Bill Ayers

Nothing There (UPDATED)

Posted on by Democrashield

Conservatives are just desperate to find some way to link President-Elect Barack Obama to the Rod Blagojevich scandal.

But–unfortunately for them–there’s just nothing there.  Patrick Fitzgerald, the rock-solid prosecutor in this case, has said:

“[T]he complaint makes no allegations about the president-elect whatsoever. We make no allegations that he’s aware of anything, and that’s as simply as I can put it.”

And if you read through the 78-page criminal complaint against Governor Blagojevich, there’s one name you won’t find anywhere in there: Barack Obama.

Face it, guys, Obama’s not involved.  Blagojevich was trying to sell the Senate seat behind his back.  In fact, on a number of occasions, federal investigators caught Blagojevich on tape complaining that the Obama team wouldn’t play ball:

In fact, in taped remarks included in the complaint — which, like many of Blagojevich’s conversations gleaned from federal wiretaps or bugs in his office, are laced with profanities — the governor complains that Obama’s staff “is not willing to give me anything but appreciation. … (Expletive) them.”

Blagojevich’s taped complaints that he wouldn’t get anything for appointing Obama’s top choice to the Senate seat likely allows the president-elect to come out “smelling like a rose while all these other folks are swimming in a sewer,” said American University political historian Allan Lichtman.

[Emphasis mine]

This is just like the Rezko non-scandal and the Ayers non-scandal; no matter how much Republicans huff and puff, there’s just nothing there. Barack Obama isn’t–and hasn’t–been involved in any shady dealings, period.

You think that–after wasting the Presidential campaign fruitlessly barking up these trees–conservatives would find something more constructive to do with their time.  But this just shows how empty and pointless the conservative movement truly is–they have no ideas left to run on and no policies to push, so all they can do is spend their time throwing mud at Obama and praying that it sticks.

Sorry, guys, but you’re not going to derail Obama’s presidency this easy. Better luck next time and all that.

UPDATE: Sadly, No! has a good take on this.

Bachmann Abandoned (UPDATED)

Posted on by Democrashield

Minnesota McCarthyite Michele Bachmann is being abandoned by the NRCC:

Two sources aware of ad buys in Minnesota say that the National Republican Congressional Committee is pulling its media purchases from Bachmann’s race. If true, it is a remarkable fall for a congresswoman who, until recently, seemed relatively safe in her predominantly conservative district. The race had become closer in recent days — the NRCC had transferred funds from Rep. Erik Paulsen (MN-03) to Bachmann a little over a week ago.

In the days following her appearance on Hardball, however, Bachmann has watched as her challenger, El Tinklenberg raised more than a million dollars off her incendiary remarks. That surge in fundraising put Bachmann’s re-election in a far less certain position. Bachmann tried to stem the bleeding by telling the press she was sorry for her remarks. But with the national party now apparently pulling the plug, the situation has gone from bad to worse.

[Emphasis mine]

Good riddance to Bachmann; I can think of few Congressional Republicans who deserve to lose more than she does. And take note, Republicans–attacking Democrats’ patriotism and calling them anti-American doesn’t work anymore.

I mean, just look at how far Obama’s poll numbers have gone up since McCain started attacking him with Ayers back in early October.

This isn’t 2004–you guys need a new playbook, stat.

UPDATED: And then there’s this:

On Hugh Hewitt’s radio show yesterday, Bachmann declared that “Barack Obama’s views are against America”:

BACHMANN: All I did on Chris Matthews is I questioned Chris Matthews and said, “look, if John McCain had friends like Jeremiah Wright and Bill Ayers and Father Pfleger, you’d be all over him Chris, but you’ve laid off of Barack Obama.” And so, he was using the word “Anti-American” and I told Chris, what I question are Barack Obama’s views. Because Barack Obama’s views are against America. They won’t be good for our country.

Go, Michele, go! Elwyn Tinklenberg needs your help!

Dow(n), Pt. 3 (UPDATED)

Posted on by Democrashield

The closing bell has rung; the Dow dropped 678.91 to close at 8579.19.

Of course, John McCain isn’t talking about that. But he does want you to know that Bill Ayers is a very, very bad man.

Honestly, I would be furious if I were a conservative. Here we have the biggest financial crisis since the Great Depression; whoever controls the White House will have a chance to completely restructure our economic system.

But instead of coming up with a conservative solution to this crisis and touting the benefits of conservative ideals, John McCain is ceding the issue to Barack Obama and the Democrats, wasting his time talking about what some activist did forty years ago.

