Wright v Claytie

I'm always looking to reinforce for Democrats the reality that their party is no better than the GOP. Both parties play politics the hardball way - prepared to say and do just about anything to win an election. But Democrats perceive themselves as the good and moral ones, the ones who care, who have compassion. They're truly caught up in this delusion, and blatant hypocrisy slides by them unnoticed.

Consider, please, the case of Clayton "Claytie" Williams, who 18 years ago made a bad joke. It wasn't an original joke, and it's not a particularly funny one, but he said it and some folks remember.

In his race against Ann Richards for Governor of Texas:

Williams compared rape to the weather, saying, "As long as it's inevitable, you might as well lie back and enjoy it." He also compared Richards to the cattle on his ranch, saying he would "head her and hoof her and drag her through the dirt."

Pretty moronic. And pretty gross. And, if the negative stereotypes are accurate, some would say, pretty much standard old school Texas.

Williams' comments made national news at the time and remain easy to find on the Internet. Even so, McCain's campaign said it hadn't known about the remarks.

"These were obviously incredibly offensive remarks that the campaign was unaware of at the time it was scheduled," McCain spokesman Brian Rogers said. "It's positive that he did apologize at the time, but the comments are nonetheless offensive."

Because of the 18 year old offense, for which Williams pleaded guilty and took his punishment in the public arena, John McCain last week canceled a fundraiser that Williams was holding for him. But, he's keeping the money that was raised.

The campaign said it would not return money Williams had raised for McCain because the contributions came from other individuals supporting McCain and not from Williams. Williams told his hometown newspaper, the Midland Reporter-Telegram, that he had raised more than $300,000 for McCain.

How happy are Democrats to attack McCain?

Democrats pounced on the comments, for which Williams has previously apologized, with Democratic National Committee spokeswoman Karen Finney today questioning why McCain would accept money raised by Williams.

But it's just fine in the eyes of Democrats for Barack's career to have been launched with the support of former Weathermen bombers (can't we just focus on the issues?), and they think nothing of his close alliance with the Reverends who like to drop their own form of bombs.

It makes more even parallels, like this one, seem quaint:

RNC spokesman Alex Conant said in an interview today that the Democrats had their own problematic fundraisers, including Jodie Evans, who cofounded the antiwar group CODEPINK and has pledged to raise at least $50,000 for Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.). Earlier this month, Evans suggested on a Kansas radio show that the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the U.S. were understandable in light of the American presence in the Middle East. "We were attacked because we were in Saudi Arabia," Evans remarked.

Something for self-righteous Dems to chew on.