM

    Comment: I challenge the writers of this FACT CHECK to check this out: The writers missed this FACT!!!!
    http://www.zombietime.com/zomblog/?p=64
    This is proof of OBAMA/AYERS connection......STAND UP AMERICA and stop this madness....Obama The Great is trouble! He did nothing for Illinois but make promises...Sound Familiar?

  • Posted By: Jim Johnson @ 10/18/2008 9:45:40 PM

    Comment: Obama's view of the future of America - Socialism which is the next step to Communism!! He admitted to Joe the Plumber than he wanted to spread the wealth! He said that he wanted to make everyone equal! Is America ready for Socialism? The Iranian president, Ahmadinejad, said today that he is glad to see the end to capitalism in America!! Are you glad?????
    ====================================================================================================


    Under socialism a ruling class of intellectuals, bureaucrats and social planners decide what people want or what is good for society and then use the coercive power of the State to regulate, tax, and redistribute the wealth of those who work for a living. In other words, socialism is a form of legalized theft.

    The morality of socialism can be summed-up in two words: envy and self-sacrifice. Envy is the desire to not only possess another's wealth but also the desire to see another's wealth lowered to the level of one's own. Socialism's teaching on self-sacrifice was nicely summarized by two of its greatest defenders, Hermann Goering and Bennito Mussolini. The highest principle of Nazism (National Socialism), said Goering, is: "Common good comes before private good." Fascism, said
    Mussolini, is "a life in which the individual, through the sacrifice of his own private interests??realizes that completely spiritual existence in which his value as a man lies."

    Socialism is the social system which institutionalizes envy and self-sacrifice: It is the social system which uses compulsion and the organized violence of the State to expropriate wealth from the producer class for its redistribution to the parasitical class.

    Despite the intellectuals' psychotic hatred of capitalism, it is the only moral and just social system.

    Capitalism is the only moral system because it requires human beings to deal with one another as traders--that is, as free moral agents trading and selling goods and services on the basis of mutual consent.

    Capitalism is the only just system because the sole criterion that determines the value of thing exchanged is the free, voluntary, universal judgement of the consumer. Coercion and fraud are anathema to the free-market system.

    It is both moral and just because the degree to which man rises or falls in society is determined by the degree to which he uses his mind. Capitalism is the only social system that rewards merit, ability and achievement, regardless of one's birth or station in life.

    Yes, there are winners and losers in capitalism. The winners are those who are honest, industrious, thoughtful, prudent, frugal, responsible, disciplined, and efficient. The losers are those who are shiftless, lazy, imprudent, extravagant, negligent, impractical, and inefficient. [What about the role of luck­being in the right place at the right time or the wrong place at the wrong time? R. R. Pope}

    • Posted By: Nins @ 10/20/2008 4:53:05 PM

      Comment: Jim Johnson, no matter how many times people tell you that Obama is against socialism, you keep posting these blogs that accuse Obama of socialism and communism. It is not true and you know it. You are just trying to smear Obama and make people afraid.

      In his book Audacity of Hope, Obama writes at length about the FAILURE of SOCIALISM and the failure of communism. He enthusiastically states that American democracy is the greatest political system on earth. Obama is not a socialist, and he does not admire socialism.

      You need to recognize that all democracies socialize certain functions: police, fire fighting, military, roads, public schools, sewers, water. This is for the greater good and we all accept it. It does not make us socialists.

      To you, Jim, and to all of the conservatives out there who think that Obama is a flaming liberal, I would like to remind you of what he did when he was elected President of the Harvard Law Review. The Law Review President gets to name ten individuals to write articles for the Review, and these ten people also get to control the content of the publication. All of the minorities and the liberals thought they finally had it made, that Obama would appoint ten left wing editors. Instead, Obama appointed three conservatives, three liberals and four moderates. That year the Law Review was critically acclaimed as the best run and best written Harvard publication in decades.

      So when he wins in November, conservatives don't have to freak out. Obama is a centrist and will appoint a balanced cabinet full of active people who will really get things done. Kind of like the way our multi-cultural society is supposed to be. And exactly what we need in this time of economic crisis.

  • Posted By: Jim Johnson @ 10/18/2008 9:45:18 PM

    Comment: Everyone of voting age should read these two books written by Obama, 'Dreams of My Father' and 'Audacity of Hope'. Don't buy them, get them from the library before they are removed from the shelves.

    From 'Dreams of My Father', "I ceased to advertise my mother's race at the age of 12 or 13, when I began to suspect that by doing so I was ingratiating myself to whites."

    From 'Dreams of My Father', "'I found a solace in nursing a pervasive sense of grievance and animosity against my mother's race."

    From 'Dreams of My Father', "There was something about him that made me wary, a little too sure of himself, maybe. And white."

    From 'Dreams of My Father', "It remained necessary to prove which side you were on, to show your loyalty to the black masses, to strike out and name names."

    From 'Dreams of My Father', "I never emulate white men and brown men whose fates didn't speak to my own. It was into my father's image, the black man, son of Africa , that I'd packed all the attributes I sought in myself , the attributes of Martin and Malcolm, DuBois and Mandela."

    And FINALLY the Most Damning one of ALL of them!!!

    From 'Audacity of Hope', "I will stand with the Muslims should the political winds shift in an ugly direction."

    • Posted By: Nins @ 10/20/2008 4:53:32 PM

      Comment: Jim, as usual you are trying to twist a fact to make it mean something different.

      Your quotes from Obama's books are more or less accurate, but they are taken completely out of context. In Dreams from my Father, Obama writes at length about how he went through an adolescent period of rebellion and identity crisis. He spent some time identifying with his black heritage and feeling how victimized blacks have been. If you read the whole book, you will see how he realized that it was immature for him to stay stuck in these feelings. He realized that he needed to do something constructive, rather than complain about other people being destructive. And he needed to see both sides of the story, both black and white, since he is both black and white. Actually, Jim, you could take a lesson from that and learn how to be more objective.

      You quote from Audacity of Hope is taken from a speech Obama gave after 9/11. He said that if the US government starts rounding up Muslims without cause and without giving them due process of law, that he would stand up for the Muslims rather than just watch our government put them in prison camps like we did to the Japanese Americans in WWII. In fact, the Bush administration created it's own internment camp and called it Guantanamo Bay. While there are certainly many guilty terrorists held in Guantanamo, there are also many innocent American citizens who have been held illegally for years without even being charged with any crime. They have been tortured by our government. Some of them have died.

