An Open Letter to John McCain

By Ed Lasky

Dear Senator McCain:

There are reports that the McCain campaign will take a tougher tone with Barack Obama and highlight the ties with Rezko and Ayers but ignore Jeremiah Wright, Jr. This report was published in the Washington Post this morning
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Senator-you have inspired people with your life story, your maverick image in the Senate, and all the work you have done as you have served your nation. Most recently, you gave one of the most memorable convention speeches in recent history during which you urged your supporters to "fight, fight, fight" as you have fought in the past to protect our nation.

I am asking you to follow the wisdom of your own words - fight for the Presidency; fight so we do not have a President who has no record of significant accomplishment, who may very well harbor feelings that are antithetical to your own and to the vast majority of Americans. Fight to protect us from a man who has risen on the strength of skill at reading a teleprompter and an adoring media that has failed in its responsibility to scrutinize the candidates in order to elect their own favorite, Barack Obama. Fight to protect us from a President who seemingly has no problem denying the rights of people to exercise their First Amendment rights, our Second Amendment rights; who basically favors the outsourcing of our foreign policy to the United Nations, who wants to give our wealth to overseas nations-with the United Nations administering this vast transfer of wealth; who wants to compel our children to join a national service corps. We need you to fight for our nation and for its future, Senator.

Why focus on only Tony Rezko and Bill Ayers? There is a cast of rogue characters that have close ties to Barack Obama and reflect poorly on his judgment and ethics (the Stroger father and son team, Illinois State Senate President Emil Jones, Jr. among them).

But why leave Pastor Jeremiah Wright, Jr. off the radar screen. Why cloak him with immunity?

The New York Times today front-ran the McCain campaign and basically neutered the issue of Ayers and Obama. I thought it was a somewhat weak argument anyway.

Rezko will be dismissed by an electorate that has turned cynical towards ties between politicians and shady business operators. Besides the relationship is too "complex" for many to understand and to do so would require time and effort.

The ties between Barack Obama and Wright are of an entirely different dimension and strike at Obama's judgment and worldview.

I think it is a mistake for the McCain campaign not to focus at least some attention on these ties for the reasons outline below. Foremost among them is that Obama himself has opened the door to such inquiries. See below for my memo that hopefully will make it into the hands of Steve Schmidt.

Again, thank you for your service to our country and please continue to fight for those things we all hold dear.

Sincerely,

Ed Lasky
News Editor
The American Thinker

Memo (in bullet-point form) urging coverage of the ties between Barack Obama and Jeremiah Wright, Jr.

* Twenty years voluntary relationship that was beyond that of a congregant and a pastor.

* Obama called Wright his "moral compass", "sounding board" "confidant" and was one of three religious people Obama called upon for advice.

* Do we want a President who holds Pastor Wright in such high regard?

* After all, Wright holds contempt for America (the "God Damn America" sermon), spreads the falsehood that white people created AIDS, celebrated 9/11 as America's comeuppance (the "chickens came home to roost"); and considers Louis Farrakhan a model of virtue worthy of an award; and had his church's magazine (run by his daughter) carry an editorial by a Hamas official claiming Israel had developed an "ethnic bomb" (for good measure, Wright considers Israel an "apartheid state" and linked America's support for Israel to 9/11)

*Married by Wright, had his children raised in that church since the day they were born-listening to the demagoguery and the hate.

*The Church, under Wright, was the number one beneficiary of Obama's charity dollars-by far.

*Barack Obama himself opened the door to bringing up Jeremiah Wright, Jr.

Barack Obama said on Fox News Sunday, re: Jeremiah Wright:

"The fact he's my former pastor I think makes it a legitimate political issue. So I understand that."