VIDEO: THE RACIST BIGOTED MCCAIN/PALIN MOB CAUGHT ON TAPE

This video is a clear indication a vast majority of the McCain/Palin supporters are racists and bigots.

WATCH VIDEO HERE:

http://www.youtube.com/v/cI5YVFAdtRo&hl=en&fs=1

CLICK ON DIAMOND-SHAPED ARROW IN PICTURE TO ACTIVATE VIDEO

3 SOLDERS, 16 CIVILIANS KILLED IN INCREASED FIGHTING IN AFGHANISTAN

Official: Afghanistan suffering from Iraqi gains

By AMIR SHAH, Associated Press Writer
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
(10-14) 08:11 PDT KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) --

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2008/10/14/international/i041155D66.DTL

U.S. military successes in Iraq have forced sophisticated and well-trained insurgents to pour into Afghanistan instead, part of the reason violence has spiked in Afghanistan, the Afghan defense minister said Tuesday.

In a demonstration of the increasingly deadly attacks, a roadside blast in the east where U.S. soldiers operate killed three NATO troops, while two separate roadside bombs in the south killed 16 Afghan civilians, officials said.

The Afghan defense minister, Gen. Abdul Rahim Wardak, said terrorists who would have once fought in Iraq have been "diverted" to Afghanistan.

"The success of coalition forces in Iraq and also some other issues in some of the neighboring countries have made it possible that there is a major increase in the foreign fighters," Wardak told a news conference. "There is no doubt that they are (better) equipped than before. They are well trained, more sophisticated, their coordination is much better."

The top U.S. commander in eastern Afghanistan, Maj. Gen. Jeffrey Schloesser, told The Associated Press last month that he is seeing a spike in the number of foreign militants — including Arabs and Chechens — flowing into Afghanistan. He said militant Web sites have been encouraging fighters to go to Afghanistan instead of Iraq.

CNN REPORTS: ARMY TELLS FEMALE SOLDIER SHE CAN'T BRING PUPPY HOME FROM IRAQ

Puppy stays in Iraq, Army tells soldier

Story Highlights
Soldiers rescue puppy from a burning pile of trash back in May
10,000 people sign online petition urging Army to let puppy come home with soldier
Operation Baghdad Pups says it has gotten 50 dogs transferred to the U.S.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/10/14/iraq.puppy.ap/index.html

WASHINGTON (AP) -- More than 10,000 people have signed an online petition urging the Army to let an Iraqi puppy come home with a Minnesota soldier, who fears that "Ratchet" could be killed if left behind.

"I just want my puppy home," Sgt. Gwen Beberg of Minneapolis wrote to her mother in an e-mail Sunday from Iraq, soon after she was separated from the dog following a transfer. "I miss my dog horribly." Beberg, 28, is scheduled to return to the U.S. next month.

Ratchet's defenders are ratcheting up their efforts to save him. On Monday, the program coordinator for Operation Baghdad Pups, which is run by Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals International, left for a trip to the Middle East to try to get the puppy to the U.S.

And last week, Beberg's congressman, Democrat Keith Ellison, wrote to the Army urging it to review the case.

Beberg and another soldier rescued the puppy from a burning pile of trash back in May. Defense Department rules prohibit soldiers in the U.S. Central Command, which includes Iraq, from adopting pets, but exceptions have been made. Operation Baghdad Pups says it has gotten 50 dogs and six cats transferred to the U.S. in the last eight months.

"I'm coping reasonably well because I refuse to believe that Ratchet has been hurt," Beberg wrote in the e-mail to her mother, Patricia Beberg. "If I find out that he was killed though -- well, we just won't entertain that possibility."

The mother said her daughter sent another e-mail saying that she confirmed that the dog was still alive and doing OK.

Operation Baghdad Pups' program coordinator, Terry Crisp, is scheduled to arrive in Baghdad on Wednesday. Crisp said the adopted dogs left behind face death on Iraqi streets.
She said Iraqis view dogs and cats as nuisances and carriers of disease, and U.S. soldiers have rescued many of them from abuse.

JON STEWART RIPS FOX NEWS----FUNNY, FUNNY VIDEO

Jon Stewart, host of Comedy Central's "The Daily Show," has put together a collection of FOX NEWS clips showing how the so-called "news station" has done everything possible to avoid talking about the economy.

WATCH VIDEO HERE:

http://www.youtube.com/v/sAiyaDFKFS8&hl=en&fs=1

CLICK ON DIAMOND-SHAPED ARROW IN PICTURE TO ACTIVATE VIDEO

MORE PALIN SUPPORTERS AT A RALLY IN JOHNSTOWN, PA. WATCH VIDEO

There is not a particle of difference between the people you see in this video and the people you can see in vintage movie clips from the Hitler's Nazi Germany.

This is what you get when you inflame a crowd like Sarah Palin has done with her hate-filled rhetoric directed at Barack Obama.

Somewhere in this crowd of Palin supporters could easily be another Lee Harvey Oswald and that is what so many in the media are worried about but won't come right out and say it.

Listen closely to what they are saying. They are repeating word-for-word what they are hearing on FOX NEWS and "hate radio" shows like RUSH LIMBAUGH.

However, we will.

WATCH THIS FRIGHTENING VIDEO HERE:

http://www.youtube.com/v/gHrExRHZnm0&hl=en&fs=1

CLICK ON DIAMOND-SHAPED ARROW IN PICTURE TO ACTIVATE VIDEO

VIDEO OF OHIO SUPPORTERS OF McCAIN/PALIN: OMIGAWD! ARE THESE PEOPLE IGNORANT

Anybody wanna bet 100% of these Ohio McCain/Palin supporters are racists? Of course they are. How can so many people be so dumb. This video is a clear indication of the meatheads that support McCain and Palin.

Anybody also wanna bet 100% of these Ohio McCain/Palin supporters are diehard FOX NEWS watchers? Of course they are. They ALL use FOX NEWS "talking points."

My question to all these McCain/Palin supporters opposed to abortion is real simple: Would you adopt a black baby?