      Recently the Supreme Court ruled against the Bush administration in the matter of Guantanamo Bay. The Supreme Court Justices were NOT on the side of the terrorists. They were on the side of the Geneva Convention, that says you can not torture POWs, and on the side of US laws that state you can not imprison a person without charging them with a crime and bringing them to trial. I'm sure that like most Americans, the Justices who voted against the illegal, immoral doings at Guantanamo did not feel sympathy for the terrorists. They felt sympathy for the laws of AMERICA, the land of the FREE, where even rat finks get a fair trial.

      One of the things that makes America GREAT is Freedom of Speech and Freedom of the Press. Your blog implies that if McCain wins the Presidency, Obama's books will be banned from public libraries. Heaven helps us! If this is true, it would be one heck of a reason to vote against McCain. Come to think of it, Sarah Palin tried to ban books from the Wasilla Public Library, and fired the Head Librarian when she refused to comply. Maybe it is true.

      God save us from small minded people like you, Jim Johnson.

  • Posted By: kittykat9 @ 10/18/2008 4:41:42 PM

    Comment: Obama-
    Ayers-
    1) just a guy in the neighborhood
    2) our kids go to the same school- Ayers are 20s and 30s Obamas are under 10 years
    3) He was only eight,,, lame Obama was an adult when there wes a coffee at Ayers house to annouce his political career.
    4)Obama thought he was rehabed ..
    5) they served on two boards together
    6)ties to Acorn togher

    why did Obama just say " oh he is a guy from the hood."

  • Posted By: freerunning @ 10/18/2008 4:11:09 PM

    Comment: Bill Ayers has no regrets for his acts of terrorism and does not feel he did enough. Barrack Obama has associated with Bill Ayers, and kicked off his campaign with a coffee at Bill Ayers home. Mayor Daley is a self-professed friend of Bill Ayers: ("Rare Daley move:Endorses Obama for primary", Chicago sun-Times 12/20/06). An old saying is that "birds of a feather flock together". Although Obama has not shown any potential to use violent methods,, he does seem to share the same socialist ideas of those he has associated with. If you want to be like a horse kept in a paddock, well fed but bored, with no real outlook on life, then chose socialism. If you want to be free like a wild mustang, who has the ability to really live life, than chose freedom and capitalism, with all of its possibilites.

  • Posted By: TruthForward @ 10/17/2008 8:00:01 PM

    Comment: McCain is connected to Nazi supporters and Central American death squads.. so says
    FoxNews and Washington Post (two Republican News publishers)

    http://elections.foxnews.com/2008/10/07/attention-ayers-renew-focus-mccains-iran-contra-connection/

    http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/10/07/AR2008100700025.html

    The old guy has a long infamous past.

    • Posted By: Nins @ 10/20/2008 4:55:45 PM

      Comment: Not to mention that McCain is friends with G. Gordon Liddy, who went to jail during the Watergate scandal.

      Not that I personally care if McCain hangs out with Liddy. But McCain wants to play the guilt by association game, and people who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones.

  • Posted By: Barbie123 @ 10/17/2008 1:54:27 PM

    Comment: Did you see Letterman where McSame is friends with Gordon Liddy, but this is different he served his time? Excuse me? The McSame/Palin team are liars, cheats, racist and this is OK because what John was a POW......at one time I admired him, but no longer, I'm beginning to think he's worse than George W Bush, and I didn't think I could ever think anyone was that bad.

    As to Acorn, because their are some John McCains in this organization, it's all bad? How dumb does McBushy think we are? Pretty dumb I guess, if he thinks we're buying that Barack's campaign runs more negative ads than them..........

    Mercy the kettle sure does call the pot black

  • Posted By: Woman in Indiana @ 10/17/2008 11:09:21 AM

    Comment: It is interesting the stretch that is made to tie Obama to a Terrorist and make him appear to support terrorists. Funny the acts of Ayres were committed when Obama was 8 years old. He met them man 10 to 15 years after Ayres was cleared and the man was a college professor. Obama is appointed to work on an educational school board in which Ayres is working as well for a foundation that started by a well known Republican family and recieves contributions from well known republican families. The man likes Obama and may have helped kick off his state senate campaign in the 1990's sometime with other prominent Chicago area people who are NOT considered Terrorists. Obama has never praised the bombings either, in fact they sicken him. In the last 2 years, they ran into eachother once on the street. That is like saying that when I am doing yard work and talk to my neighbor who served time for embezzlement charges 5 years ago, I am in conspriacy with him. I talked to him about the weather and the yard work 5 years after he did time. He may still think he was in the right but I don't know and care because it is not harming me to do yard work next to him. But Palin can be married to a former member of a party that wants to sucede from the United States of America? What do they say when you are pointing a finger? You have 3 pointing right back at you. Talk about the economic strategy and the real serious issues in our country please. Work to unite the country and be a strong team to make it through such crisis. Don't you think that is why Obama doesn't waste his time trying to dig all the bad baggage of McCain and Palin. Because it isn't worth his time. He is more focussed on the issues like the economy and how he sees we can strengthen our country. His ads focus on the policies that are introduced and how they differ. Past voting records and who they represent is more important to me than a far fetched story about who talked to who and what when. I initially followed Obama because of his stance on Iraq, now after research, I can add I support him because of his healthcare policy, education policy, I agree with 90% of his perspective on the economy, his green policy and most of all I respect the fact he has well educated well informed people he has surrounded himself with that share the same values. He does not claim to know it all and is willing to ask experts like Warren Buffet for advice and actually listen to people.

    • Posted By: Jim Johnson @ 10/17/2008 4:38:52 PM

      Comment: I hate to tell you how stupid you sound. Obama hung around Ayers when he was in his thirties and forties even though he knew Ayers commited crimes against our country. Ayers is still a terrorist and always will be. So will Obama.

      • Posted By: Nins @ 10/20/2008 4:52:27 PM

        Comment: Ayers, who was an idiot when he was younger, has redeemed himself later in life. He was named "Man of the Year" by a Chicago educator's association, and the very conservative Republican Annenberg Foundation appointed Ayers to two different boards, one of which he served on with Obama, along with lots of prominent Republicans. Would you say that they are all terrorists, guilty by association with Ayers.

        Jim, your one-sided ranting is really getting old. At least include some verifiable facts to go along with your opinions. You support McCain. That's great. Could you write at least one blog about why you think McCain would make a good President?

  • Posted By: The Dominican @ 10/16/2008 9:32:48 PM

    Comment: I will vote for McCain after the debate....

  • Posted By: Jim Johnson @ 10/16/2008 7:45:46 PM

    Comment: Obama's view of the future of America - Socialism which is the next step to Communism!!


