Thursday, October 09, 2008

Gail Collins banal defense of Barack Obama and John McCain

Gail Collin's latest article is on the current controversies over Obama's association with Ayers and McCains association with Keating. Collins defends them because she one attended a party with Bernadine Dohrn before she joined the weatherman and before she committed any terrorist actions. And she attended a school assembly at which Charles Keating spoke.

Ye Gods.

Conservatives complaint about Obama isn't that he was in the same room as Ayers - it's that they sat on the same board (yeah there is a lot of tangential stuff they are making up, but the part that's true is that Obama and Ayers sat on the same board and that Obama attended a meet and greet at Ayers house). They feel that to do these things signifies a deeper connection or affinity for what Ayers was doing in the 1960s/1970s. You can disagree if you want (I certainly do), but it's pretty different from simply attending a party.

And the Keating matter is another step beyond this nonsense. McCain was implicated in helping Keating with his matters - he was a participant.

In fairness the column is somewhat amusing, but ye gods, how banal.

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