WATCH THIS VIDEO AND THEN ASK YOURSELF: IS THIS COUNTRY WORTH SAVING FOR CLOWN LIKE THIS?

http://www.youtube.com/v/utXFkXwaG7A&hl=en&fs=1

CLICK ON DIAMOND-SHAPED ARROW IN PICTURE TO ACTIVATE THIS VIDEO

IRAQ TODAY QUESTIONS WHY MEDIA PLAYS DOWN VIOLENCE WHEN 9 ARE KILLED AND 13 WOUNDED IN BAGHDAD TODAY

Nine killed, 13 injured in car bombing in marketplace in Bayaa, southwest Baghdad, a predominantly Shiite area. (Earlier reports gave lower casualty counts but this is the most current as of posting time.)

SOURCE: http://warnewstoday.blogspot.com/

Note: This AFP report, like all wire service reports on violence in Iraq, includes what has apparently become an obligatory disclaimer to the effect that "violence is down sharply in Iraq," which you will see if you follow nearly all of these links. There appears to be a law against reporting on incidents without this statement. In fact, as our readers are well aware, dozens of Iraqis die in terrorist attacks, assassinations, and gun battles every day. To whatever extent this may be happening at a lesser rate than at some time in the past, why do the corporate media feel compelled to continually spin it as good news? The situation is completely unacceptable and would inspire horror if it were happening in any other country in the world. -- C

THE OTHER PTSD: SEXUAL ABUSE OF WOMEN IN THE MILITARY---WATCH VIDEO

This video takes you inside of what is happening to many, many women who serve in the military---PTSD, or Sexual Abuse in the Military.

This NBC special looks at how women who have been sexually abused in the military are being treated.

WATCH VIDEO HERE:

http://www.youtube.com/v/qtY_Wh-oUkM&hl=en&fs=1

CLICK ON DIAMOND-SHAPED ARROW TO ACTIVATE THIS VIDEO

POLITICO REPORTS: CIVIL RIGHTS ICON, JOHN LEWIS, SAYS McCAIN/PALIN STIR HATE

Civil rights icon says McCain stirs hate

By: Mike Allen and Jonathan Martin October 11, 2008 04:21 PM EST
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1008/14488.html

Civil rights icon John Lewis compared Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) to George Wallace in a posting to Politico's forum "The Arena," accusing McCain of fostering “an atmosphere of hate” and “hostility” like the one that led to white supremacists’ 1963 bombing of a church in Birmingham, Ala. Lewis, a Democratic congressman from Georgia who has endorsed Obama, pointed in his posting to “the negative tone of the McCain-Palin campaign,” and said the senator and his running mate, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, “are sowing the seeds of hatred and division.”

McCain, in a book he wrote with aide Mark Salter called “Why Courage Matters: The Way to a Braver Life,” had lauded the leadership of Lewis in the non-violent civil-rights movement. McCain called the accusation “shocking and beyond the pale” and called on Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) to repudiate it."

Brad Woodhouse of the Democratic National Committee said on Fox News: "I don't think Senator Obama would agree with that. ... I don’t think we would agree with those comments."Lewis didn't accuse McCain of imitating Wallace, but suggested there were similarities. His sharp words may be dismissed as those of a partisan Democrat in a campaign season. But the former head of SNCC and hero of Selma is somebody who McCain has lavished praise upon over the years, including in his book on courage and bravery and repeatedly invoking Lewis's name in public appearances. Appearing with Obama at a forum at Rick Warren's Saddleback Church in August, McCain included Lewis as one of "three wise men" he would consult as president. "He can teach us all a lot about the meaning of courage and commitment to causes greater than our self-interest," McCain said of Lewis. Now, Lewis is castigating McCain in the harshest of terms. "George Wallace never threw a bomb," Lewis noted.

"He never fired a gun, but he created the climate and the conditions that encouraged vicious attacks against innocent Americans who were simply trying to exercise their constitutional rights. Because of this atmosphere of hate, four little girls were killed on Sunday morning when a church was bombed in Birmingham, Alabama." McCain quickly fired back hard, calling the comments “a character attack against Governor Sarah Palin and me that is shocking and beyond the pale.” “The notion that legitimate criticism of Senator Obama's record and positions could be compared to Governor George Wallace, his segregationist policies and the violence he provoked is unacceptable and has no place in this campaign,” McCain said in the statement.

“I am saddened that John Lewis, a man I've always admired, would make such a brazen and baseless attack on my character and the character of the thousands of hardworking Americans who come to our events to cheer for the kind of reform that will put America on the right track. McCain also put the onus on Obama to distance himself from the remarks: "I call on Senator Obama to immediately and personally repudiate these outrageous and divisive comments that are so clearly designed to shut down debate 24 days before the election. Our country must return to the important debate about the path forward for America.” The full Lewis posting, sent to Politico's Fred Barbash, referee of "The Arena," with the heading “Rep. John Lewis On Hostility of McCain-Palin Campaign": “As one who was a victim of violence and hate during the height of the Civil Rights Movement, I am deeply disturbed by the negative tone of the McCain-Palin campaign. What I am seeing reminds me too much of another destructive period in American history. Sen. McCain and Gov. Palin are sowing the seeds of hatred and division, and there is no need for this hostility in our political discourse. “During another period, in the not too distant past, there was a governor of the state of Alabama named George Wallace who also became a presidential candidate. George Wallace never threw a bomb. He never fired a gun, but he created the climate and the conditions that encouraged vicious attacks against innocent Americans who were simply trying to exercise their constitutional rights. Because of this atmosphere of hate, four little girls were killed on Sunday morning when a church was bombed in Birmingham, Alabama.

"As public figures with the power to influence and persuade, Sen. McCain and Gov. Palin are playing with fire, and if they are not careful, that fire will consume us all. They are playing a very dangerous game that disregards the value of the political process and cheapens our entire democracy. We can do better. The American people deserve better.”

Politico has asked the Obama campaign for comment.

VIDEO: MSNBC'S RACHEL MADDOW TALKS ABOUT SARAH PALIN'S SECESSIONIST TIES

Rachel Maddow, host of MSNBC's "The Rachel Maddow Show," dissects Sarah Palin's ties to secessionists in Alaska who want to set up Alaska as their own country.

WATCH VIDEO HERE:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iR3ZRUTgcCI&feature=email

FUNNY VIDEO: HEY SARAH PALIN (WITH LYRICS AND SUB-TITLES)

Everyone is getting into the act of mocking Sarah Palin and this video is no exception. It is hilarious and the lyrics are priceless.

