|
 |
10/27/2008
Meyer: Past associations count
This election season, the Appleton Post-Crescent editorial staff has departed from their usual tradition of endorsing presidential and lower tier congressional candidates. During the past two presidential cycles, they took much flak for their picks.
Remaining consistent with that non-committal position, the P/C suggested in a recent editorial, that readers check the truths about candidates' past associations at the website www.factcheck.org.
Factcheck is a useful tool – but it has its limitations. At best, Factcheck.org reveals only the factual nature of each candidate's past associations, but it cannot interpret the current ideological ramifications of those associations.
The point is simple. If controversial figures keep surfacing as past associations, and the ideological views of these associates are similar, it is reasonable to assume they had some formidable influence in shaping that individual's present policies. This is true whether those associations continue at present or not.
Among the more lame defenses offered by the Obama camp is that the terrorist actions of Bill Ayers occurred when Obama was eight years old.
How is that objection a relevant defense of the association? Nobody is accusing Obama of having planned or carried out terrorist acts. Suppose someone dug into my past and discovered that on a number of occasions about 20 years ago, I had visited Charles Manson in prison. Would I be exonerated from the pejorative implications of that association because I happened to be 10 years old when the Tate murders took place? Talking about Obama's age when Ayers did his bombings in a big Red Herring.
At least two important distinctions are important in comparing the past associations of Obama with those of McCain.
First, Obama's political and activist past is less well known and scrutinized than is McCain's.
Secondly, Obama's party could sweep Congress with a veto proof majority that would permit "rubber stamping" of left-leaning legislation. That makes analysis of his character and past even more vital, since McCain will not be in that position of power. McCain would have his mandate impeded by gridlock, but not so with Obama if political pundits have correctly forecast a filibuster-proof majority for liberals.
Any thinking person must consider the implications….
Robert E. Meyer, Fox Valley
COMMENTS
My ties to former Weatherman radical Bill Ayers are almost as strong as Barack Obama's. I'd better come clean before someone takes the charges some Republicans are leveling in the current presidential campaign seriously and I'm sent off to Guantanamo Bay.
Many years ago, my father, Bill Eggleston, worked for Ayers' father, Thomas G. Ayers, at Commonwealth Edison, the power company in Chicago. They didn't work closely together, but they did work in the same neighborhood in Chicago's Loop.
At the time, no one could have known that Bill Ayers would grow up to marry Bernardine Dohrn and join the radical movement and 40 years later become Barack Obama's neighbor.
By the standards of character assassination and guilt by association employed by some folks in politics today, Barack Obama and I are guilty.
And, like William Ibershof, lead federal prosecutor in the Weatherman case, I am "amazed and outraged" at today's antics by some Republicans. Like Ibershof, I also am pleased to learn that Bill Ayers has become a responsible citizen.
Our fathers would be proud.
Rich Eggleston
Fitchburg
Rich Eggleston (Mon Oct 27 09:47:12 2008)
Obama has `143 days of experience in the Senate. I will not vote for him. Would you trust an engineer with 143 days' worth of college? Or a surgeon? This has nothing to do with past associations!
emily matthews (Tue Oct 28 07:24:46 2008)
I question whether experience in Federal government is a prerequisite for office. How many years did Ronald Reagan or George W. Bush serve in Congress before they were elected? History shows that experience in the Federal government is a mixed bag regarding how a President will perform. I expect the next president to have the ability to surround himself with the "best and the brightest" rather than the current yes-men. Whether McCain can escape from 30 years of past baggage and associations or Obama can rise above leftist tides remains to be seen.
Andrew Andro (Tue Oct 28 10:22:10 2008)
|
|
Blog Archives
| 2010 |
  December
|
November
|
October
|
September
|
August
|
July
|
June
|
May
|
April
|
March
|
February
|
January
• Solberg: Healing After an Abortion
• Basketball fans eyeing extension of Miller Park sales tax
• Nanny sex-ed bill goes to Doyle
• A first. Village limits pension contribution for employees
• Nanny State update: Toothbrushing mandated
• Obama pushes education inflation
• WI Investment Board votes to borrow to juice up returns
• So Republicans have brought nothing to the table?
