early and often

This William Ayers Thing Can’t Go On Forever — Maybe McCain Should Start Playing Craps

This is the “How Do You Like Me Now, Moose!?” face.

Yesterday the McCain campaign took their assault on Barack Obama’s association with former Weather Underground leader William Ayers even further, issuing a statement from Yonkers City Councilman John Murtagh. “Barack Obama’s friend tried to kill my family,” Murtagh wrote, recounting how in 1970, when he was 9 years old, the Weather Underground allegedly fire-bombed his house (his father at the time was a New York Supreme Court judge presiding over a Black Panther case). Last night, Obama addressed the issue on ABC News with his same boilerplate “This all happened when I was 8” response. From Obama:

I am surprised that, you know, we’ve been seeing some pretty over-the-top attacks coming out of the McCain campaign over the last several days, that he wasn’t willing to say it to my face. But I guess we’ve got one last debate. So presumably, if he ends up feeling that he needs to, he will raise it during the debate.”


The thing is, if McCain does bring up William Ayers during the debate next Wednesday, it’ll have been a week and a half of them hammering the same shaky point. And that’s still twenty days until the election.

Yesterday the McCain campaign took their assault on Barack Obama’s association with former Weather Underground leader William Ayers even further, issuing a statement from Yonkers City Councilman John Murtagh. “Barack Obama’s friend tried to kill my family,” Murtagh wrote, recounting how in 1970, when he was 9 years old, the Weather Underground allegedly fire-bombed his house (his father at the time was a New York Supreme Court judge presiding over a Black Panther case). Last night, Obama addressed the issue on ABC News with his same boilerplate “This all happened when I was 8” response. From Obama:

Maybe, in order to reinvigorate his attacks, McCain himself could go nuts, like we’ve all been hoping! See, everybody’s been saying that his famous temper has been (largely) held in check during this entire campaign. But today, Michael Kinsley over at the Daily Beast dredges up a gem from 2005 that reminds us how totally awesome McCain can be. The senator flew off the handle on a woman who touched his arms while they were playing craps at a media event in Puerto Rico. Here’s what went down:

McCain immediately turned to the woman and said between clenched teeth: ‘DON’T TOUCH ME.’ The woman started to explain … McCain interrupted her: ‘DON’T TOUCH ME,’ he repeated viciously. The woman again tried to explain. ‘DO YOU KNOW WHO I AM? DO YOU KNOW WHO YOURE TALKING TO?’ McCain continued, his voice rising and his hands now raised in the ‘bring it on’ position. He was red-faced. By this time all the action at the table had stopped. I was completely shocked. McCain had totally lost it, and in the space of about ten seconds. ‘Sir, you must be courteous to the other players at the table,’ the pit boss said to McCain. “DO YOU KNOW WHO I AM? ASK ANYBODY AROUND HERE WHO I AM.”


Wow, that version of McCain could definitely shake things up before the election. You know those dudes who use that line when they think they’re not going to get into a nightclub? That tactic always gets them right in.

At the Craps Table With John McCain [Daily Beast]

This William Ayers Thing Can’t Go On Forever — Maybe McCain Should Start Playing Craps