WATCH VIDEO HERE:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7DIc8jdra0o&feature=email

SICKENING VIDEO: THE McCAIN/PALIN MOB

This is another video which shows all the hate-speech by Sarah Palin and John McCain have fired up the McCain/Palin base who are capable of committing the most despicable of all acts on Barack Obama.

WATCH THIS SICKENING VIDEO HERE:

http://www.youtube.com/v/KjxzmaXAg9E&hl=en&fs=1

CLICK ON DIAMOND-SHAPED ARROW TO ACTIVATE VIDEO

FRIGHTENING VIDEO OF McCAIN/PALIN SUPPORTERS SPOUTING OFF

This video of McCain/Palin supporters clearly indicates the inflammatory language both candidates have been saying about Barack Obama has hit home with the unhinged people who support McCain and Palin.

This street walk video was made in Bethlehem, Pa. and you get to see and hear McCain and Palin supporters in what can be best described as a parade of nutcases who have been fired up by McCain and Palin and are capable of doing anything.

WATCH THIS FRIGHTENING VIDEO HERE:

http://www.youtube.com/v/itEucdhf4Us&hl=en&fs=1

CLICK ON DIAMOND-SHAPED ARROW IN PICTURE TO ACTIVATE THIS VIDEO

WASHINGTON POST: McCAIN IS WRONG ABOUT IRAQ: 24 KILLED AND 45 INJURED IN NEW WAVE OF VIOLENCE ACROSS IRAQ

John McCain keeps telling people at his campaign stops that we are "winning the war" in Iraq, but McCain ignores the rising tide of violence in Iraq.

24 Killed, 45 Injured in Bombings and Shootings Across Iraq

By Mary Beth Sheridan and Qais MizherWashington Post Staff WritersSaturday, October 11, 2008; A17

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/10/10/AR2008101002896.html

BAGHDAD, Oct. 10 -- A car bomb exploded in a market in southern Baghdad late Friday afternoon, killing at least 14 people and prompting an outburst of sectarian rioting, according to police and witnesses.

The attack was one of numerous bombings and shootings around the country in which 24 people were killed and 45 injured. They illustrated the tenuousness of the security situation in Iraq, where violence has fallen to four-year lows in recent months but political and sectarian divisions can quickly lead to bloodshed.

The bomb in a red Daewoo sedan blew up in the Abu Dsheer neighborhood, a Shiite enclave in the largely Sunni area of Dora, according to Iraqi security officials. The district had been a hotbed of insurgency before U.S. troops engaged in major combat there last year during the buildup of forces.

The U.S. military now considers parts of Dora safe enough to begin removing the giant blast barriers installed around the city as part of its counterinsurgency strategy to control the population and forestall attacks.

But the melee that broke out Friday afternoon showed how easily ethnic tensions can flare.

Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/10/10/AR2008101002896.html

BUSH USES US SOLDIERS IN IRAQ AS PAWNS TO HELP McCAIN

President Bush has been using U.S. soldiers deployed to Iraq like pawns in a chess game in an effort to help John McCain in his bid for President of the United States.

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki had announced in July he wanted U.S. troops out of Iraq, but Bush declined the request because he felt keeping U.S. troops in Iraq would help John McCain.

EXCLUSIVE: Maliki Suggests Bush Pushed To Extend U.S. Presence In Iraq To Help McCain»

http://thinkprogress.org/2008/09/23/maliki-bush-mccain-iraq/

Last July, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said U.S. troops should be out of Iraq “as soon as possible” and endorsed Sen. Barack Obama’s (D-IL) withdrawal plan. Obama “talks about 16 months. That, we think, would be the right time frame for a withdrawal, with the possibility of slight changes,” Maliki told Der Spiegel magazine.

Days later, as Obama wrapped up meetings with Iraqi leaders in Baghdad, Iraqi government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh reiterated his government’s stance, saying “the end of 2010 is the appropriate time for the withdrawal.”

Negotiating the post-UN mandate security agreement with Iraq, Bush argued for more time and both sides ultimately agreed that all U.S. troops would be out of Iraq by the end of 2011, not 2010, even though Bush has said previously that “if they were to say, leave, we would leave.”

Why did Bush go back on his word? A source tells ThinkProgress that White House communications staff were concerned that Maliki’s endorsement of the 2010 time line would damage Sen. John McCain’s (R-AZ) presidential campaign. Indeed, during an interview with Iraqi television last week (according to an Open Source Center translation), Maliki suggested that the U.S. presidential elections played a role:

Actually, the final date was really the end of 2010 and the period between the end of 2010 and the end of 2011 was for withdrawing the remaining troops from all of Iraq, but they asked for a change [in date] due to political circumstances related to the [U.S] domestic situation so it will not be said to the end of 2010 followed by one year for withdrawal but the end of 2011 as a final date.

In fact, Iraqi President Jalal Talabani said that as part of the security agreement, Bush wanted U.S. troops to stay in Iraq even longer. “It was a U.S. proposal for the date which is 2015, and an Iraqi one which is 2010, then we agreed to make it 2011,” Talabani said.

But by endorsing Obama’s time line, Maliki indirectly slighted McCain, who has consistently and strenuously argued against setting a withdrawal date and has even said he wouldn’t mind having U.S. troops in Iraq for 100 years. But Maliki’s new position has left McCain scrambling, first saying its “a pretty good timetable,” but then denying he used “the word timetable” and later settling on “anything is good.”

Despite Bush’s constant refrain that commanders, not politics, will decide the course in Iraq, it seems that trying to help his party retain the White House is more important.

SOLDIERS SERVING OVERSEAS FIND IT INCREASINGLY DIFFICULT TO VOTE

Some overseas soldiers' voting hampered

Deborah Hastings - The Associated Press

http://www.heraldextra.com/content/view/284094/36/

American soldiers can hump 60-pound packs through the broiling desert, kill for their country and die for it, but they can't always vote for their commander in chief.

A solution has long been proposed: Just get rid of the Byzantine process which forces those in far-flung battle zones to vote by mail that must be delivered to thousands of local election districts across the United States.

But the Pentagon has found that bringing military voting into the 21st century is not so simple.

The number of absentee military ballots applied for that ultimately get counted is consistently low.

In the last federal election, only about 30 percent of overseas military ballots were tallied, according to data from the federal Election Assistance Commission, which monitors election problems, and the Pew Center on the States.

Change won't come in time for the November presidential election, when record numbers of voters are expected to decide between Republican John McCain and Democrat Barack Obama.