    Under socialism a ruling class of intellectuals, bureaucrats and social planners decide what people want or what is good for society and then use the coercive power of the State to regulate, tax, and redistribute the wealth of those who work for a living. In other words, socialism is a form of legalized theft.

    The morality of socialism can be summed-up in two words: envy and self-sacrifice. Envy is the desire to not only possess another's wealth but also the desire to see another's wealth lowered to the level of one's own. Socialism's teaching on self-sacrifice was nicely summarized by two of its greatest defenders, Hermann Goering and Bennito Mussolini. The highest principle of Nazism (National Socialism), said Goering, is: "Common good comes before private good." Fascism, said
    Mussolini, is "a life in which the individual, through the sacrifice of his own private interests??realizes that completely spiritual existence in which his value as a man lies."

    Socialism is the social system which institutionalizes envy and self-sacrifice: It is the social system which uses compulsion and the organized violence of the State to expropriate wealth from the producer class for its redistribution to the parasitical class.

    Despite the intellectuals' psychotic hatred of capitalism, it is the only moral and just social system.

    Capitalism is the only moral system because it requires human beings to deal with one another as traders--that is, as free moral agents trading and selling goods and services on the basis of mutual consent.

    Capitalism is the only just system because the sole criterion that determines the value of thing exchanged is the free, voluntary, universal judgement of the consumer. Coercion and fraud are anathema to the free-market system.

    It is both moral and just because the degree to which man rises or falls in society is determined by the degree to which he uses his mind. Capitalism is the only social system that rewards merit, ability and achievement, regardless of one's birth or station in life.

    Yes, there are winners and losers in capitalism. The winners are those who are honest, industrious, thoughtful, prudent, frugal, responsible, disciplined, and efficient. The losers are those who are shiftless, lazy, imprudent, extravagant, negligent, impractical, and inefficient. [What about the role of luck­being in the right place at the right time or the wrong place at the wrong time? R. R. Pope}

    Capitalism is the only social system that rewards virtue and punishes vice. This applies to both the business executive and the carpenter, the lawyer and the factory worker.

  • Posted By: Concerned Canadian @ 10/16/2008 6:32:03 PM

    Comment: BARACK HUSSEIN OBAMA WANTS AMERICANS TO BELIEVE IT WAS OK TO WORK WITH BILL AYERS BECAUSE HE WAS "REHABILITATED"...WELL THEN BARACK HUSSEIN OBAMA BELIEVES THAT ADOLF HITLER IS "REHABILITATED" TOO SO HE'D WORK WITH HIM TOO ON THE SAME BOARD !

    • Posted By: horsigirl @ 10/18/2008 3:50:19 PM

      Comment: Dear God, Hitler is dead.....No comparison. What is McInsane/Palin afraid of? Let their skeletons be let out of the closet....That is all that camp can come with, ignorant, blind followers, that will not tAKE THE TIME TO EDUCATE THEMSELVES AND STAND UP TO a HATEFUL group...Sound like the sheep that followed Hitler to me.

  • Posted By: Jim Johnson @ 10/16/2008 1:12:20 PM

    Comment: Obama's view of the future of America - Socialism which is the next step to Communism!!


    Under socialism a ruling class of intellectuals, bureaucrats and social planners decide what people want or what is good for society and then use the coercive power of the State to regulate, tax, and redistribute the wealth of those who work for a living. In other words, socialism is a form of legalized theft.

    The morality of socialism can be summed-up in two words: envy and self-sacrifice. Envy is the desire to not only possess another's wealth but also the desire to see another's wealth lowered to the level of one's own. Socialism's teaching on self-sacrifice was nicely summarized by two of its greatest defenders, Hermann Goering and Bennito Mussolini. The highest principle of Nazism (National Socialism), said Goering, is: "Common good comes before private good." Fascism, said
    Mussolini, is "a life in which the individual, through the sacrifice of his own private interests??realizes that completely spiritual existence in which his value as a man lies."

    Socialism is the social system which institutionalizes envy and self-sacrifice: It is the social system which uses compulsion and the organized violence of the State to expropriate wealth from the producer class for its redistribution to the parasitical class.

    Despite the intellectuals' psychotic hatred of capitalism, it is the only moral and just social system.

    Capitalism is the only moral system because it requires human beings to deal with one another as traders--that is, as free moral agents trading and selling goods and services on the basis of mutual consent.

    Capitalism is the only just system because the sole criterion that determines the value of thing exchanged is the free, voluntary, universal judgement of the consumer. Coercion and fraud are anathema to the free-market system.

    It is both moral and just because the degree to which man rises or falls in society is determined by the degree to which he uses his mind. Capitalism is the only social system that rewards merit, ability and achievement, regardless of one's birth or station in life.

    Yes, there are winners and losers in capitalism. The winners are those who are honest, industrious, thoughtful, prudent, frugal, responsible, disciplined, and efficient. The losers are those who are shiftless, lazy, imprudent, extravagant, negligent, impractical, and inefficient. [What about the role of luck­being in the right place at the right time or the wrong place at the wrong time? R. R. Pope}

    Capitalism is the only social system that rewards virtue and punishes vice. This applies to both the business executive and the carpenter, the lawyer and the factory worker.

  • Posted By: marenas51 @ 10/16/2008 2:01:41 AM

    Comment: McBlame is one scary son of a b___h.Palin is dysfunctional at best! Republicans,is this the best you can offer? How proud you must be.McSame is rude,childish and has the look of a deranged psycho.Heaven help us if he wins.

  • Posted By: Nins @ 10/15/2008 4:22:55 PM

    Comment: The GOP is grasping at straws. They have nothing substantive against Obama, but boy are they good at making up lies. This is the leading Karl Rove tactic for years, and if America falls for this again we should be ashamed of ourselves. Not to mention the obvious fact that this is all a smokescreen to keep the focus off of the fact that Palin and her Alaska associates are in contempt of court for refusing to testify in the Troopergate hearings. After Nixon and Clinton, Americans are to some extent jaded, but really, would you want a VP who refuses to attend hearings in her own defense, and instructs her employees not to testify? That smells like guilt. It surely doesn't give the impression that she has done no wrong and has nothing to hide.