• You have got to be kidding me
• Nygren: Governor Continues Terms of Failure in State of the State
• Sen. Fitzgerald: Governor down the wrong track at high speed
• Phosphorus is the new CO2. $Billions in Wisconsin
• More Obama giveaways
• A reprimand? Would you keep him on the job?
• Burri: Sarah Palin for Prez troubles me
• Quote of the Day – Obama after the pie-eating contest
• Populism, abused and trampled
• Fitzgerald: Senate Republicans Propose Real Job Creation Agenda
• Stripped down health insurance – it’s about time
• Ok GOP, scrap the Party of NO; time to lead
• No way Feingold is a Coakley. Is Wall a Brown?
• Burri: Conservatives off the chart for a RINO?
• Paltry quid pro quo?
• Doyle says ARRA has ‘created or retained’ 44,000 WI jobs
• Does most of the public fall for this stuff?
• When you get signatures, always get a couple extra
• Blame it on the outmoded computers
• Scott Brown victory does not scuttle health bill
• 8th Congressional Candidate Forum, Jan. 25
• Scott Walker Meet-and-greet, Monday, Jan. 18
• Aren’t consumers taxpayers too?
• MORE taxes on investment income - dreadful and wrong
• Join the blaze orange army and say ‘Enough is Enough’
• The future of government-run health care
• Tax on banks is a really bad idea
• Roth, Savard on the stump, grassroots style
• Savard speaking in Appleton, 8 PM, Wed., Jan. 13.
• Rahmlow: Savard, Bies frontrunners for State Senate
• Burri: Failing Political Correctness 101
• School contracts and Race to the Top
• Senator Feingold worrisome and big red flags
• Psephological?
• This is really important. Contact Rep. Kagen. Now. Please.
• This is exactly what we need from Governor Doyle
• This guy is my hero
• Why am I not surprised?
• Talk health reform with Feingold (Th), Petri (today)
• Give the Mayor power over MPS - if he can break contracts
• Burri: Yup, Dems really are going to bypass a conference
• The $2.7 billion Wisconsin deficit no one told you about
• Walker launches county accountability website
• Rahmlow: Why is Van Hollen dodging the Nebraska deal?
|
| 2009 |
December
|
November
|
October
• The Lawton-Bader files
• Yup, it’s the TAX LEVY, not the tax RATE
• Ellis: costly automobile insurance laws must be rolled back
• If not Barrett, who?
• The subsidy game
• Burri: Bailouts, Banks, Health Care, and the Mob
• Attend Appleton Schools budget meeting tonight
• A public option WON’T increase costs? That’s delusional!
• Appleton Schools budget meeting Monday
• Wisconsin should be screaming for accountability
• Burri: If anything, we need more obstructionism around here
• WI on the leading edge - in the wrong direction
• Rep. Montgomery: Utility Customers Join State’s Crime-Fighting Efforts
• Public Conservation and Recreation Lands Total 16.5% of State
• In the crow's nest of the Titanic, shouting 'Iceberg!'
• Is Rep. Nelson a political hack?
• Health care: The road ahead will be brutal
• Kagen's pandering again
• Birthers - good stuff for you
• How much do we bend over backward for seniors?
• The trouble with health care is paying for it
• Two-parent families: The Gold Standard
• Burri: Kids... the joys and blessings
• Very, very worried about health care
• Rep. Huebsch: Wisconsin is proof government health care isn’t the answer
• School district contracts push up tax levy
• What? Obama, the Peace Prize?
• TODAY - hearing on Campaign Finance Reform
• Appleton School District tax levy up way too much
• CBO report is out - and the bill isn't even written yet?
