Palin shows she's not an agent of change
But of continuing the Rovian lie machine.
Obama served in two charities with Bill Ayers, one of the founders of the Weather Underground. The dingbat Palin is now crowing, in multiple States (and the states of ignorance and dishonesty...) that means Obama is "palling around" with terrorists.
Lets ignore that nobody says Ayers is still doing Weather Underground type of activities, or was at the time Obama and he worked on the charities. Or that she's not telling everyone in the neighborhood that in which they live that all citizens who know Ayers or work with him are terrorists. Or the fact that she has never linked them as friends who have come close to "palling around". Lets deal with the simple one: Where's any indication Obama ever said he agreed with the Weather Underground? There isn't any, of course. It's just typical Republican lies and smears. Another Swift Boat.
However, let's remember who's done more damage. The Weatherman set of small bombs that did little damage, with nobody showing they did even a million dollars total. Some of the members, working with other groups, killed themselves while assembling a bomb. Their biggest violence was a single incident in which two policeman and a guard were killed in a Brinks robbery. Most of the money was recovered.
They were terrorists, rightfully labeled.
So lets compare. The Savings and Loan crisis has directly cost the taxpayer of $124 billion (http://www.econlib.org/library/Enc/SavingsandLoanCrisis.html). The same article points to at least $30 billion in other costs to healthy banks, cost that would have been passed on to the consumer.
The current financial crisis has just seen Congress approve $700 billion in bailouts, not knowing how much, if any, will ever be repaid. In addition, trillions of dollars in retirement account savings has disappeared from middle class American's savings.
It's completely conceivable that suicides from financial failure during that crisis were easily higher than three. How about increased crime by people suddenly poor? I can't find statistics either way, but it seems clear that financial desperation is a prime cause in many types of violence found in society, and causing financial hardship for others is causing that violence.
The combination of financial industry and political greed that created the excess, illegalities deregulation, and lack of supervision have done far more damage to the country than the Weatherman. In addition, both groups did what they did as an open statement that their theories were "better" than anyone elses' and their political views should be forced upon others. Terrorism is using violence to force a change in the political environment of your country. The US and all States say, rightfully, that domestic violence extends past physical violence to verbal abuse. Using the same logic, I think it's correct to say that what the financiers and politicians did to the economy was a violent attack upon most citizens.
If one group is terrorism, the second certainly is too.
So, if Obama is linked to a small time terrorist through living in the same neighborhood and serving on the same charity boards as Avery, what are we to say about George Bush, Sr., Georgie Jr, and Jeb, who collectively served on bank boards that failed to the tune of $1.5 billion? And what are we to say about McCain, a man whose time in Congress has often been spent aiding and abetting close friend such as Keating. Financial figures who have committed terrorism upon the nation at a level not even imagined by the Weatherman?
I do not excuse the Weatherman. Why is Palin excusing much worse terrorists?
Obama served in two charities with Bill Ayers, one of the founders of the Weather Underground. The dingbat Palin is now crowing, in multiple States (and the states of ignorance and dishonesty...) that means Obama is "palling around" with terrorists.
Lets ignore that nobody says Ayers is still doing Weather Underground type of activities, or was at the time Obama and he worked on the charities. Or that she's not telling everyone in the neighborhood that in which they live that all citizens who know Ayers or work with him are terrorists. Or the fact that she has never linked them as friends who have come close to "palling around". Lets deal with the simple one: Where's any indication Obama ever said he agreed with the Weather Underground? There isn't any, of course. It's just typical Republican lies and smears. Another Swift Boat.
However, let's remember who's done more damage. The Weatherman set of small bombs that did little damage, with nobody showing they did even a million dollars total. Some of the members, working with other groups, killed themselves while assembling a bomb. Their biggest violence was a single incident in which two policeman and a guard were killed in a Brinks robbery. Most of the money was recovered.
They were terrorists, rightfully labeled.
So lets compare. The Savings and Loan crisis has directly cost the taxpayer of $124 billion (http://www.econlib.org/library/Enc/SavingsandLoanCrisis.html). The same article points to at least $30 billion in other costs to healthy banks, cost that would have been passed on to the consumer.
The current financial crisis has just seen Congress approve $700 billion in bailouts, not knowing how much, if any, will ever be repaid. In addition, trillions of dollars in retirement account savings has disappeared from middle class American's savings.
It's completely conceivable that suicides from financial failure during that crisis were easily higher than three. How about increased crime by people suddenly poor? I can't find statistics either way, but it seems clear that financial desperation is a prime cause in many types of violence found in society, and causing financial hardship for others is causing that violence.
The combination of financial industry and political greed that created the excess, illegalities deregulation, and lack of supervision have done far more damage to the country than the Weatherman. In addition, both groups did what they did as an open statement that their theories were "better" than anyone elses' and their political views should be forced upon others. Terrorism is using violence to force a change in the political environment of your country. The US and all States say, rightfully, that domestic violence extends past physical violence to verbal abuse. Using the same logic, I think it's correct to say that what the financiers and politicians did to the economy was a violent attack upon most citizens.
If one group is terrorism, the second certainly is too.
So, if Obama is linked to a small time terrorist through living in the same neighborhood and serving on the same charity boards as Avery, what are we to say about George Bush, Sr., Georgie Jr, and Jeb, who collectively served on bank boards that failed to the tune of $1.5 billion? And what are we to say about McCain, a man whose time in Congress has often been spent aiding and abetting close friend such as Keating. Financial figures who have committed terrorism upon the nation at a level not even imagined by the Weatherman?
I do not excuse the Weatherman. Why is Palin excusing much worse terrorists?