    This year, the GOP offers you an angry old man and a woman who, while personable, is desperately uniformed about national and international issues. Both of them are far right politically. McCain used to be a maverick, but since 2004 he's voted 90% with Bush. McCain's policies are not original or reformist, despite how he's tried to co-opt Obama's popular message of change. Please go to the websites of both of the candidates and read their platforms. Obama's Blueprint for Change has more good ideas than McCain's plan. Compare them yourself. Obama's basic premise is that tax dollars should be spent to make America stronger and to improve the lives and well being of our people. For example, he uses education programs to train a new technology workforce, contributing to energy independence, creating jobs and improving the economy. When you read McCain's plan you will find no over-arching design to get America back on track. Instead you'll find more tax cuts for the wealthy, de-regulation of the health care industry, and a stated intent to overturn Roe v. Wade.

    I'm a Republican. Although I embrace some forward-thinking social values, in the past I've rarely voted Democrat. My thinking was that since Republicans grow robust economies, by voting Republican I'd be endorsing a plan that would grow wealth for our nation, and then we'd be able to afford social programs. It was a good strategy for a couple decades, but I have to say that the tenure of W. Bush has changed my mind. Not only is there nothing fiscally responsible about today's GOP, the insidious alignment of the party with religious intolerance has really turned me off.

    On the other hand, the intelligent luminous thought of Barack Obama has ignited my patriotism. I want a President who puts America first and can get the economy back on track. In my mind, values voting takes a back burner when we are faced with a meltdown of the economy. It is time for a change, a real change. The Republicans have controlled the Presidency for 28 of the past 40 years, but they have fallen down on the job. The Democrats have a stellar candidate this year, and I am voting for Obama.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IDofbll86dY&feature=iv&annotation_id=event_922988

  • Posted By: SherrySherry @ 10/15/2008 3:31:06 PM

    Comment: Hey, Jim Johnson. Are you trying to stop what the Bible has prophesied?

  • Posted By: mccainsupporter @ 10/15/2008 2:49:40 PM

    Comment: Why Bill Ayers is important to this campaign?
    John McCain should make the argument personal and something that the American people can identify and understand. John McCain views Bill Ayers as a founder of the Weathermen and Weather Underground and also founder of the Students for Democratic Society SDS on the campus of the University of Michigan. The University of Michigan had held the first sit-in against the war. John McCain and the other 600 Vietnam POWs believe Bill Ayers was responsible for prolonging the war and causing them to receive extra beatings by the North Vietnamese for refusing to show their exuberance for the antiwar effort in the United States. The North Vietnamese fought even harder and refused to negotiate or return our POWs given the organized antiwar protests in the United States. All the North Vietnamese had to do was wait and domestic antiwar protests orchestrated by Bill Ayers would cause the United States to surrender. John McCain spent five and half years as a POW and personally received extra beatings because of Bill Ayers. Barack Obama views Bill Ayers as a reformed domestic terrorist who did despicable things in the past but should be given a second chance today. For Barack Obama there was never a need to keep a distance from Bill Ayers. Maybe if Barack Obama could have walked in John McCains shoes for just one day and suffered just one of the extra beatings that John McCain endured for five and a half years because of Bill Ayers and his Weathermen antiwar movement then maybe Barack Obama might appreciate a need to keep a distance from Bill Ayers. Along with the SDS Students for Democratic Society, Weathermen Underground, the Black Panther Party also actively opposed the Vietnam War. Barack Obama received the support of Southside Chicago Congressman and former Black Panther party member Bobby L. Rush during his bid for the Illinois Senate. The Black Panther Party along with the Weathermen Underground prolonged John McCains captivity and caused him to receive extra beatings. It is ironic that Bill Ayers led the antiwar protests during the Vietnam era that caused John McCain to receive extra beatings and to experience nearly six years of captivity, and today Barack Obama has been leading antiwar calls against the Iraq war. Barack Obama can not understand why John McCain is not happy that Barack Obama has not kept a distance from Bill Ayers. If Barack Obama had walked in John McCains or any of the other 600 American POW???s shoes one day, he would have no problem understanding why he should have kept his distance from Bill Ayers. The word shunning comes to mind. If Barack Obama would have shunned Bill Ayers and members of the Black Panthers Party there would be no issue in tonights debate.

    • Posted By: chase127 @ 10/16/2008 2:11:11 PM

      Comment: You McCain supporters are absolutely amazing! Now Bill Ayers is responsible for the Vietnam War. You republicans will make up anything and think you are smart enough to pull it off. Maybe McCain suffered for five years in as a POW becasue before the Vietcons shot down his plane he was bombing villages killing both women and children. Vietnam never came to McCain's neighborhood or his country and killed any U.S. citizen, but the U.S. had a right to go there and kill their citizens right? I will give you some credit if you can explain to us why the U.S. had the right to go to Vietnam and kill their citizens, and two what would you do to a captured fighter pilot from Vietnam if he was shot down as he was bombing your neighborhood? How do you think Jesus and God felt about McCain bombing those villages? Do you think God blessed him and the U.S. for killing women and children? Understand what McCain and the U.S, was doing before you blindly accept it for something God blessed. McCain got no worse then any fighter pilot would have gotten if he was caught bombing any town in America. McCain was caught killing Women and Children and destroying whole villages of people who never did a thing to McCain or his country and you think Bill Ayers is the cause of McCain's suffering? Wow you are totally off base and you don't know what you are talking about. The only way you can justify McCain's and the U.S.' actions in Vietnam is you have to believe the Vietnamese are less then human and they deserved to die at the hands of U.S. soldiers so the U.S. could further a failed program. Please, please, please give us one good reason why McCain and the U.S. had a right to do what they did to the Vietnamese, please! Then I'll feel sorry for him. I know for sure if you would have caught a fighter pilot in your neighborhood killing your family and friends not only would he not have lived for five years he would have been severly tortured and killed no questions ask, rigjht?

  • Posted By: Jim Johnson @ 10/15/2008 12:19:07 AM

    Comment: This will make you re-think: A Trivia question in Sunday School:

    How long is the beast allowed to have authority in Revelations?

    Revelations 13:5 tells us it is 42 months, and you know what that is;
    almost a four-year term of a Presidency.

    All I can say is "Lord, Have mercy on us!"

    According to The Book of Revelations the anti-Christ is: The anti-Christ will
    be a man, in his 40's, of MUSLIM descent, who will deceive the nations with
    persuasive language, and have a MASSIVE Christ-like appeal...the prophecy says
    that people will flock to him and he will promise false hope and world peace,
    and when he is in power, will destroy everything...

