You know, Joan... you might have just given the McCain-Palin more ammunition! Obama was in the WeatherKid Underground when he wasn't being trained to be a secret agent in his madrassa!

Man, this is just pathetic. All McCain is doing is stoking the fear and hate enough that, if (hopefully) Obama does win, he's going to need the largest Secret Service contingent of any President, EVER.

Where is this man's patriotism?

John McCain's association with dishonest people in fact hits a lot closer to home than Charles Keating.

See: http://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/1994-09-08/news/opiate-for-the-mrs/

Does anyone other than a diehard Republican want a (diverted) drug thief occupying the White House as First "Lady"?

What Obama, Biden, the campaign, the independent groups, supporters, and people who care about effective media and fair elections need to do is this:

1. remind the public of how John MCain's 2000 presdiential bid was derailed by vicious slander from the Rove-led opposition. The push-polls, the rumors, the filth flung at McCain.

2. Mention that McCain decried such behavior.

3. Toss in a reminder of McCain's denunciation of the Swift Boat attacks on John Kerry in 2004 (McCain spoke out more strongly against this than Bush).

4. Note that McCAin has now *hired* the scum that spewed such bile in 2000 and 2004.

5. Remark that McCAin, now down in virtually every poll, and consistently down outside the margins of error in said polls, is apparently using the "if you can't beat 'em, join 'em" method to win the election by slandering a worthy opponent.

6. Ask what price McCAin paid for his honor ands soul?

7. Repeat loudly, over and over again.

as they've pointed out in the war room, obama could continue to take the "high road" and keep hammering away at the economy, which seems to provide more bad news and ammo on at least an every-other-daily basis. but i think the keating allegations are relevant here, because they reflect on a central contradiction of mccain, palin, and the republican party in general. in a word, it's arrogance. it's a lack of insight into and oversight of fiscal matters that dates back at least to reagan.

folks, we can't keep giving these people the keys to the american financial system. not when it's sputtering and badly in need of a major overhaul. the republicans from reagan to bush -- and mccain bridges that gap nicely -- have shown they know how to do nothing but strip the sucker for parts and lie when someone points out something's missing.

“I didn’t just show up out of nowhere,’’ Mr. McCain said to cheers, seeking to draw a contrast with Mr. Obama.

Since when is Chicago "nowhere?" I mean, I know NY and LA like to pretend the center of the country's not there, but are we to take that kind of abuse from John "Tailspin" McCain, too?

To brand the Republicans for what they were known as being in the 70's and 80's.

Racists.

Dear Joan,

It's interesting that during Thursday's debate Palin accused Biden of "being in the past" and added that she "only wants to talk about the future" and here she is, hours and days later, talking about activities a guy committed FORTY YEARS AGO! Again connecting Obama to Ayers is a joke and I hope you and your friends in the media will either ignore the charge (why give McCain/Palin the airtime) or continue to say that campaign is wrong, stretching "facts," or simply making things up.

Good thing McCain told us "he will always be 100% truthful" with us and has never told a lie. If only his and Palin's noses could grow every time they lie, tee hee.

Obama should channel Joseph Welch, who'd finally had enough of Sen. Joe McCarthy during the 1954 Army-McCarthy hearings, uttering these immortal words:

"Let us not assassinate this lad further, Senator. You've done enough. Have you no sense of decency, sir, at long last? Have you left no sense of decency?"

With a few obvious tweaks, a response something like this during an upcoming debate is probably all Obama would need to put McCain away, finally and completely.

Good commentary as usual, Joan, but let's get real here. Palin's comments were not a "smear," they were basically accusing a sitting U.S. Senator of treason. What else does "palling around with terrorists" mean, if not that Obama openly approves of the violent overthrow and defeat of the United States government.

If you've got proof, bring it. I would love to see Obama throw this in McCain's face at the debate tomorrow night. With apologies to Bob Dylan, you don't have to be a weatherman to know which way the stupid blows.

http://leishacamden.blogspot.com/2008/10/not-that-it-matters.html

Yes, I know this happened 20 years ago, but it still needs to be told.

"So the kids they dance and shake their bones/

and the politicians are throwing stones/

and it's all too clear we're on our own/

singing ashes, ashes, all fall down/

ashes, ashes, all fall down..."

They are Republicans. That's all we need to know to know they'll plumb depths hitherto unknown.

There is something really childish about Palin's diatribes. The woman is ignorant. She has no discernible knowledge of world or political history. She seems to be quite unlettered, and her speech is often semi-psychotic.

Now either Palin's contorted syntax is an indication of confused thinking, or else it is an indication that she is trying to hide what she really thinks.

In any case, she would be well-advised to read George Orwell's essay on Politics and the English Language, not to mention Notes on Nationalism, The Prevention of Literature, and the well-known classics Animal Farm and Nineteen Eighty-Four.

How low will she and running mate McCain go? As low as it takes, I should think.

I expect them to challenge the results of the election and to incite violence and armed resistance if they lose. The election may well end up in the Supreme Court.

It is not beyond possibility that Americans may have to take to the streets to evict the tenants of the White House when their lease is up.

I hope not, but it seems likely.

Is it too late to have international observers on the scene in this election to encourage fair play?