For soldiers, the stakes couldn't be higher.

The winner may well decide how long they stay in battle, and how soon they come home.

No one knows why some 70 percent of overseas military ballots weren't recorded in 2006.

No one keeps centralized records on military ballots or voter turnout. But anecdotal evidence collected from local voting districts, which number more than 7,000, points to ballots that arrived late, ballots not properly filled out and ballots mailed to the wrong location -- most of which get discarded.

Then there are the ballots of troops who never mailed them back at all.

Contributing to the confusion are states and local election districts with competing and sometimes confounding rules governing overseas ballots. And the mail-in process can take up to 60 days from start to finish, even though many absentee ballots weren't available until this month.

Continue reading here http://www.heraldextra.com/content/view/284094/36/

VIDEO: OBAMA ASKS: "WHY WON'T McCAIN SAY IT TO MY FACE?"

This short interview of Barack Obama with Charley Gibson of ABC News poses the question so many people are asking. Why does McCain continue to attack Obama but he won't say it to his face?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IDz7iJYJXmE&feature=email

ABC NEWS VIDEO. BIDEN, THE VIEW AND MUCH MORE.

This video is crammed full of some great moments from the political trail. You will see Joe Biden cracking up over the SNL impersonation of him. Also, the women of "The View" talking about Sarah Palin including the SNL Tina Fey impersonation of Palin. And there is much, much more.

WATCH VIDEO HERE:

http://abcnews.go.com/Video/playerIndex?id=5983382

BUSH ADMIN LISTENS TO PHONE CONVERSATIONS OF TROOPS OVERSEAS

Absolutely disgusting. According to a new report from ABC, thanks to the Patriot Act, the government has been listening into phone calls from troops in the middle east, and passing clips of them around the office. Not just that, but the clips are of private moments between troops and their wives and girlfriends.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jon-soltz/government-intrudes-on-tr_b_133342.html

From ABC:

Faulk says he and others in his section of the NSA facility at Fort Gordon routinely shared salacious or tantalizing phone calls that had been intercepted, alerting office mates to certain time codes of "cuts" that were available on each operator's computer.

"Hey, check this out," Faulk says he would be told, "there's good phone sex or there's some pillow talk, pull up this call, it's really funny, go check it out. It would be some colonel making pillow talk and we would say, 'Wow, this was crazy'," Faulk told ABC News.

Faulk said he joined in to listen, and talk about it during breaks in Back Hall's "smoke pit," but ended up feeling badly about his actions.

Oh, he felt badly? How about I start listening into the phone calls of NSA staff, and posting the best stuff on blogs, so we can all have a laugh.

Asked for comment about the ABC News report and accounts of intimate and private phone calls of military officers being passed around, a US intelligence official said "all employees of the US government" should expect that their telephone conversations could be monitored as part of an effort to safeguard security and "information assurance."

"They certainly didn't consent to having interceptions of their telephone sex conversations being passed around like some type of fraternity game," said Jonathon Turley, a constitutional law professor at George Washington University who has testified before Congress on the country's warrantless surveillance program.

Turley is right, and frankly, the response to ABC from the intelligence official is a disgrace.
Let me tell you something about being in a warzone. It's grueling, it's mentally taxing, it's hot, you see men blown up and losing limbs. For many, the one bit of calm they have is a brief moment when they thought of their wives or girlfriends back home, who they haven't seen for months.

But it was also agonizing. They could see them in their heads, but they couldn't touch them or smell them.

The best troops have is a brief telephone call sometimes. And, yes, it was as close to intimate as they can get. A tiny bit of good amidst the hell of war.

For the government to think that it was acceptable to listen in and pass around troops' most intimate moments, like some high-tech peeping toms, some satellite-powered voyeurs, is one of the greatest insults I can think of to those men and women in uniform sacrificing everything they have for their nation.

It's good that Senator Jay Rockefeller has started an investigation into this. I sincerely hope that he does not stop until everyone who let this happen is accounted for, and their heads roll. And I hope Republicans, who used to be all about limited government, and who swore to uphold our Constitution and Constitutional rights wake up and realize what's happening.

Our troops deserve a lot better from the government they're fighting for.

Crossposted at www.vetvoice.com

HILARIOUS VIDEO FROM JON STEWART ABOUT OBAMA/MCCAIN DEBATE

Jon Stewart, host of "The Daily Show" on Comedy Central, keeps churning out hilarious videos and this one is no exception as Stewart picks apart the last debate between Barack Obama and John McCain.

WATCH VIDEO HERE:

http://www.thedailyshow.com/video/index.jhtml?videoId=187584&title=word-war-ii&byDate=true

READ THIS AND REMEMBER JOHN McCAIN RECEIVED AN "F" RATING FROM IRAQ, AFGHANISTAN VETERANS AGAINST THE WAR

John McCain has one of the WORST records in Congress when it comes to supporting legislation that will help returning veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan. In a recent study, the Iraq, Afghanistan Veterans Against the War (IAVA) http://www.iava.org/ gave McCain an "F" because of his abysmal record in Congress of supporting Veterans.

McCain talks BIG but he doesn't back up his talk with ACTION in the Senate.

Here is a report from Veterans for Common Sense http://www.veteransforcommonsense.org/articleID/8077 on the status of how Veterans are being treated (or more appropriately not treated) by the Bush administration, John McCain and the Department of Veteran Affairs.


On July 17, 2007, Jim Nicholson announced his resignation as Secretary of Veterans Affairs, effective no later than October 1, 2007. Nicholson cut and ran just as veterans and Congress were gathering pitchforks and torches in a broad based effort to evict him.

The few veterans and elected officials who pay close attention to VA healthcare and benefits policy exhaled in relief as Nicholson, who had no relevant qualifications, said he would finally quit.

Most expect him to return to partisan politics and run for office in Colorado.

Only a few months on the job in early 2005, Nicholson fell flat on his face before Congress by claiming VA had enough money. He returned a few months later begging for $3 billion in emergency funds, much of it to care for our 230,000 wounded, injured, and ill from the Iraq and Afghanistan wars already treated at VA hospitals.

Sadly, Nicholson wasn’t served well, either. His top aides knew about the Walter Reed Army Medical Center fiasco during the summer of 2004. Yet our wounded warriors needlessly suffered for two more years until the Washington Post amplified the superb reporting by Salon’s Mark Benjamin, forcing the military and VA to start addressing the problems.