    Do we recognize this description??
    ================================================================================

    Since most predictions are that the world as we know it will end in the year 2012,
    this sounds reasonable! Of course the numbers of true Christians are dwindling
    fast. It is becoming a sad nation. Our forefathers founded this country on
    Christian principles, but even that is being denied by many. Without the core
    beliefs that our country was founded on, this nation is doomed. Obama, coming onto
    the scene, has brought more hate and anger into this country like I have never seen in
    all my life. His core principles are so far left that it is enough to scare any
    intelligent, mature American. Our forefathers would turn over in their graves if they
    could see that most Americans are ready for Socialism or just too ignorant to understand
    what is happening. I guess I am just from the old school like John McCain, I still
    believe in God, freedom, equality, personal responsibility, capitalism, low taxes, and
    small government. For the last 30 or so years our government has squandered away our
    tax money and forced most of us to live in poverty or close to it. They treated our
    tax money as though it was theirs and like they earned it, and unlike most Americans,
    they did not live within their budget. Emergencies do arise, but any smart American
    knows that you have to be ready for those, so you try to have savings or you borrow the
    money with the intent of paying it back immediately. If Americans have learned anything,
    it is that the government can run nothing and messes up everything they put their hands on.
    Now, Americans seem ready to turn our country over to a big spender and a taxing fool.
    I WANT MY COUNTRY BACK!!!!

    • Posted By: horsigirl @ 10/18/2008 4:07:52 PM

      Comment: What revelation are you looking at...go back to your bible 101, cause it says no such thing about what he would look like or what religion...good greif get your facts straight.

  • Posted By: Nowforthetruth @ 10/14/2008 10:04:59 PM

    Comment: "Press Releases

    AJC Strongly Condemns Rev. Jesse Jackson's Comment on American Jews
    October 14, 2008 - New York - The American Jewish Committee (AJC) has condemned the Rev. Jesse Jackson's statement about 'Zionists who have controlled American policy for decades.'
    "Rev. Jackson's remarks, which appeared in an interview with the journalist Amir Taheri in today's New York Post, echo classic anti-Semitic conspiracy theories about Jewish power," said AJC Executive Director David A. Harris. 'This statement, regrettably, is not the first troubling comment by Rev. Jackson regarding Israel, Zionism and the Jewish people.'

    Arguing as a private citizen that an Obama administration could bring significant change to U.S. foreign policy, Jackson was quoted as saying that "Zionists who have controlled American policy for decades" would lose much of their influence should Senator Obama be elected president."


    http://www.ajc.org/site/apps/nlnet/content2.aspx?c=ijITI2PHKoG&b=849241&ct=6107743

    And people are upset about raciest comments some in the crowd are allegedly saying at Palin events? Isn't this the same Democrat leader who once called New York "Hymietown"?

  • Posted By: chase127 @ 10/14/2008 7:30:18 PM

    Comment: Reading is fundamental. Once you learn how to read and discern the truth from lies, you will see that the ones calling names are usually the liars themselves. Read for understanding with a clear and open mind and you shall be set free. Reading some of these comments helps me understand why the rest of the educated world thinks the U.S. is full of ignorant, beer drinking fools. Read, read, read and then search, search and search for the truth. Why in the world would you blindly believe anything someone tells you just because you think you like them. Over 80% of America supported Bush at the start of the War of no reason. Now only 10% of America believes or supports Bush. If we as a country would have read and understood Iraq as a country, their historical significance, the nationallity of the 9/11 terrorist (none were from Iraq), and who impowered Sadam in the first place, maybe we would not have been so quick to go to war and make Dick Chaney rich. Those that are so concerned about Ayers and the benign Annenberg foundation should be more concerned about Chaney, Halliburtin, (forgive the spelling I don't care to look it up I'm so discusted about what Channey and that company has gotten away with) and the no bid contracts. Research this and then come back and tell us how important Ayers and Annenberg are. Lastly, the same people who support Bush and McCain wanted to impeach Clinton for having sex with a willing young lady (very unethical and totally bad behavior for a President) but said nothing about the laws this administration broke, the trillion of dollars it quandered or the liberties of the citizens they trampled on. You have no credability if you supported Clinton's impeachment and sat idly by while the Bush administration served the whole country basically a middle finger. Hell Chaney is (who cares how you spell his name) still giving the country the middle finger and I don't hear nor read bleep out of none of you conservative not thinking for yourself, thinking it's cool to be ignorant sheep!

  • Posted By: 28spirits @ 10/14/2008 4:15:49 PM

    Comment: my belief is that being borne in Rockford, Illinois and a graduate of SIU in 1971, williams ayers would not be in any circle of my BFF, so anyone who starts his campaign from the living room of a sds weathermen underground domestic terrorist is not fit to be POTUSA is a fact all the lies that he is a converted good citizen is more lies even factcheck cannot cover up anymore....like oh, he was only 8 at the time of william ayers too youthful rebel stage. right I was there to witness the misdeeds of the Mao-learning rich kids anti-war hatred toward anyone who put Country First

  • Posted By: Shortbus46 @ 10/14/2008 4:01:55 PM

    Comment: It really upsets me that Palin and Mcain would stoop to any level to win this election. The whole world can see what is going on and they really do not care how bad they look. They are inciting anger into their politics and there are alot of people that are to lazy to check the facts for themselves. I work at a Police Department and even here I still hear the lies and untruths. "Obama is a Muslim" "Obama does not support our troops" etc. Do Not let the lies and anger of a failing campaign over take your rational thoughts. If Mcain and Palin are willing to misslead you now, what do you think they will do once they are in office. And last but not least Sarah Palin is a good woman but she is not ready for this office or to be president. Most Republican will tell you that the thought of President Palin scares the hell out of them.

  • Posted By: Shortbus46 @ 10/14/2008 4:00:43 PM

    Comment: It really upsets me that Palin and Mcain would stoop to any level to win this election. The whole world can see what is going on and they really do not care how bad they look. They are inciting anger into their politics and there are alot of people that are to lazy to check the facts for themselves. I work at a Police Department and even here I still hear the lies and untruths. "Obama is a Muslim" "Obama does not support our troops" etc. Do Not let the lies and anger of a failing campaign over take your rational thoughts. If Mcain and Palin are willing to misslead you now, what do you think they will do once they are in office. And last but not least Sarah Palin is a good woman but she is not ready for this office or to be president. Most Republican will tell you that the thought of President Palin scares the hell out of them.

  • Posted By: DUMPLIN @ 10/14/2008 3:37:06 PM

    Comment: FACT CHECK: OBAMA IS AHEAD IN THE POLLS ONLY IF YOU COUNT ALL THE FAKE BALLOTS SUBMITTED BY ACORN.

