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Obama's Terrorist Ties

A member of the Tennessee Democratic Executive Committee said, regarding Obama, that:

I'm not sure we know enough about him. He's got some bad connections, and he may be terrorist connected for all I can tell. It sounds kind of like he may be.

My first instinct, like this HuffPo post, was to sort of gasp and express surprise.

But then I realized the official is right, of course.

Obama does have terrorist ties. They're just domestic terrorists.

Now, maybe Obama supporters can dispute the definition of the word "ties" with regard to Ayers. And by all means, I think a definitional debate is one McCain is willing to have.

Here are useful questions to help you consider whether you have terrorist ties.

(1) Do you, personally, know anyone who has ever tried to blow up the Pentagon? Do you know of anyone who actually brags that they did, successfully, plant and detonate a bomb at the Pentagon?

(2) Do you, personally, know anyone has ever planned to blow up an officer's dance at a military base, say, Fort Dix?

(3) Do you, personally, know anyone who has gotten someone killed in an explosion because of their actions?

(4) Even if these bombings and attempted bombings occurred forty years ago, is that the sort of thing you could forgive, and/or dismiss? Do you believe that assembling a bomb, and intending to kill police, members of the military, and ordinary innocent civilians is the sort of thing that should be considered "water under the bridge" once enough time has passed?

(5) Could you shake hands with this person? Go to a party at their house? Accept a donation from them? If you knew this about a person, could you look at them and forget that they gathered the explosives, assembled the wires and the parts, scoped out their target, planted it, and watched it detonate with excitement?

(6) Do you relate to having people like that in your social circle?

If you answered no to all of these questions, congratulations. You don't have terrorist ties. If you answered yes, however, well . . .

Full post as published by Expressio Unius on June 18, 2008 (boomark / email).