McCain finds his own radical friend — (via chicagotribune.com)

Can a presidential candidate justify a long and friendly relationship with someone who, back in the 1970s, extolled violence and committed crimes in the name of a radical ideology—and who has never shown remorse or admitted error? When the candidate in question is Barack Obama, John McCain says no. But when the candidate in question is John McCain, he’s not so sure.

Obama has been justly criticized for his ties to former Weather Underground member Bill Ayers, who in 1995 hosted a campaign event for Obama and in 2001 gave him a $200 contribution. The two have also served together on the board of a foundation. When their connection became known, McCain minced no words: “I think not only a repudiation but an apology for ever having anything to do with an unrepentant terrorist is due the American people.”

What McCain didn’t mention is that he has his own Bill Ayers—in the form of G. Gordon Liddy. Now a conservative radio talk-show host, Liddy spent more than 4 years in prison for his role in the 1972 Watergate burglary. That was just one element of what Liddy did, and proposed to do, in a secret White House effort to subvert the Constitution. Far from repudiating him, McCain has embraced him.

But wait there’s more….

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.”

Which principles would those be? The ones that told
Liddy it was fine to break into the office of the Democratic National
Committee to plant bugs and photograph documents? The ones that made
him propose to kidnap anti-war activists so they couldn’t disrupt the
1972 Republican National Convention? The ones that inspired him to plan
the murder (never carried out) of an unfriendly newspaper columnist?

Liddy was in the thick of the biggest political scandal in American
history—and one of the greatest threats to the rule of law. He has said
he has no regrets about what he did, insisting that he went to jail as
“a prisoner of war.”

All this may sound like ancient history.
But it’s from the same era as the bombings Ayers helped carry out as a
member of the Weather Underground. And Liddy’s penchant for extreme
solutions has not abated.

In 1994, after the disastrous federal raid on the Branch Davidian compound in Waco, Texas,
he gave some advice to his 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. . . . Kill the sons of bitches.”

He later
backed off, saying he meant merely that people should defend themselves
if federal agents came with guns blazing. But his amended guidance was
not exactly conciliatory: Liddy also said he should have recommended
shots to the groin instead of the head. If that wasn’t enough to
inflame any nut cases, he mentioned labeling targets “Bill” and
“Hillary” when he practiced shooting.

Charming fellow, I’m sure. Wow, and here I thought some of friends, that I hung around with were a little strange.

The Republican spin and denial on this ought to be quite interesting…

Update: heh… just as a suspected, Surber Spins it…:

Question: What’s the latest pathetic attempt by a liberal to try to rationalize Obama’s ties to whack jobs?

Answer: Steve Chapman of the Chicago Tribune tried to equate G. Gordon Libby with Bill Ayers. Two problems: 1. Liddy did time in prison. 2. Libby did not blow anyone up. But other than the doing the time for the crime and not killing anyone, two peas in a pod. Oh for the days when Mike Royko zinged Chicago’s pols.

Yeah, but it still makes the guy a nut. Plus, no one was convicted of blowing anyone up. Nice try though.

Others:
Don Surber, Outside The Beltway, Jonathan Martin’s Blogs, Ben Smith’s Blogs and RADAMISTO