This sad morality play was driven by the enormous pressure from the White House to keep VA spending down in order to preserve President George W. Bush’s tax cut for the rich, who enjoy unprecedented wealth as hundreds of thousands of our homeless veterans sleep on the streets every night.

Using two key measures, Nicholson’s disastrous record of corruption, cronyism, and devastation at VA is far worse than FEMA’s “Heck of a job Brownie” after Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans and the Gulf Coast.

First, when a veteran needs healthcare, VA must provide it immediately, without question, and without waiting. Jonathan Schulze, who earned two Purple Heart medals, committed suicide in 2006 after three failed attempts to get care for his Iraq War – related PTSD.

Second, when a veteran needs disability compensation, VA must provide it immediately, without bureaucratic hassles, and without endless waiting, so they can put food on the table, pay the rent, and take care of their family. Jason Stiffler was kicked to the curb in 2003 by the military and VA, subsisting on a few hundred dollars a month after getting wounded in the Afghanistan War. Nicholson took a wrecking ball to VA. Pity on the state that wants to elect someone with such an abysmal record.

If Nicholson was the captain of the ill-fated Titanic, then he relished, with extremist religious zeal, the orders from Karl Rove and Grover Norquist to sail VA into an iceberg and drown VA in red tape. In the midst of disaster Nicholson approved $3.8 million in undeserved cash “performance” bonuses while hundreds of thousands of veterans remained homeless, waited months to see doctors, and even waited years to receive disability benefit payments.
Our next VA secretary should remember Jonathan Schulze and Jason Stiffler, and learn that VA failures cause catastrophic consequences. VA’s next leader faces several major unresolved issues:

• Congress must provide VA with mandatory full funding so there is better planning and so VA can eliminate the delays our veterans face when seeking medical care or disability benefits.

• VA must provide mandatory and universal PTSD and TBI screening for all recent war veterans. Our veterans earned early detection and treatment, and this is much cheaper for taxpayers in the long-run.

• VA must automatically approve all disability claims for six months at a modest level so our new war veterans stop falling through the cracks while waiting on VA to review 800,000 backlogged disability claims.

• VA must automatically approve disability claims for our combat veterans who served in Iraq and Afghanistan when a doctor diagnoses them with PTSD.

Thirty eight years ago, Neil Armstrong, a Korean War Navy aviator, landed on the moon. When we set our sights on it, we can attain lofty goals. Let’s make it our mission to house all our 200,000 homeless veterans and make sure they don’t fall through the cracks as they did after the Vietnam War and Gulf War.

VIDEO: KEITH OLBERMANN: ODE TO SEAN HANNITY

MSNBC's Keith Olbermann resurrects John Cleese from "Monty Python's Flying Circus" to skewer the tiny-brained FOX NEWS' Sean Hannity when Robert Gibbs, campaign director of the Obama/Biden campaign, called out Hannity as a anti-Semite.

It is a delicious VIDEO (thanks Peggy) and toward the end of the video Olbermann and MNBC's Rachel Maddow talk about how Sarah Palin will now appear ONLY on the Sean Hannity "Hannity and Colmes" show and FOX NEWS' Greta Van Sustern show before the election.

This is a MUST WATCH Video:

http://www.youtube.com/v/19RiO30O9a8&hl=en&fs=1

CLICK ON DIAMOND-SHAPED ARROW TO ACTIVATE VIDEO

McCAIN SCORES "F" IN SUPPORT OF VETERANS

Obama outscores McCain in veterans’ group’s report card

By Roxana Tiron
Posted: 10/07/08 12:01 AM [ET]

http://tinyurl.com/4sevh7

Barack Obama outscored his Republican rival, Vietnam veteran John McCain, in a report card issued by an influential, nonpartisan veterans’ group.

The Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA’s) http://www.iava.org/ Action Fund gave the Arizona senator a “D” as part of its congressional report card. Obama received a “B” from the group.

McCain is among three senators who scored a “D.” Only one senator, Jim DeMint (R-S.C.), received an “F.”

McCain — a former Navy officer and prisoner of war — and Obama, who has not served, have made military and veterans’ issues central to their campaign as they try to show voters who would be a stronger advocate for those who have fought in two wars in the last seven years.

Much of IAVA’s scoring revolves around legislation to boost education benefits for Iraq and Afghanistan veterans, known as the “Post 9/11 GI Bill: Fair Education Benefits for Veterans.”

The bill was the brainchild of Sen. Jim Webb (D-Va.) and garnered wide sponsorship throughout the upper chamber.

Because of campaigning, McCain missed six votes on the issues the group rated, out of which four were the votes regarding the GI Bill.

The maximum of points for an “A+” in the Senate is 11. McCain received a total of three. IAVA gave two points to those who co-sponsored the GI Bill — its main priority for 2008.

McCain did not sponsor that bill, but sponsored a competing bill with Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Richard Burr (R-N.C). One major aspect of the McCain-sponsored bill was the ability for veterans to transfer educational credits to their spouses and children. Ultimately, the transferability option was included in Webb’s GI overhaul bill. As a result, McCain issued strong support for the bill, but was not present at the final vote.

IAVA did not credit McCain for the bill he sponsored with Graham and Burr because the group opposed it and threw its full support behind Webb’s bill.

“Sen. McCain has been endorsed by 21 past National Commanders of the American Legion, the largest veterans’ organization in America, and the Veterans of Foreign Wars, the largest organization of combat veterans in America,” said Lang Sias, national veterans director on McCain’s campaign. “Sen. McCain is proud of having fought hard to ensure that an extremely high priority for career service members — the freedom to transfer their education benefits to their spouse or their children — was included in the final version of the GI Bill. John McCain made the GI Bill better for military families and veterans.”

Despite being a co-sponsor of the GI Bill, Obama did not score a particularly high mark, but well above McCain. IAVA gave Obama a “B,” or a total of seven points. Obama, who like McCain has been on the campaign trail, missed four votes on issues the group rated. One of those votes was a procedural vote regarding the veterans’ education bill. Obama was present for the other three votes regarding the bill, including final passage.

Obama’s running mate, Sen. Joe Biden (D-Del.), also scored a “B.” He missed three votes that coincided with campaigning during the primaries, when Biden himself was a presidential candidate.