    • Posted By: horsigirl @ 10/18/2008 3:58:43 PM

      Comment: Ballots? It was registration, no ballots.....wake up

  • Posted By: DUMPLIN @ 10/14/2008 3:24:53 PM

    Comment: SOMEONE NEEDS TO FACT CHECK FACTCHECK. MCCAIN DID NOT LIE ABOUT AYERS, HE ACTUALLY TONED IT DOWN SOMEWHAT AND FACTCHECK NEEDS ONLY TO DO A LITTLE HOMEWORK TO FIND THE TRUTH. BUT I'M SURE THAT WOULD BE TOO HARD, EVEN THOUGH GETTING TO THE FACTS IS PART OF YOUR JOB DESCRIPTION.

  • Posted By: newsweekthisweek @ 10/14/2008 2:51:51 PM

    Comment: It is such a shame that we have to put up with such debilitating, radical thinking, and morals, that of McCain and Palin.

    The price they are paying in return is their loss of the election. The way they attempt to twist other people's minds at all costs to get votes will go down in history; Republicans are to be known as the most outrageous of opponents.

    At a time in which, awareness and self-consciousness are at a height in embracing peace and co-operation, moreso than ever in the past, and contrary to McCain/Palin negative thinking and actions. McCain and Palin are working hard to bring that sense of self-advancement of humanity to a halt. Nature is definitely working against them.

    I wonder how they sleep at night, or better still, do they sleep at all -considering "we reap what we sow".

  • Posted By: mccainsupporter @ 10/14/2008 11:08:33 AM

    Comment: Bill Ayers and a Barack Obama connection.

    Chicago has a tradition for bomb makers beginning with the Haymarket affair bomb that killed 7 police officers in 1886.

    The bomb was thrown during a May Day rally for striking workers. There is a statue in Haymarket Square marking the place of the bombings.

    A Chicago native the Unabomber is now serving a life sentence at SuperMax Federal Penitentiary in Florence Colorado for killing three people with mail bombs. The Unabomber Ted Kaczynski grew up in the Chicago area, graduated from Harvard University before getting his PhD in mathematics from the University of Michigan, and then taught at U.C. at Berkley.

    The Unabomber received his moniker by targeting universities and airlines. Ted Kaczynski targeted professors at Northwestern University in Chicago and a United Airlines President with his bomb packages. As a radical leftist environmentalist, Kaczynski???s later fatal victims included an ad executive for Exxon and a timber industry lobbyist.

    • Posted By: Shortbus46 @ 10/14/2008 4:07:12 PM

      Comment: What does any of this have to do with th artical. That is what I am saying. Mcain and Palin are bringing all of the nut out.

  • Posted By: mccainsupporter @ 10/14/2008 11:07:38 AM

    Comment: Bill Ayers the Weathermen bomb maker is two years younger than Ted Kaczynski the Unabomber, but both have Chicago connections and both received degrees from the University of Michigan about the same time. Bill Ayers received an undergraduate degree in American studies and Ted Kazinski received his Phd in mathematics from the University of Michigan a year earlier than Bill Ayers???s undergraduate degree from the University of Michigan. Not only a founder of the Weathermen Underground, Bill Ayers was a leader and organizer of the Students for Democratic Society SDS at the University of Michigan. Bill Ayers went on to get his Masters in teaching at Columbia in 1987.


    Lets look at the educational credentials of each individual:

    Ted Kaczynski, Unabomber: Harvard BA, University of Michigan Phd.
    Bill Ayers: University of Michigan BA, Columbia University Masters in Ed.
    Barack Obama: Columbia University BA and Harvard J.D.


    It does seem curious that these three individuals each have two degrees and all the degrees for the three individuals only come from three institutions of higher learning, Harvard, Columbia and the University of Michigan. The timing is curious too.

    Perhaps there is a nexus further than all three being raised in Chicago and all three going to these three universities.

    • Posted By: chase127 @ 10/14/2008 7:50:19 PM

      Comment: Please, Please check your facts before you post something for all the world to see.

  • Posted By: mccainsupporter @ 10/14/2008 11:05:39 AM

    Comment: Vote John McCain!!!!
    I want the President to be someone who can think for himself and not rely exclusively like a blind person on a particular advisor. I want someone who understands numbers and can make analytical decisions himself. Years of computing payloads, fuel requirements, weather and distances as a pilot are the experiences that John McCain brings to the table when listening to economic proposals. His eyes will not glaze over when there are ten page budget spreadsheet proposals presented to him. Barack Obama and Joe Biden have no mathematical or quantitative education or experience between them. They do not teach accounting in law school. That is why they offer basic basic accounting to attorneys as continuing education classes after they are licensed. I also am willing to bet that neither Barack Obama or Joe Biden never took a basic accounting continuing legal education class to improve their lack of skills. Both Obama and Biden were political science majors as undergraduate which means they have no quantitative training or mathematical background.
    John McCain is the one who can come up with solutions to our economic problems.
    Barack Obama and Joe Biden are mathematically challenged. Send them back to school.

    Vote John McCain!!!!

  • Posted By: mccainsupporter @ 10/14/2008 11:05:00 AM

    Comment: Vote John McCain!!!!! Ohio is proud of John Glenn and John McCain both fighter pilots who served their country when their country was at war. The Barack Obama campaign is dumb as a doorknob to raise Keating 5 and criticize John Glenn. You just put Ohio in the Red state column for the Republicans. The people of Ohio are proud of John Glenn, a former Marine Corp fighter pilot during World War II. John Glenn was awarded the Congressman Medal of Honor and flew aboard the space shuttle at the age of 77. The Barack Obama campaign should stop criticizing an 87 year old war hero John Glenn by raising the Keating 5 scandal that happened over twenty years ago. For two people who have no military service between them and have never worn the uniform, Barack Obama and Joe Biden have a lot of gaul to obliquely criticize a fellow Democrat and elder statesman and an 87 year old war hero and first man in space John Glenn. It is also pretty stupid to criticize an Ohio native son when Ohio is in play during this election. Does the Barack Obama campaign have to destroy the reputations of four Democratic Senators to lob an ineffectual attack against John McCain. Senator Alan Cranston is dead and can not even defend himself. Vote for John McCain, he respects veterans especially 87 year old fellow fighter pilots like John Glenn.

    Vote John McCain!!!!! Vote John McCain!!!!!!

  • Posted By: billtill @ 10/14/2008 10:12:33 AM

    Comment: About the time our original thirteen states adopted their new constitution in 1787, Alexander Tyler, a Scottish history professor at the University of Edinburgh , had this to say about the fall of the Athenian Republic some 2,000 years earlier:

    'A democracy is always temporary in nature; it simply cannot exist as a permanent form of government.'
    'A democracy will continue to exist up until the time that voters discover they can vote themselves generous gifts from the public treasury.'
    'From that moment on, the majority always vote for the candidates who promise the most benefits from the public treasury, with the result that every democracy will finally collapse due to loose fiscal policy, which is always followed by a dictatorship.'

