Is G. Gordon Liddy McCain's William Ayers?
David Letterman Tries to Draw a Moral Equivalence
DL: But did you not have a relationship with Gordon Liddy?
JM: I met him, you know, I mean...
DL: Didn't you attend a fund raiser at his house?
JM: Gordon Liddy's?
After a commercial break, John McCain expanded on his relationship with G. Gordon Liddy.
"I know Gordon Liddy. He paid his debt. He went to prison, he paid his debt, as people do. I'm not in any way embarrassed to know Gordon Liddy. And his son, who is also a good friend and supporter of mine."
Letterman was clearly trying to draw a moral equivalent between G. Gordon Liddy, who had gone to jail for his involvement with the Watergate Scandal, and Obama's relationship with William Ayers, an unrepentant terrorist who set bombs and tried to kill people.
For those who are history impaired, G. Gordon Liddy, who had held several positions in the Nixon Administration, served as head of something called the Plumbers' Unit in the Nixon Committee to Reelect the President (CREEP). He devised a number of special operations, some of them bizarre and many rejected. One of the operations that was not rejected was the break in to the office of Daniel Ellsberg's psychiatrist's office. Ellsberg had leaked the Pentagon Papers to the New York Times. The other operation was the Watergate break in that eventually brought down the Nixon Administration.
G. Gordon Liddy was sentenced to twenty years in prison for burglary, conspiracy, and illegal wiretapping. His sentence was commuted by President Jimmy Carter and Liddy was freed in September, 1977.
Since then, G. Gordon Liddy has been a security consultant, a radio talk show host, the author of several books, and an actor in a number of films and TV shows. Liddy has made a number of controversial statements, including instructions on how to shoot agents of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms should they show up at ones residence.
As for the moral equivalence between McCain's relationship with Liddy and Barack Obama's relationship with Bill Ayers, there are some differences. Liddy, unlike Ayers, actually did time for his crimes. Liddy, unlike Ayers, never bombed anything or tried to kill anybody, though one suspects had Nixon asked him to, he probably would have done it.
Letterman's attempt to draw a moral equivalence between G. Gordon Liddy, a patriot, albeit a misguided one, and William Ayers, an anti American terrorist, was a nice try, but one that likely won't resonate. In any event it shows how worried the Obama people are about the William Ayers controversy.
Sources: Letterman v McCain, The Hotline, October 16th, 2008
G. Gordon Liddy, Wikipedia
Published by Mark Whittington
Mark R. Whittington is a writer residing in Houston, Texas. He is the author of The Last Moonwalker, Children of Apollo, Dark Sanction, and Nocturne. He has written numerous articles, some for the Washington... View profile
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6 Comments
Post a CommentBill Ayers didnt kill anyone either doing his crimes, none of the bombings of his radical group caused any casualties and they made public warnings of the bombings ahead of time. I personally feel that alot of people know about gordon liddy and charles keaton and mccains relationship with them, as well as religious figures that support mccain mains, this would explain why the polls overwhelming show that the american people feel that Obama has been unfairly attacked because he could easily be doing the same attacks against mccain but has chosen not to because it doesnt address the issues. Hard core mccain supports love to hear about ayers and wright but the rest of us dont beleive its relevant and more than gordon liddy or charles keaton or even rush limbaugh is relevant to mccain.
Obviously neither Ayers or Liddy are good people. The extent of Obama's relationship with Ayers seems more limited than McCain's to Liddy (who admitted Liddy and his son are are good friends). Liddy may not have actually committed any acts of bombing but he wanted to:
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/columnists/chi-oped1023chapmanoct23,0,3571457.column
"He's probably right. Liddy is not someone most of us would want to see visiting the Oval Office. Working for President Richard Nixon, he committed a raft of crimes to secure Nixon's re-election and punish his perceived enemies. He proposed to do still more-bomb the liberal Brookings Institution, kidnap anti-war activists and murder a couple of inconvenient people. But cooler heads prevailed."
Liddy was far more destructive to the fabric of our society, and would have murdered thousands of Vietnamese civilians by bombing the Red River dam if he had is way. He openly idolized Hitler, saying he was energized by his animal instincts. Now, let's talk aobut Charles Keating, CEO of a failed Arizona savings & loan, for whom McCain went to bat with federal regulators prior to the S&L collapse in the late 80s.
Excellent article, fair and factual. Liddy is no angel, but he is hardly the monster Ayers is. Liddy at worst broke the law for political reasons but didn't harm anyone (just like Bill Clinton), while Ayers tried to kill men, women, and children. McCain is right - Ayers gave an interview saying he hadn't done enough, which was published the morning of 9/11/01. Ironic. What's really scary is this guy is a professor, teaching his hateful rhetoric to young people. Obama's no fool - he knew all about Ayers and the kind of people who supported him. When you hold a political fundraiser in your home to kick off their campaign, you are more than just passing acquaintances. Obama should tell the truth.
Good point... It seems amazing to me that Obama got this far when all anyone hears in America these days is "terrorist" this and "terrorist" that. The fact that Obama was sort of linked to one seems like it would have been enough for a lot of people.
Thanks for the history lesson. Watergate was a sad time in politics and I guess it just goes to show you what some fanatic supporters will do. At least he did time for his crime, though, and at least he didn't kill anyone doing his crime.