spread the word.

I know that in rough economic times, people don't want to hear smear campaigns. They want to hear policy that will get them out of this mess. But I also know that there is still a TON of negativity about Obama's character coming from the Republican party. First, McCain was booed at a Republican rally after correcting someone that Obama was not a scary Arab but instead a decent, intelligent American citizen he happened to disagree with. Next, a county in upstate New York mistakenly printed "Barack Osama" on its absentee ballots, even though the B and the S are nowhere near each other (except in this story). Today, a man held up a monkey with an Obama bumper sticker on its head at a Palin rally. Doesn't that sound outrageous? I couldn't believe it until I saw it for myself on tape:


And then I read that in my very own state of Virginia, GOP chairman Jeffrey Frederick is telling his volunteers to "stress the terrorist connection" while they're canvassing, even going so far as to "make the connection between Obama and Osama". What he means is that they "both are friends with terrorists", and I'm afraid that even though the race seems in the bag, now is not the time to gloat.

So I'm begging all of you, even if you live in an uber-liberal state, to try to stress to your friends and family and strangers and associates that the Obama-Ayers connection is TENUOUS at best, and more importantly, that McCain has some questionable associations of his own (as does Palin).

Here's a letter I sent to the woman who heads the GOP office in Gainesville, Va, where Frederick made his desperate urgings. I got my information from this article, and I think it's useful to keep on hand.

Hello,

I was reading TIME online when I came across a story about Jeffrey Frederick at your Gainesville location. He supposedly emphasized the connection (when in truth, there is only a lack thereof) between Barack Obama and Osama bin Laden. This is so dangerous and disingenuous that it scares me. I am a registered Democrat, but I know many intelligent Republicans who know that Obama's "terrorist" connection is just as spurious as McCain's.

Otherwise, McCain is just as bad as Mr. Obama. His relationship with G. Gordon Liddy is similarly tenuous. But if the Ayers connection is fair game, so must the Liddy connection be for attacks against McCain. McCain accepted campaign funds from Liddy. He also appeared on his radio show. If you forgot about how terrible a man Liddy is, look at this:

"Liddy served four and a half years in prison for his role in the break-ins at the Watergate and at Daniel Ellsberg's psychologist's office. He has acknowledged preparing to kill someone during the Ellsberg break-in "if necessary." He plotted to kill journalist Jack Anderson. He plotted with a "gangland figure" to murder Howard Hunt in order to thwart an investigation. He plotted to firebomb the Brookings Institution. He used Nazi terminology to outline a plan to kidnap "leftist guerillas" at the 1972 GOP convention. And Liddy's bad acts were not confined to the early 1970s. In the 1990s, he instructed his radio audience on how to shoot Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms agents ("Go for a head shot; they're going to be wearing bulletproof vests." In case anyone missed the subtlety of his point, Liddy also insisted: "Kill the sons of bitches.") During Bill Clinton's presidency, Liddy boasted that he named his shooting targets after the Clintons."

And you know what McCain said about Liddy? While on his radio show, McCain praised Liddy's "adherence to the principles and philosophies that keep our nation great," said he was "proud" of Liddy, and said that "it's always a pleasure for me to come on your program." He also BACKED Liddy's son's congressional bid in 2000.

If Obama pals around with terrorists, so does McCain. AND Palin. You have to have heard by now that in her convention speech at the RNC, she was quoting radical anti-Semite and racist Westbrook Pegler when she said "We grow good people in our small towns, with honesty and sincereity and dignity". I'm not suggesting she's personally affiliated with Mr. Pegler in reaching for this quote, but why on earth would the woman quote a man who wanted to see Franklin Roosevelt assassinated? And I need not even mention her husband's supposed association with the radical Alaskan secessionist movement. So, by that count, that means the Republicans on the ticket have even more terrorist friend explaining to do than the Democrats.

If you don't stop this dangerous rhetoric, you're going to face a LOT of backlash from Democrats emphasizing the scary Liddy associations. Obviously I want the Democrats to win, but I also want the Republican party to maintain some dignity. Don't you?

x
allison