    'The average age of the world's greatest civilizations from the beginning of history, has been about 200 years'

    'During those 200 years, those nations always progressed through the following sequence:

    1. from bondage to spiritual faith;
    2. from spiritual faith to great courage;
    3. from courage to liberty;
    4. from liberty to abundance;
    5. from abundance to complacency;
    6. from complacency to apathy;
    7. from apathy to dependence;
    8. from dependence back into bondage'

    Professor Joseph Olson of Hemline University School of Law, St. Paul , Minnesota , points out some interesting facts concerning the 2000 Presidential election:

    Number of States won by: Democrats: 19 Republicans: 29
    Square miles of land won by: Democrats: 580,000 Republicans: 2,427,000
    Population of counties won by: Democrats: 127 million Republicans: 143 million
    Murder rate per 100,000 residents in counties won by: Democrats: 13.2 Republicans: 2.1

    Professor Olson adds: 'In aggregate, the map of the territory Republican won was mostly the land owned by the taxpaying citizens of this great country. Democrat territory mostly encompassed those citizens living in government-owned tenements and living off various forms of government welfare...' Olson believes the United States is now somewhere between the 'complacency and apathy' phase of Professor Tyler's definition of democracy, with some forty percent of the nation's population already having reached the 'governmental dependency' phase.

    If Congress grants amnesty and citizenship to twenty million criminal invaders called illegal's and they vote, then we can say goodbye to the USA in fewer than five years.

    If you are in favor of this, then by all means, delete this message. If you are not, then pass this along to help everyone realize just how much is at stake, knowing that apathy is the greatest danger to our freedom.

    WE LIVE IN THE LAND OF THE FREE,
    ONLY BECAUSE OF THE BRAVE

  • Posted By: Omaar @ 10/13/2008 6:32:40 PM

    Comment: Does John McCain "pal around with terrorists?"

    Certainly McCain's continuing "association" and relationship with the convicted [Watergate Burglar] and [Domestic Terrorist G. Gordon Liddy] might suggest that is the case, if we are to apply the standards drawn by the McCain campaign.

    NOTE: In 1998, Liddy gave a fundraiser in his Scottsdale, Arizona home for McCain's senatorial re-election campaign -- the two posed for photographs together; and as recently as May, 2007, as a presidential candidate, McCain was a guest on Liddy's syndicated radio show. Inexplicably, McCain heaped praise on his host's values. During the segment, McCain said he was "Proud" of Liddy, and Praised Liddy's "Adherence to the Principles and Philosophies that keep our Nation Great." From the program:

    LIDDY: Your experience in the Hanoi Hilton is remarkable. I mean, I put in five years in a prison [for masterminding the Watergate burglary, and associated crimes], but it was here in the United States, and they didn't torture - the only torture that I had was being forced to listen to rap music from time to time.

    McCAIN: Well, you know, I'm proud of you. I'm proud of your family. I'm proud to know your son, Tom, who's a great and wonderful guy. And it's always a pleasure for me to come on your program, Gordon. And congratulations on your continued success and adherence to the principles and philosophies that keep our nation great.


    Which of Liddy's "Principles and Philosophies" was McCain referring to? Liddy's advocacy of [Break-Ins? Fire Bombings? Assassinations? Kidnappings]?

    Taking target practice with figures nicknamed Bill and Hillary?

    During the same period that Bill Ayers was a member of the Weather Underground, Gordon Liddy was making plans to [Firebomb a Washington Think Tank, Assassinate a Prominent Journalist]

    Uundertake the Watergate Burglary, Break into the office of Daniel Ellsberg's Psychiatrist, and Kidnap Anti-war Protesters at the 1972 Republican convention.

    Re: Liddy's "continued success and adherence to the principles and philosophies that keep our nation great:" Did McCain mean to include Liddy's instructions to listeners of his radio show in 1994 (around the time Ayres and Obama were on a board together discussing education programs and other plots) on how to shoot Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms agents (aim for the head)?

    If ATF agents attempt to curtail a citizen's gun ownership, Liddy counseled, "Well, 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."

    More recently, Liddy explained making the Clintons objects of shooting practice:

  • Posted By: Omaar @ 10/13/2008 6:31:51 PM

    Comment: Does John McCain "pal around with terrorists?"

    Certainly McCain's continuing "association" and relationship with the convicted [Watergate Burglar] and [Domestic Terrorist G. Gordon Liddy] might suggest that is the case, if we are to apply the standards drawn by the McCain campaign.

    NOTE: In 1998, Liddy gave a fundraiser in his Scottsdale, Arizona home for McCain's senatorial re-election campaign -- the two posed for photographs together; and as recently as May, 2007, as a presidential candidate, McCain was a guest on Liddy's syndicated radio show. Inexplicably, McCain heaped praise on his host's values. During the segment, McCain said he was "Proud" of Liddy, and Praised Liddy's "Adherence to the Principles and Philosophies that keep our Nation Great." From the program:

    LIDDY: Your experience in the Hanoi Hilton is remarkable. I mean, I put in five years in a prison [for masterminding the Watergate burglary, and associated crimes], but it was here in the United States, and they didn't torture - the only torture that I had was being forced to listen to rap music from time to time.

    McCAIN: Well, you know, I'm proud of you. I'm proud of your family. I'm proud to know your son, Tom, who's a great and wonderful guy. And it's always a pleasure for me to come on your program, Gordon. And congratulations on your continued success and adherence to the principles and philosophies that keep our nation great.


    Which of Liddy's "Principles and Philosophies" was McCain referring to? Liddy's advocacy of [Break-Ins? Fire Bombings? Assassinations? Kidnappings]?

    Taking target practice with figures nicknamed Bill and Hillary?

    During the same period that Bill Ayers was a member of the Weather Underground, Gordon Liddy was making plans to [Firebomb a Washington Think Tank, Assassinate a Prominent Journalist]

    Uundertake the Watergate Burglary, Break into the office of Daniel Ellsberg's Psychiatrist, and Kidnap Anti-war Protesters at the 1972 Republican convention.

    Re: Liddy's "continued success and adherence to the principles and philosophies that keep our nation great:" Did McCain mean to include Liddy's instructions to listeners of his radio show in 1994 (around the time Ayres and Obama were on a board together discussing education programs and other plots) on how to shoot Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms agents (aim for the head)?

