There's a story in the news today about a plot to kill Barack Obama and dozens of black citizens, including schoolchildren. It was diaried here yesterday, with updates and hundreds of comments.
According to the NY Times, the threats were "serious." That's not to say that the conspirators had gotten very far with the plan, or could even have pulled it off when the time came. But they were serious, they were armed, and they were planning on acquring more weapons.
They also planned on killing children:
(more...)
(From today's NY Times)
Arrests in Plan to Kill Obama and Black Schoolchildren
Federal officials said they regarded the scheme as “serious.” It does not appear to have moved to an advanced stage, according to court documents unsealed Monday, but officials said the two men did acquire several rifles and cased a home and a gun store to rob as part of the plan.
....[snip]...
The two men “planned to drive their vehicle as fast as they could toward Obama shooting at him from the windows,” according to an affidavit filed in federal court in Jackson, Tenn., by an agent with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Mr. Obama has no plans to be in Tennessee, and the affidavit does not make clear whether the men had picked a place for an attack.
The assassination was to be the culmination of a “killing spree” that would also single out children at an unnamed, predominately black school, federal officials said. The men talked of “killing 88 people and beheading 14 African-Americans,” according to the affidavit.
From MSNBC.com:
Jim Cavanaugh, special agent in charge of ATF's Nashville field office, said the two men planned to kill 88 African Americans, including 14 by beheading. The numbers 88 and 14 are symbolic in the white supremacist community.
You can read ATF special agent Jim Cavanaugh's affadavit in the case HERE.
Summing up: an ATF agent in Nashville is responsible for stopping two domestic terrorists who were actively planning to kill a Presidential candidate, as well as dozens of children, some by beheading.
*****
John McCain is proud of his friendship with G. Gordon Liddy, the extreme rightwing ex-felon and Republican talk show host. Though McCain has tried for weeks to make an issue of Barack Obama's very limited association with ex-Weatherman William Ayers, McCain's ties to G. Gordon Liddy are long and deep, according to John McCain himself. When confronted by David Letterman (!) last week about his hypocrisy in making his campaign all about William Ayers while having a long friendship with Liddy, McCain said this:
From the 10/17/2008 Washington Post:
After discussing Barack Obama's relationship with former Weather Underground member William Ayers, Letterman brought up McCain's relationship with G. Gordon Liddy, convicted in the Watergate scandal.
"I met him, you know, I mean," McCain said.
"Didn't you attend a fundraiser at his house?"
"Gordon Liddy's?" McCain asked.
They cut to commercial.
Coming back, McCain said, "I know Gordon Liddy. He paid his debt, he went to prison, he paid his debt. ... I'm not in any way embarrassed to know Gordon Liddy."
(Here's the CBS video which includes the segment above:)
Now.
According to John McCain, G. Gordon Liddy is a respectable man -- and someone to be proud of associating with, as McCain has quite often over the years -- because he "went to prison" and "paid his debt."
Liddy went to prison in 1972, shortly after the Watergate. He'd been convicted of conspiracy, burglary, and illegal wiretapping. But he was released in 1977, five a half years later, his sentence commuted by President Jimmy Carter.
In 1980, Liddy's autobiography WILL was published -- a book in which he admitted a lifelong admiration of Adolf Hitler.
He got his first talk show gig in 1992. A few years later, after the horrible series of incidents in Waco, Texas Branch Davidian compound, Liddy made some statements about how people should feel free to kill law enforcement agents from the bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives... the very agency that discovered the plot to kill Barack Obama and black schoolchildren, described above.
Here are some of Liddy's quotes at the time. Please note that these statements were made AFTER the ATF agents had been KILLED by the Branch Davidians, a cult whose leader had enslaved children his own sexual use.
And please note that these statements were made well after Liddy was released from prison in 1977, and had, according to John McCain, fully "paid his debt."
On August 26, 1994, Liddy told his radio 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." Liddy's advice that day was explicit: "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."
This was far from an isolated incident. On September 15, 1994, for example, Liddy told his listeners: "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." The theme was repeated so often that Liddy's callers began to exclaim "head shots!" to express their agreement with the host, the way Rush Limbaugh's callers say "megadittos."
(link: FAIRNESS AND ACCURACY IN REPORTING)
John McCain is proud of his associations with a man who openly and repeatedly advocated the murder of U.S. law enforcement officers. From the Chicago Tribune's Steve Chapman, a conservative who is no great fan of Obama:
In 1998, Liddy's home was the site of a McCain fundraiser. Over the years, he has made at least four contributions totaling $5,000 to the senator's campaigns -- including $1,000 this year.
Last November, McCain went on his radio show. Liddy greeted him as "an old friend," and McCain sounded like one. "I'm proud of you, I'm proud of your family," he gushed. "It's always a pleasure for me to come on your program, Gordon, and congratulations on your continued success and adherence to the principles and philosophies that keep our nation great."
That's the real John McCain.
He is a proud friend of felons like Charles Keating, and common criminals who advocate murder of U.S. law enforcement agents, like G. Gordon Liddy. G. Gordon Liddy, who advised shooting agents like Jim Cavanaugh of Nashville, TN. -- the man who did his duty to protect schoolchildren from being murdered because of the color of their skin -- in the head
G. Gordon Liddy -- the man to whom John McCain says: "I'm proud of you." To whom John McCain says: "congratulations on your continued success and adherence to the principles and philosophies that keep our nation great."
Then John McCain has the almost unfathomable hypocrisy to try making an issue of Barack Obama's much, much less substantial association with William Ayers.
John McCain is a man without honor, shame, or even the faintest bit of integrity. It has never been clearer.
Luckily, the American people are rejecting this disgusting human being, and I couldn't be happier to see him go down in defeat and disgrace.