“Sen. Obama has a long record of supporting our veterans and honoring the sacred trust with our veterans and military families. The fact that IAVA has recognized his unending support is a great tribute,” said Obama national security spokeswoman Wendy Morigi. “If he is fortunate enough to be elected in November, veterans can rest assured knowing that he will fight for them every day as president.”

“We think attendance is important,” said Paul Rieckhoff, IAVA executive director of the scoring. “Lawmakers have to put the money where their mouth is. You can’t support the troops if you do not vote on the key issues.”

IAVA is officially releasing its congressional report card Tuesday, the same day Obama and McCain are going into another presidential debate. Rieckhoff said the release was planned that way to make veterans’ issues part of Tuesday’s debate, because none of the candidates approached that topic in detail.

“We hope that it lets them know that people are watching and that veterans are watching,” he said in an interview. “Whoever the president is, they have a huge challenge ahead with veterans’ issues. These guys have a chance to turn the page.”

In the Senate scoring, IAVA focused on nine legislative actions: boosting of funding for veterans’ healthcare in 2007 and 2008; more money for Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicles, known as MRAPs, for troops fighting in Iraq; expanded veterans’ benefits in 2007; 2008 legislation dealing with adaptive housing for disabled veterans, disability claims processing and education benefits for apprenticeships and on-the-job training; stopping the McCain-sponsored competing GI bill; and three votes on the Webb-sponsored GI Bill.

Among the Senate’s co-sponsors of the education benefits overhaul are several who received an “A+” for their support of veterans. Those members not only co-sponsored the landmark education bill, but also voted in favor of all the other legislation on IAVA’s agenda. Among those who received an “A+” are: Webb, Susan Collins (R-Maine), who is facing a tough reelection campaign, Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Harry Reid (D-Nev.), the Senate majority leader, Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), Daniel Akaka (D-Hawaii) and Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.).

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.), a former candidate for president, scored an “A.” So did retiring Sens. John Warner (R-Va.), who was pivotal in negotiations on the GI Bill, and Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.), an original co-sponsor of the bill, as well as Olympia Snowe (R-Maine), Kit Bond (R-Mo.) and Gordon Smith (R-Ore.).

In the House, 249 lawmakers received an “A” or “A+” for voting on 13 bills relating to veterans issues. Many of the freshman and vulnerable Democrats have received an “A+.” Democrats, and particularly the freshmen, have made it a key point to prove that their party is strong on national security. Among those vulnerables receiving an A+ are Reps. Chris Carney (D-Pa.), Patrick Murphy (D-Pa.), Paul Kanjorski (D-Pa.), Carol Shea-Porter (D-N.H.) and Nancy Boyda (D-Kan.). Another Democratic vulnerable, Rep. Nick Lampson (Texas), received a “B.”

Several vulnerable Republican members earned top grades, but many of them have also scored “B’s.” Among them, Reps. Robin Hayes (N.C.), Christopher Shays (Conn.), Randy Kuhl (N.Y.) and Ric Keller (Fla.) stand out with an “A.” Reps. Don Young (R-Alaska) and Marilyn Musgrave (R-Colo.) received a “B,” as did Reps. James Walsh (R-N.Y.) and Steve Chabot (R-Ohio).

Reps. John Campbell (R-Calif.), Tom Tancredo (R-Colo.), John Duncan Jr. (R-Tenn.) and Chris Cannon (R-Utah) scored a “D.” Rep Ron Paul (R-Texas) scored the only “F.”

IAVA has about 105,000 members and makes no political contributions or endorsements.

SARAH PALIN INCITES ASSASSINATION OF BARACK OBAMA

"Kill him!", Palin supporter says of Obama in her presence. She says nothing.

On the heels of a McCain supporter yelling that Obama was a "terrorist" today - and McCain said nothing in response to admonish the supporter - the Washington Post reports (via ThinkProgress) that a Palin supporter at one of her rallies today yelled for Obama to be assassinated after Palin, again, told the lie that some of Obama's best friends are terrorists:

"Now it turns out, one of his earliest supporters is a man named Bill Ayers," Palin said."Boooo!" said the crowd."And, according to the New York Times, he was a domestic terrorist and part of a group that, quote, 'launched a campaign of bombings that would target the Pentagon and our U.S. Capitol,'" she continued."Boooo!" the crowd repeated."Kill him!" proposed one man in the audience.

Palin went on to say that "Obama held one of the first meetings of his political career in Bill Ayers's living room, and they've worked together on various projects in Chicago."Palin went on?

Just like she did when speakers at her church said that terrorist attacks against Israelis were "God's judgment" for Jews having the audacity not to embrace Christianity. Just like she did when a visiting witch doctor at her church lamented the fact that, as he claimed, Jews control the banking industry and that's why Wall Street is so corrupt.

Not a word from Sarah Palin when her supporters talk of killing Barack Obama.

Not a word from Sarah Palin when her own church talks of the propriety of launching terrorist attacks against Jews in Israel.

In one day, McCain's supporters are so enraged by McCain's new rhetoric, calling Obama an un-American terrorist sympathizer, that McCain's supporters are now labeling Obama himself a "terrorist" and calling for him to be killed.

And McCain has no problem with this.

Nor does Sarah Palin.

VIDEO: "PALIN-LAND." A FRIGHTENING LOOK AT PALIN SUPPORTERS

This video captures the type of person who supports Sarah Palin. They are a frightening lot.

During a recent rally where Palin said Barack Obama hangs around with terrorists (a reference to Bill Ayers who committed his terrorist acts when Obama was eight years old), one Palin supporter started chanting: "Kill 'em! Kill 'em! Kill 'em."

The message was directed at Barak Obama.

The Palin audience cheered.

WATCH VIDEO HERE:

http://link.brightcove.com/services/player/bcpid1417423198?bctid=1834283910

NEWEST U.S. CASUALTY REPORTS AND VIOLENCE IN IRAQ: MEMO TO BARACK OBAMA

When Barack Obama and John McCain face off tonight in the second of their three debates, Obama should remind McCain there is STILL a war going on in IRAQ and there are STILL U.S. casualties on a daily basis and the violence continues in IRAQ The following is a list of U.S. casualties events taking place in IRAQ:

Tuesday, October 7, 2008

War News for Tuesday, October 07, 2008
Source: http://warnewstoday.blogspot.com/

LATEST U.S.Casualty Reports from IRAQ:

Mosul:#1: One U.S. soldier and one Iraqi policeman were killed in a shootout overnight on Tuesday in the Hay Domiz neighbourhood of southeastern Mosul, 390 km (240 miles) north of Baghdad, Iraqi police and the U.S. military said. One gunmen was also reported killed and four others were arrested. Another police officer was also wounded.

