Clearing the Ayers

Getting ugly out there.

As reported by nbc4.com:

Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, (is) repeatedly (critical) of Obama's association with Bill Ayers, a founder of the Vietnam-era radical group the Weather Underground.

Weather Underground members were blamed for several bombings when Obama was a child.

Palin herself is under a state investigation into her alleged abuse of power as Alaska's governor.

In her attack on his character, Palin said Obama sees America as so imperfect "that he's palling around with terrorists who would target their own country."

She was referring to Ayers, whose strongest tie to Obama appears to be a 1995 meet-the-candidate event he hosted early in Obama's political career.

Palin's claim that Obama's association with Ayers "hasn't been talked about" is not true.

Obama was questioned about Ayers during a prime-time Democratic debate against Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton before April's Pennsylvania primary.

He has denounced Ayers' radical views publicly.

And a New York Times article published Saturday quoted Obama saying that Ayers was "somebody who engaged in detestable acts 40 years ago, when I was 8."

(...)

And on Monday, she (Palin) was introduced at a rally where Obama's name and the terrorism line were offered by surrogates. A Florida sheriff introduced Palin to a supportive crowd by refering to the Democratic presidential nominee as "Barack Hussein Obama."

Obama, the Illinois senator, was born in Hawaii and took his middle name from his Kenyan father.

After offering vocal support of Palin, Lee County Sheriff Mike Scott used Obama's middle name and the crowd roared its approval."On Nov. 4, let’s leave Barack Hussein Obama wondering what happened," the law enforcement officer said, and the crowd roared its approval.

CBS News reported that after Scott left the podium, a local radio host named Mandy Connell took the stage and drew a loud ovation when she said Obama "hangs around with terrorists."

Rep. Rahm Emanuel, a Chicago Democrat and Obama supporter, warned against McCain's strategy on CNN's "Late Edition" Sunday. "If we are going to go down this road -- you know, Barack Obama was 8 years old, somehow responsible for Bill Ayers," he said. "At 58, John McCain was associating with Charles Keating."

Just months into his Senate career, in the late 1980s, McCain participated in meetings with banking regulators on behalf of Keating, a friend, campaign contributor and S&L financier who was later convicted of securities fraud. The Senate ethics committee investigated five senators' relationships with Keating. It cited McCain for a lesser role than the others, but faulted his "poor judgment."

(...)

Meanwhile, seven aides to Palin have reversed course and agreed to testify in an investigation into whether the Republican vice presidential nominee abused her powers by firing a commissioner who refused to dismiss her former brother-in-law.The independent investigator conducting the probe plans to turn over his conclusions on the case by next Friday to the Legislative Council, the body that authorized it.

Alaska's Supreme Court, meanwhile, is considering a Republican request to block the findings of the legislative inquiry. The high court scheduled arguments for Wednesday over whether the case is being manipulated to hurt Palin before Election Day on Nov. 4. The case began before McCain asked her to be his running mate.