Hypocrisy of the Week

Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) and Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin continue to shove the phrase "William Ayers" down the throats of Republicans, independents and undecided voters. In a previous posting, I denounced Ayers's despicable actions as a domestic terrorist in the late 1960s and early 1970s. However, it is important to note that Ayers has led a respectable life since then. In fact, he is currently a professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago, holding the titles of Distinguished Professor of Education and Senior University Scholar.

While the McCain campaign attempts to highlight the "connection" between Ayers and Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) on an almost daily basis, they have avoided McCain's relationship with right wing nutjob, G. Gordon Liddy. Liddy, of course, served almost five years in prison for his major role in the burglaries of the headquarters of the Democratic National Committee at the Watergate Complex in 1972. Aside from the Watergate events, Liddy had concocted various other plots to embarrass the Democratic competition, including firebombing The Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C.; kidnapping and transporting anti-war protest organizers to Mexico during the Republican National Convention and luring Democratic campaign officials to a house boat and then secretly photographing those officials in compromising positions with prostitutes. In his 1980 autobiography, Liddy admitted that he had once planned to assassinate journalist Jack Anderson. Over the last 15+ years, Liddy has hosted his own nationally syndicated talk radio show and, in the mid-1990s, provided this advice to his listeners:

• "Now if the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms comes to disarm you and they are bearing arms, resist them with arms. Go for a head shot, they're going to be wearing bulletproof vests. They've got a big target on there, ATF. Don't shoot at that because they've got a vest on underneath that. Head shots, head shots...kill the sons of bitches."
• "If the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms insists upon a firefight, give them a firefight. Just remember, they're wearing flak jackets and you're better off shooting for the head."
• "When the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms thugs come to kill your wife and children, to try to disarm you and they open fire on you. When they come at the point of a gun, force and violence, when you're going to defend yourself, use that Gerand. That thing is 30-06 and it'll take them right out."

As far as their relationship is concerned, Liddy hosted a fundraiser at his house in 1998 for McCain's re-election campaign. Liddy has also donated $5,000 to the Senator's various campaigns, including $1,000 in February of this year. During a November 2007 appearance on Liddy's radio show, McCain praised Liddy's "continued success and adherence to the principles and philosophies that keep our nation great". In January 2000, "The Charlotte Observer" quoted a McCain campaign chairman: "[Liddy's] judgment might be in question but I don't think his character is."