Instead of having a visionary candidate with new ideas carrying the Republican standard, the GOP has a candidate intent on campaigning on the past. John McCain is opening the door for Democratic Party, handing them a chance to reshape our economy and our regulatory infrastructure for decades to come. Heck, he’s practically gift-wrapping it for them.

If I were a conservative, I’d be pissed that my candidate wasn’t talking about how to use conservative ideals to solve this problem. If I were a Republican, I wouldn’t vote for John McCain–I’d send a message to my party, loud and clear, that some things are more important than winning elections.

UPDATE: Not to mention that John McCain’s behavior speaks volumes about what kind of president he would be–instead of focusing on the financial crisis, he’s playing politics. Though his campaign slogan is ‘Country First,’ John McCain is putting politics first–instead of focusing on the economy, the most important issue in America, he’s talking about a Chicago law professor for no other reason that it might help him win an election.

Shameful.

UPDATE II: And don’t forget this:

“It’s a dangerous road, but we have no choice,” a top McCain strategist told the Daily News. “If we keep talking about the economic crisis, we’re going to lose.”

Fear ‘N Smear

Posted on by Democrashield

Be afraid? Of THIS guy? Um, why?

Only 31 days of this nonsense left:

Palin says Obama ‘palling around’ with terrorists

Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin on Saturday accused Democrat Barack Obama of “palling around with terrorists” because of an association with a former ’60s radical, stepping up an effort to portray Obama as unacceptable to American voters.

Palin’s reference was to Bill Ayers, one of the founders of the group the Weather Underground. Its members took credit for bombings, including nonfatal explosions at the Pentagon and U.S. Capitol, during the Vietnam War era. Obama, who was a child when the group was active, has denounced Ayers’ radical views and activities.

Yeah, guys, because those attacks worked really well when they first debuted 8 months ago, right? They were so shocking and destructive that they cost Obama the Democratic Primary, right? I mean, you’re not just dredging up the worst of the worst from the primaries because you have only one month left to go and no good talking points? Right?

But hey, if we’re going to talk about past associations, let’s talk about them.  How about John McCain’s friendship with Charles Keating? And then we can talk about his inappropriately-close relationship with a telecommunications lobbyist whose company had business before McCain’s Senate committee.  And then we can talk about his economic advisor, Phil Gramm, who first helped create our economic crisis and then turned around and called America a ‘nation of whiners‘ when everything started falling apart. And hey, wasn’t Sarah Palin cozy with the radical, secessionist Alaskan Independence Party? Cozy enough to deliver a video address their national convention? And wasn’t her husband an actual registered member of the party for seven years?

And if they want to talk about pastors, let’s talk about pastors.  How about John Hagee, whose endorsement John McCain actively sought? John Hagee, who wants a war with Iran to bring about the end times? John Hagee, who called the Catholic church ‘the great whore‘? And what about Sarah Palin’s pastor?  You know, the guy who turned his pulpit over to Jews for Jesus founder David Brickner, who then proclaimed that terrorist attacks on Israelites was God’s punishment for Jews not embracing Jesus? Do they really want to go down this road?

Or, here’s a novel idea–how about we stop with the smears and the personal attacks? How about we actually put ‘Country First’ and focus on the major challenges our country is facing? These are serious times that call for serious leadership; the same old politics-as-usual game of fear ‘n smear won’t work this time around.

I mean, McCain and Palin are trying to scare people.  But people are already scared–scared they’re going to lose their jobs, scared they’re going to lose their retirements, scared they’re going to lose their houses, scared they’re going to lose their health care, scared they won’t be able to pay the bills or send their kids off to college.  We’re worried, but Barack Obama and Joe Biden are going out there every day and showing that we don’t have to be afraid because they know how to solve our country’s financial crisis. They’re the ones looking Presidential and showing real leadership, showing the steadiness and resolve we’ve been hungering for these past eight years.

On the other hand, John McCain and Sarah Palin are dodging every single substantive issue, instead throwing out attacks in the desperate hope that everyone will suddenly stop caring about their houses and jobs and pensions and retirements and bills and kids and suddenly start caring about some guy named Bill Ayers and whatever he did or didn’t do thirty years ago.

John McCain and Sarah Palin are going to realize–far too late–that the American people want to vote for solutions, not just the lesser of two evils. This time around, the GOP won’t succeed in scaring us all into voting for them–they did that back in 2004 and we’ve spent the past four years paying for it. We won’t let it happen again.