Obama/Ayers. McCain/Liddy.
    Sauce. Goose. Gander.

John McCain is closer to Gordon Liddy than Barack Obama ever was to William Ayers. He has never repented his record of burlary and of plotting to use firebomging, kidnapping, and political assassination when he worked for Richard Nixon.

Gordon Liddy practiced burglary and proposed kidnapping, firebombing, and (according to his own memor) political assassination as one of Richard Nixon’s chief thugs in the 1970s. He remains proud of that to this day, describing his stint in prison as being “a prisoner of war.” As a talk show host, he reminded his viewers that ATF agents wear flak jackets, so in order to kill them you should “go for a head shot” … “head shots, head shots … kill the sons of bitches.” John McCain took money from Liddy in the 1990s and appears on his talk show, praising Liddy “for adherence to the principles and philosophies that keep our nation great.”

What was that about “unrepentent terrorists” again?

Steve Chapman &#8212 a libertarian, not a liberal or a Democrat &#8212 has the details.

Author: Mark Kleiman

Professor of Public Policy at the NYU Marron Institute for Urban Management and editor of the Journal of Drug Policy Analysis. Teaches about the methods of policy analysis about drug abuse control and crime control policy, working out the implications of two principles: that swift and certain sanctions don't have to be severe to be effective, and that well-designed threats usually don't have to be carried out. Books: Drugs and Drug Policy: What Everyone Needs to Know (with Jonathan Caulkins and Angela Hawken) When Brute Force Fails: How to Have Less Crime and Less Punishment (Princeton, 2009; named one of the "books of the year" by The Economist Against Excess: Drug Policy for Results (Basic, 1993) Marijuana: Costs of Abuse, Costs of Control (Greenwood, 1989) UCLA Homepage Curriculum Vitae Contact: Markarkleiman-at-gmail.com