• So, how much do YOU budget for health care?
• Burri: Copenhagen trip was amateurish
• “Sotomayor, you have blood on your hands...”
• Cap and Trade. Always follow the money
• Rep. Kagen gets (almost) free health services
• I actually agree with Rep. Kagen
• Future Wisconsin Conference for Conservatives, October 10, Wauwatosa
|
September
|
August
|
July
|
June
|
May
|
April
|
March
|
February
|
January
|
| 2008 |
December
|
November
|
October
|
September
|
August
|
July
|
June
|
May
|
April
|
March
• Important votes Tuesday, including Appleton Common Council
• Democrats are becoming supply siders??
• Further debunking Hillary myths
• WEAC has created an unsustainable monopoly
• From Mark Gundrum: One of the greatest honors an American can experience
• 'Operation Chaos' working?
• Joe Martin the best candidate in Appleton's 8th
• State programs to cut? - Volume II
• Oh the naivete of youth
• Not just disingenuous - flat wrong
• Steve - you will be missed
• Make cuts only AFTER you're elected....
• Getting serious: What programs can we cut?
• Rep. Steve Kagen joining me on Jerry Bader Show today
• Rep. Van Roy: Dental Care Pilot Program
• Has Dave Obey turned the corner on earmarks?
• Speaker Huebsch: Governor turns down Federal Aid?
• Mark Rahmlow: "We're Broke."
• As taxpayers, how do we know if it's a Chevy or a Lexus?
• This is trash talk - about a veteran
• Frank Lasee: Take time to get the Compact right
• 'The Gableman Ad' - is it racist?
• Roth thankful, Kagen shaking money tree
• Gov. Doyle's office not enamored with Freedom of Information
• Governor Doyle will never do it
• Leadership on smoking ban? Not Hanna
• Rep. Van Roy speaks out about smear ads
• You're threatening me about potholes?
• Losing the Hastert seat is NOT a trend and NOT curtians for the GOP
• First suggestion for 'slashing' programs
• Big money-saver for municipalities
• More one time fixes. Nuts.
• Any chances???
• I'm doing the Jerry Bader Show, today, the 11th
• Representative Frank Lasee: Final Waltz of the Season
• Guest Blog: It's not the county's business to be in the nursing home business
• Yup, Hillary won Texas and Ohio
• Gableman/Butler race featured - and it isn't pretty
• Lies from Planned Parenthood and NARAL
• He who sacrifices liberty.....
• Duh.
• The Troha sentencing, Doyle and that $200K
• Guns, passion and "originality"
• How hard is it anyway, to shut down a government program?
• Voting is a PRIVILEGE. And so are property taxes....
• Guest Blog: Governor Doyle, cancel your Ireland trip
|
February
|
January
|
| 2007 |
December
|
November
|
October
|
September
|
August
|
July
|
June
|
May
|
April
|
March
|
February
|
January
• Lots of ideas. No money.
• The Cigarette Tax - "Poor Policy Instrument?"
• School budget Lite?
• Frankenstein - not in the library, but in the legislature
• A librarian, a legislator, a president
• $1.25/pack - NO, NO, NO, and NO
• Kagen and Reagan in the same breath?
• Menasha: behind the 8-ball, but not biting the dust
• Any way you slice it, Wisconsin government wants (further) in on health care
• The World is Flat...what about health care?
• The PAC - too precious to fail. Day 3
• News follow-ups: Appleton West, Kagen at the White House
• Fox Cities PAC - too precious to fail - Day 2
• Fox Cities PAC - too precious to fail
• New Transit Tax coming your way
• Rep. Petri has his finger in the dike - I guess
• AASD Retirement Costs Burdensome
• Health care, health care, health care, health care
• Water rate increase was no slam dunk
• Education for all is just a bad dream
• New Year's resolutions from a parade snob
|
| 2006 |
December
|
November
|
October
|
September
|
| 2000 |
May
|
|
