THE GOP NAME GAME, STILL THE SAME GAME

One of the “fun” things about rightwing politicians is that when their spokesmen, appointed or at least gladly tolerated, engage in bigoted code words they always “had no idea”. The old, or should we say earlier version of John McCain used to be aware of this when he called Jerry Falwell and Louis Farrakhan “agents of intolerance” but . . . that was in 2000 when the “Straight Talk Express” dared express itself against the hard right turns of the Republican road, or code map take your choice. So when Cincinnati talk host Bill Cunningham, whose show is on 300 stations nationwide, “warmed up” the audience at a McCain rally this past week, we got a cold dose of reality as to how far backwards the Republicans have come. For those unaware, Mr. Cunningham parodied Barack Obama’s middle name, Hussein, and Mr. Obama as a religious figure, whose election would bring joy to terrorists. John McCain did apologize and assured people that his (Republican) campaign would not do that again. OK, but isn’t this the same Senator McCain who in 2006 gave credibility and honor to Jerry Falwell by speaking at his Liberty University commencement, the same Mr. Falwell who said Jews are inferior and not worthy of Heaven? And again, for the record, it turns out the McCain people who engaged Cunningham for the rally were familiar with his “act”. We don’t yet have the answers but we got a few questions: Are these people still in charge of McCain rally “entertainment”? And does any Republican candidate since and including Ronald Reagan (but excluding Robert Dole) ever err on the side of tolerance? Remember McCain and the Republicans emphasize their experience, we agree but have to question just what they’re experienced at.