More Questions, A Different View

To the Editor:

While Jacqui Aguis and I may both agree there are many more questions yet to be answered, [“More Questions To Be Answered,” Letter Hive 9/19/08], the similarities in our positions ends there. In particular, several of the propositions put forth in her response are misleading or outright false.

For starters, claims that Obama is one of the top two recipients of contributions from Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae (the FMs) are false. To arrive at that hypothesis, conservatives have excluded donations made by members of the FMs’ board of directors, whose donations have favored McCain by a measure of 16 to 1. Including these omissions, we find McCain at the top of the donor list from our insolvent, and now nationalized, home mortgage industry. Furthermore, McCain’s campaign manager, Rick Davis, received almost $2 million in lobbying fees from an industry trade group that was funded entirely by the FMs. If that isn’t cause concern, his top economic advisor, Phil “Mental Recession” Graham, actually wrote the 1999 banking deregulation law that set us up for the mess we are now faced with. And who can forget McCain’s involvement with the 1980s savings and loan crisis, which led to his rebuke by the Senate Ethics Committee for “poor judgment.” But the really scary part of the current financial crisis is that even within the last week McCain was still trumpeting his deregulation mantra. Thank goodness he flip-flopped on that issue.

As for insinuations that Obama is somehow hiding his record by refusing to release his undergraduate transcripts, all I can say is this really the best smoking gun the right wing can find? Neither candidate has released official college transcripts. What we do know from the public record is that Obama attended Occidental College and then Columbia University, both highly ranked by US News & World Report (#37 and #8, respectively). While his grades remain private, should we have any doubt that his admission to Harvard Law School was less then forthright? After all, he graduated from Harvard Law not only with honors, but as President of the school’s Law Review. In comparison, McCain graduated 894th in a class of 899 at the Naval Academy. Yet we are led to believe the fact that both his father and grandfather were Navy Admirals had no influence in his acceptance. Or the fact that despite graduating near dead last in class, he somehow managed to be selected for flight school. And Palin? All we know is she attended five colleges in six years, none of which are known for their academic rigors. Where are her undergraduate transcripts? (Or her tax records for that matter!)

McCain isn’t done flip-flopping though. After citing and praising New York Times’ articles 93 times in press releases backing his positions and criticizing his opponent, he now claims the Times is a shill for his opponent. What does that make the Wall Street Journal and conservative columnist George Will, both of whom called McCain’s actions this week “un-Presidential”!

Peter Sandler

4 Far Horizon, Sandy Hook                                  September 24, 2008