Sgt. Joshua Haun, of Paradise, was injured when on a supply mission with the 49th Military Police Brigade in northern Iraq in August 2006. The convoy he was in was hit by a roadside bomb. Haun was severely injured during the incident and continues to recover more than two years later.

Sgt. First Class Diaz, 46, formerly of Brooklyn, is a U.S. Army combat medic stationed in Heidelberg, Germany is back on active duty, has a chronic neck injury as a result of a car bombing earlier this year during his second tour of Iraq.

MNF-Iraq is reporting the death of a Multi-National Division - North soldier a small-arms fire attack in Mosul on Tuesday, October 7th. One Iraqi Police was also killed in the attack.

The DoD is reporting what appears to be a new death previously unreported by the military. Sgt. William P. Rudd died from small arms fire in Mosul on Sunday, October 5th. He was an Army Ranger.

The DoD is reporting what appears to be another new death previously unreported by the military. Spc. Jason E. von Zerneck died from a vehicle incident in Qara Bagh Karez, Afghanistan, on Thursday, October 2nd. No other details were released.


Security incidents in IRAQ:

Baghdad:#1: Two powerful bombs exploded outside the Iraqi capital's tightly-guarded Green Zone on Tuesday as US Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte was ending a visit focused on a controversial military pact. An Iraqi military officer said at least one soldier was wounded in the blasts which went off in quick succession at a time of heavy traffic. The first blast targeted a parked Iraqi armoured vehicle and a car bomb went off minutes later at a nearby parking lot opposite the foreign ministry, on the edge of the Green Zone where Iraq's government and the US embassy are located. Witnesses said a limpet-type magnetic mine had been used in the first attack against the armoured vehicle parked at a security checkpoint leading to the Green Zone. The tyres of the vehicle caught fire and the doors were blown out. Minutes after the attacks, Negroponte began his scheduled press conference with Zebari. The latest attacks in the central Salhiyah neighbourhood of Baghdad came despite a tight security cordon and stepped-up checks on vehicles and followed a spate of bombings in the capital last week.Iraqi police say that two blasts in front of the Foreign Ministry have wounded at least five people.

#2: Five civilians were wounded when two mortar shells landed in central Baghdad on Tuesday, an Iraqi police official said. "One of the two mortars landed on a civilian vehicles parking lot in al-Allawi area, central Baghdad, leaving five civilians wounded," the source told Aswat al-Iraq.

Kut:#1: A civilian man was killed by the fire of unidentified gunmen, two of them were wounded in a feud with the killed man's family in eastern Kut city, a police source in Wassit said. "Unidentified gunmen waged an armed attack during the early hours of Tuesady on a family in Anwar al-Sadr area, eastern Kut, leaving one member killed. Two of the gunmen were injured in the clashes," the source told Aswat al-Iraq.

#2: Policemen found two unidentified bodies of a young man and a young woman in the area of al-Ghabat, eastern Kut city, on Tuesday, a police source in Wassit province said.

Mosul: Gunmen killed a shop owner in central Mosul.

#3: Gunmen killed a governmental employee in al Quds neighborhood in Mosul.

#4: Gunmen killed a butcher and injured his son in their shop in Mosul.Northern Iraq

McCAIN PLANS TO CUT MEDICARE, MEDICAID---WALL ST. JOURNAL

Not only has John McCain been a champion for deregulation that put the country in the financial bind we are seeing today, but McCain also wants to cut Medicare and Medicaid according to the right wing Wall Street Journal.

OCTOBER 6, 2008

McCain Plans Federal Health Cuts
Medicare, Medicaid Spending Would Be Reduced to Offset Proposed Tax Credit

By LAURA MECKLER
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122315505846605217.html#

John McCain would pay for his health plan with major reductions to Medicare and Medicaid, a top aide said, in a move that independent analysts estimate could result in cuts of $1.3 trillion over 10 years to the government programs.

The Republican presidential nominee has said little about the proposed cuts, but they are needed to keep his health-care plan "budget neutral," as he has promised. The McCain campaign hasn't given a specific figure for the cuts, but didn't dispute the analysts' estimate.

In the months since Sen. McCain introduced his health plan, statements made by his campaign have implied that the new tax credits he is proposing to help Americans buy health insurance would be paid for with other tax increases
.
But Douglas Holtz-Eakin, Sen. McCain's senior policy adviser, said Sunday that the campaign has always planned to fund the tax credits, in part, with savings from Medicare and Medicaid. Those government health-care programs serve seniors, poor families and the disabled. Medicare spending for the fiscal year ended Sept. 30 is estimated at $457.5 billion.

Mr. Holtz-Eakin said the Medicare and Medicaid changes would improve the programs and eliminate fraud, but he didn't detail where the cuts would come from. "It's about giving them the benefit package that has been promised to them by law at lower cost," he said.

Both Sen. McCain and his Democratic rival, Sen. Barack Obama, have recently sought to refocus on health care. The issue once ranked at the top of voters' domestic concerns, but has in recent months been eclipsed by energy and the economy.

Sen. McCain charges that the Obama plan, which would create a government-run marketplace in which people could buy coverage, would lead to government-run health care. Sen. Obama charges that Sen. McCain's plan would leave many people unable to get insurance.

Sen. Obama's campaign turned up the volume in a major push on health care over the weekend with two days of attacks from the stump, four new television advertisements, a series of health-care events across the country and fliers to voters' homes in swing states.

Sen. Obama is focused on Sen. McCain's plan to offer a new tax credit of $2,500 per person and $5,000 per family toward insurance premiums. This would allow people to buy health coverage on the open market, where they may have more choices and might look for a better bargain

In exchange, the government would begin taxing the value of health benefits people get through work. If an employer spends $10,000 to buy a worker health insurance, the worker would pay taxes on that money.

"It's a shell game," Sen. Obama told an outdoor rally of 28,000 people Sunday in Asheville, N.C. "Sen. McCain gives you a tax credit with one hand -- but raises your taxes with the other."

