Sirotablog

David Sirota is a political journalist and nationally syndicated newspaper columnist at Creators Syndicate. David writes about political corruption, globalization and working-class economic issues often ignored by both of America's political parties.

  • September 10, 2008 10:51 AM

    Discussing McCain's Pro-Child Molester Ad On MSNBC's New Rachel Maddow Show

    Last night, I appeared on Rachel Maddow's new MSNBC show to discuss John McCain's new ad attacking Barack Obama on education. You can watch the discussion here:

    In airing this ad, McCain has done something I never thought I would see: He has sponsored a new television commercial that effectively declares his support for child molestor rights.

    I'm dead serious here: The ad explicitly criticizes Obama for supporting state legislation that the Kansas City Star notes was designed to give "schools the ability to warn young children about inappropriate touching and sexual predators."

    So by basic logical deduction, then, McCain's ad attacking Obama for supporting that bill means McCain would have opposed it - meaning he would have taken the side of the Pedophilia Lobby that wants young children to not understand when they are being molested. I'm wondering - is there a NAMBLA endorsement in the works for McCain? The Arizona senator sure seems to be courting that interest group with this latest declaration.

    Of course, McCain's ad is aimed at pushing the kind of cultural populism Republicans have been using for at least a generation. In this case, McCain is willing to put himself on record as supporting child molesters, as long as it helps him depict Obama as not just a child molester supporter, but a child molester himself - which is what the ad's voiceover basically suggests when it hysterically implies State Senator Obama tried to fondle small schoolchildren while whispering sweet porn nothings into their ear.

    Put into pop culture terms, this is McCain's effort to turn the 2008 presidential campaign into the infamous Different Strokes child molester episode - starring Barack Obama as the guy kneeling in this picture.

    On Rachel's show last night, we discussed how Obama can - and should - respond to this kind of cultural populism. I reiterated that, in general, he needs to do what I suggested in a newspaper column a few months back: namely, voice strong economic populist themes that keep the campaign debate focused on the issues of most import, and that Democrats win on.

    In specifically responding to this ad, I told Rachel that Obama has to learn a lesson from perhaps the most famous of failed methods of responding to such issues - the one from the 1988 presidential debate, where Michael Dukakis answered Bernard Shaw's question about raping and murdering Kitty Dukakis not with an emotional attack on Shaw's inappropriate inquiry, but with dispassionate platitudes. Watch that moment here:

    If Obama reacts forcefully and emotionally to McCain's ad - not through a spokesman but on his own - he could make this ad and the right's whole cultural populist meme backfire on McCain. But that's a big if.

    As one addendum: If you haven't checked out Rachel's new show, you should. It's great - fast-paced, funny, informative - and anchored by a real movement progressive. It's also doing really well in its first few days of ratings.

    Posted by David Sirota
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Discussion

  • lukeness [TypeKey Profile Page] :

    Thank you, David, for giving the correct response to this. There should be a campaign ad on the air right now saying that John McCain doesn't want to protect our children from child molesters.

    Posted on September 10, 2008 1:04 PM
  • JumperPin [TypeKey Profile Page] :

    Hmm, now even Dave's sucked into POTUS race?

    Good news, actually.

    Posted on September 10, 2008 2:05 PM
  • llamajockey [TypeKey Profile Page] :

    Dave,

    I know your wildly pro-Open Borders, pro Illegal Alien mass amnesty, anti-American worker hard lefty buddies at Campaign for America's Future are desperate for you to help them sell their mega-loser candidate Barack Obama.

    Sorry but America is not buying it. Nor is your previously loyal readership. My advice is don't wreck your reputation for independent and critical thought trying to keep the Obamatitanic afloat.

    Sorry but I lived in Chicago for 20 years. I remember the 80's and 90's when the Obamas and their BFFs the unrepentant weather underground terrorists Bill Ayers and Bernadine Dohern were trying to remake the Chicago Public schools system into training grounds for future embittered radicals through their control of the Annenberg and Woods education trust funds.

    I lived in Chicago's Uptown, Edgewater, and Ravenswood neighborhoods. The aging sixties new left radicals and racial marxists who took over the local school boards that the disastrous Annenberg Chicago School Reform Challenge created, were into all sorts of mischief. They actively followed Bill Ayers dream of turning our urban public schools into little maoist education camps. I personally got briefly involved in several local campaign to help Mayor Daily and his eventual Chicago School Board superintendent Paul Vallis put an end to the worse of this Marcusian/Gramscian hate whitey Marxist crap that was infecting the school system. Vallis put an end for the most part to the local school board insanity only after Bill Ayers and Obama had blown tens on million on their creation and protection.


    If the "Comprehensive Age Appropriate Sex Education" legislation had passed the hard lefties would have used it as a starting point to teach also sorts of far left wing indoctrination nonsense. It would have not been just about "Good Touch vs Bad Touch, Don't talk to strangers".

    Obama is a complete lying ass for stating otherwise.

    The McCain campaign is going to keep pursuing this line of attack because he knows the evidence of misdeeds and misuse of the educational funds by Obama and his close associate and patron Bill Ayers is overwhelming. They dole out millions to all sorts of loony far left and pro-Open Borders radical groups. This is just the first salvo in a slug fest that is going to leave the Obama campaign a burned out bombed our ruin.

    Back in March in April when the evidence started to mount that Obama was entirely unsuited to be President folks should not have buried their heads in the sand.


    Posted on September 10, 2008 10:09 PM
  • JWVerez [TypeKey Profile Page] :

    llamajockey,

    I think we can understand your anger but as much as I have issues with Obama on his take on more important issues such as the war and the economy, answer this:

    Are you better off now than you were 8 years ago?

    Listen, politics is dirty and pols do all sorts of dirty tricks. Mccain also supports open borders and more illegal near-slave labor. As a matter of fact, it was Mccain who tried to push that bill. Why aren't you taking Mccain to task as well? He's going to push his bill straight through Congress if president. Don't complain when you're screwed.

    P.S.: And if you thought I'm an Obama voter, guess again.

    Posted on September 11, 2008 7:24 PM

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