Palin og McCain er begyndt at gå meget hårdt til Obama, blandt andet fordi Obama vist har haft en vag, organisatorisk tilknytning til en person, der blev dømt for terrorisme begået mens den unge Barack var otte år gammel.
Så grimt går de til den, at nogen sågar taler om fascisme. Men skal der være gilde, så lad der være gilde. Obama-kampagnen er kommet i tanker om, at McCain var et fremtrædende medlem af Keating 5, 5 senatorer, der i 1991 fik en påtale for at intervenere og forsinke undersøgelser til fordel for Charles Keating, CEO for Lincon Savings and Loans Bank, der senere brød sammen og måtte reddes af den amerikanske regering. Redningen kostede skatteyderne 3,4 milliarder dollars, og Keating blev idømt først 10, senere 12½ års fængsel.
McCain havde til gengæld modtaget forskellige økonomiske “begunstigelser”, herunder kampagnebidrag og en ferierejse med alt betalt. Siger denne gamle historie noget om mandens dømmekraft i dag?
Hvis det skal handle om mudderkastning, lader Obama i alle tilfælde her til at have fundet noget lidt mere relevant at kaste sig over. Som Lawrence Lessig skriver på sin blog:
It has surprised me that this, the tremor before this recent financial disaster, the Keating Five scandal, has not been at the center of this campaign before. But now, apparently in response to Palin’s suggestion that the fact Obama knows Ayers is relevant to whether he should be president, the Obama campaign has released this very strong 15 minute documentary about the Keating scandal.
For those not old enough to remember, here’s the outline: 5 Senators, all of whom had received campaign funding from Charles Keating, intervene with regulators to get them to overlook criminal behavior by Keating, leading to the collapse of Lincoln Savings, leading to a $3.4 billion bill for Americans. The only one of those 5 Senators to receive both personal and political benefits from Keating: McCain.
Fair? Totally relevant to the question whether the judgment of this candidate is the sort that’s needed at this time. Totally relevant to the basic question whether his philosophy — deregulate — is what this sector needs at this time.
Wise? Not sure. I’m not sure Americans distinguish between hard-hitting-and-fair criticism (which this is) and hard-hitting-and-unfair criticism (which Palin’s is). One might worry that they’re “burn[ing] down the house to roast the pig” but I assume they’ve reckoned that.
Link: and then things got ugly (via Boing Boing).