Sen. McCain's plan actually would lower taxes for most people. But that means the plan wouldn't pay for itself, because it cuts certain taxes more than it raises others.

The federal government imposes two taxes on wages, generally: an income tax, which funds the government's general operations, and the payroll tax, paid for by employers and employees, which funds Social Security and Medicare. If Sen. McCain were to apply both of these to the value of health benefits, he could fully pay for his new tax credits.

That is what aides have in the past suggested he would do.

In April, when Sen. McCain gave a major speech about his health plan, Mr. Holtz-Eakin, the senior policy adviser, said the tax provisions alone were budget neutral -- meaning that health benefits would have to be subject to both income and payroll taxes.

Campaign officials have regularly implied since then that the tax plan was a wash. In the vice-presidential debate last week, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin described Sen. McCain's proposed tax credits and said: "That's budget neutral. That doesn't cost the government anything, as opposed to Barack Obama's plan to mandate health-care coverage and have this universal, government-run program."

Mr. Holtz-Eakin said the campaign never intended to apply the payroll tax to health benefits. That means that most people would see a net tax cut, contrary to Sen. Obama's assertions. Only those with very rich benefits packages are likely to see a net increase in taxes. But it also means that Sen. McCain must fill a huge budget hole -- which the campaign says will come from cuts to Medicare and Medicaid.

The nonpartisan Tax Policy Center, a Washington think tank, estimates that the McCain plan would cost the government $1.3 trillion over 10 years. The plan would allow as many as five million more people to have insurance, it estimates.

Mr. Holtz-Eakin said the plan is accurately described as budget neutral because it assumes enough savings in Medicare and Medicaid spending to make up the difference.

He said the savings would come from eliminating Medicare fraud and by reforming payment policies to lower the overall cost of care. He said the new tax credits will help some low-income people avoid joining Medicaid. The campaign also proposes increasing Medicare premiums for wealthier seniors.

Sen. Obama also would rely on some Medicare savings to pay for his health-care plan, which would offer subsidies to help consumers pay for premiums. The Tax Policy Center estimates that his plan would cost $1.6 trillion over 10 years and cover 34 million more people.
Write to Laura Meckler at laura.meckler@wsj.com

VIDEO: JOHN McCAIN AND HIS ROLE IN THE " KEATING FIVE SCANDAL"

If John McCain is stupid enough in tonight's debate to bring up Barack Obama's "ties" to Bill Ayers or Rev. Jeremiah Wright, I hope Obama gets a chance to talk about what is in this video and how John McCain played a major role in the savings and loan scandal that cost 23,000 Americans their life savings.

The problems started when deregulation took place under that bonehead Ronald Reagan and then McCain kept voting for more and more deregulation.

The media aren't going to tell the truth, but this VIDEO does about John McCain's role in the "Keating Five" scandal:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IDofbll86dY&eurl=http://www.keatingeconomics.com/

IF YOU HAVE DRAFT AGE CHILDREN THIS VIDEO WILL SCARE THE HELL OUT OF YOU

John McCain knows nothing but war, war, war and more war. And if John McCain is elected President you can bet your bottom dollar we will be going to war with IRAN, PAKISTAN and perhaps even NORTH KOREA.

Anyone who has military age children or grandchildren should take a long hard look at this video because electing JOHN McCAIN is a one-way ticket for your loved ones to be drafted and shipped to some foreign country to fight in still another incursion into a sovereign nation.

McCain is already on record saying he would be for reinstating the military draft.

Click on this link: http://corksphere.blogspot.com/2008/09/mccain-said-he-would-consider-draft.html to see and hear McCain say he would consider a military draft.

This video is not an exaggeration. It is the TRUTH.

WATCH VIDEO HERE:

http://www.youtube.com/v/PdJUCU1UH2w&hl=en&fs=1

CLICK ON DIAMOND-SHAPED ARROW TO ACTIVATE VIDEO

POLITICO EXCLUSIVE: OBAMA TO HIT McCAIN ON "KEATING FIVE" SCANDAL

It's about time!

Nice guys finish LAST.

The Obama campaign is going to launch an attack on John McCain and his connections to the "Keating Five" savings and loan scandal that sent hundreds of people to the poor house.

Exclusive: Obama to hit McCain on Keating Five

By: Mike Allen October 5, 2008 11:28 PM EST
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1008/14302.html

Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) on Monday will launch a multimedia campaign to draw attention to the involvement of Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) in the “Keating Five” savings-and-loan scandal of 1989-91, which blemished McCain’s public image and set him on his course as a self-styled reformer.Retaliating for what it calls McCain's “guilt-by-association” tactics, the Obama campaign is e-mailing millions of supporters a link to a website, KeatingEconomics.com, which will have a 13-minute documentary on the scandal beginning at noon Eastern time on Monday.

The overnight e-mails urge recipients to pass the link on to friends.The Obama campaign, including its surrogates appearing on radio and television, will argue that the deregulatory fervor that caused massive, cascading savings-and-loan collapses in the late ‘80s was pursued by McCain throughout his career, and helped cause the current credit crisis.

Obama-Biden communications director Dan Pfeiffer said: “While John McCain may want to turn the page on his erratic response to the current economic crisis, we think voters will find his involvement in a similar crisis to be particularly interesting. His involvement with Keating is a window into McCain’s economic past, present, and future.”

Obama’s offensive comes after McCain’s running mate, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, spent two days telling voters, donors and reporters that Obama showed poor judgment in his relationship with the former radical William Ayers. McCain’s campaign has vowed to make a major issue of Obama’s Chicago relationships in coming days, with a senior McCain official telling Politico that they are “the vehicle that allows us to question Obama’s truthfulness about his past and his plans for the future.”

The McCain campaign also plans to invoke money launderer Tony Rezko. Officials say they will not bring up Obama's former minister, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, because McCain has forbade his campaign from using that as an attack. But the officials said outside groups supporting McCain might highlight Wright.

Responding to the Keating blast from the past, a Republican official said the Obama team seemed "frantic" at "the mere mention of the word 'Ayers.'"

“The fact that the Obama team is recycling this old garbage 24 hours after Bill Ayers entered the race is a testament to how worried the Obama camp is of an unfettered airing of his associations," the official said. "Obama is a clever enough politician to know that his unexplored relationships with terrorists and felons are a serious liability in a race this close.”