    If ATF agents attempt to curtail a citizen's gun ownership, Liddy counseled, "Well, 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."


  • Posted By: Omaar @ 10/13/2008 5:59:59 PM

    Comment: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/100/story/53812.html

    Even Gov. Charlie Crist, who helped deliver Florida for McCain during the primary, said he will spend the final weeks before Election Day minding the state's weak economy rather than campaigning for the Arizona senator.

    ''When I have time to help, I'll try to do that,'' Crist said last week, after he flew around the state with McCain running mate Sarah Palin. Saturday, he skipped a McCain football rally and instead went to Disney World.

    Once considered a potential running mate, Crist had pledged to do all he could for McCain and spent several days this summer campaigning for the Republican nominee in and outside Florida. He faults the tough economic times for McCain's difficult time in Florida, where he trails rival Barack Obama by about 5 percentage points in the polls.

    No Republican has won the White House in modern times without carrying Florida. The last to lose the state was McCain's former colleague, Sen. Bob Dole, in 1996. Some Republicans say the state party hasn't done enough, while others blame McCain's national campaign.

    Roger Stone, a longtime McCain supporter, said the state party and the national campaign bear almost equal blame.

    ''This effort lacks coordination and a cooperative spirit and it's showing,'' Stone said. "But it's more than mechanics. The campaign has no consistent message.''

    Over the summer, the Obama camp spent at least $10 million on Florida television ads ??? 4,000 of the spots attacking McCain ??? while McCain spent nothing.

    The failure by the party and McCain's campaign to respond to an Obama radio ad in Florida that bashed McCain over embryonic stem-cell research was ''a perfect example of them not being on the ball in Florida,'' Stone said, echoing numerous Florida Republicans.

    But national campaign officials said McCain is within striking distance of Obama in the polls, has ample time to turn things around, and had a winning strategy until Wall Street's crash.

    • Posted By: max in fl @ 10/14/2008 11:55:15 AM

      Comment: Jeb Bush helped his brother get elected. I'm not sure if Crist wants to distance himself for reelection or to have deniability if there are any problems at the voting places this year..

  • Posted By: Omaar @ 10/13/2008 5:59:10 PM

    Comment: [34] of Your Presidents are Blood Related...Fact


    Sen. Obama is Blood Related to the Following....

    1. President Bush: 11th Cousin

    2. President Bush Sr: 10 th Cousin

    3. Vice Pres. Dick Cheney: 8Th Cousin

    4. Harry S. Truman

    5. Lyndon B. Johnson

    6. Gerald Ford

    7. British Prime Minister: Winston Churchill

    8. Confederate General: Robert E. Lee

    And

    Actor: Brad Pitt , Obama's [8th Cousin]

    Note: John McCain is Blood Related to Laura Bush, George Bush's Wife.

    John Kerry is also a Blood Related Cousin to President Bush...Fact


    George W. Bush Sr. is Married to his Blood Relative [Barabara]...Fact

    34 Presidents are in Fact [Blood Related]..Fact

  • Posted By: Omaar @ 10/13/2008 5:58:21 PM

    Comment: AIP: The Alaskan Independence Party

    Todd & Sarah Palin's Hatefilled, Secessionist Party, The 3rd largest Political Party in alaska, Todd Palin was a Member for 7 Years and is Not a registered Republican. Demand that Sarah & Todd Palin Renounce and Denounce the Anti-American-Secessionist beliefs and teachings ...

    Newswekk Magazine ...Please, I'm Begging You NewsWeek, Put sarah and Todd Palin to task for their Anti-American Connections.

    AIP's creation was inspired by the rabidly violent anti-Americanism of its founding father Joe Vogler, "I'm an Alaskan, not an American," reads a favorite Vogler quote on AIP's current website, "I've got no use for America or her damned institutions." According to Vogler AIP's central purpose was to drive Alaska's secession from the United States. Alaska, says current Chairwoman Lynette Clark, "should be an independent nation."

    Vogler was murdered in 1993 during an illegal sale of plastic explosives that went bad.

    The prior year, he had renounced his allegiance to the United States explaining that, "The fires of hell are frozen glaciers compared to my hatred for the American government."

    He cursed the stars and stripes, promising, "I won't be buried under their Damned Flag...

    When Alaska is an independent nation they can bring my bones home."

    Palin has never denounced Vogler or his detestable anti-Americanism.

    Palin's husband Todd remained an AIP party member from 1995 to 2002.

    Sarah can be described in McCarthy-era palaver as a "fellow traveler."

    While retaining her Republican registration, she attended the AIP's 1994 convention where the party called for a draft constitution to secede from the United States and create an independent nation of Alaska.

    The McCain Campaign has reluctantly acknowledged that she also attended AIP's 2000 Convention.

    She apparently found the experience so inspiring that she agreed to give a keynote address at the AIP's 2006 convention and she recorded a video greeting for this year's 2008 convention.

    In other words, this is not something that happened when she was eight!

    So when Palin accuses Barack of "not seeing the same America as you and me," maybe she is referring to an America without Alaska. In any case, isn't it time the media start giving equal time to Palin's buddy list of anti-American bombers and other radical associates?

  • Posted By: Lee Holmes @ 10/13/2008 2:46:55 PM

    Comment: Would Walter Annenberg be more angry at McCain for dumping on Ayers,or Ayers and Obama for using his dough to radicalize Chicago schools? Who knows? Yet those who know well the main signposts of the Chicago Way,are not disposed to allow Obama and Ayers supporters to get away with painting the deal as a ''harmless'' or even ''beneficial''connection. Ayers moved his radicalism into academia,as did his many friends of the old SDS days,using city and university money culled from grants precisely like ANNENBERGS. They in turn,grease the political engines of the Daley Machine.

    The Chicago Tribune Oct.13,2008:''Daley Reins In Radicals-The Chicago Way''

  • Posted By: Kim in Pasadena @ 10/13/2008 1:34:55 PM

    Comment: The poster dubiously called "think2976" reveals EXACTLY what is so wrong with the false and misleading attacks coming from McCain/Palin right now.

    Walter Annenberg began ALL of the Annenberg Foundations. Walter Annenberg was one of Ronald and Nancy Reagan's great friends. He was a life-long Republican, who actually introduced Ronald Reagan to Margaret Thatcher for the first time. He was also our ambassador to Great Britain-- appointed by President Nixon. This "false" smear now has some confused Americans believing that Walter Annenberg, whose only fault in all of this is he spent some of his money trying to do good for other Americans, a life-long Republican was somehow a despicable man. This is WHY no-one should bear false witness against another-- not even in