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Oh, my. Things have gotten pretty bad around the Palin/Mr. Potter camp. Let's play word association, shall we? Think Sarah and the old guy. Certain images and iconic moments come to mind: free-fall, Hindenburg, jumping the shark and of course, Rula Lenska. (Trust me, that was an arcane 70's reference.) Then there are cinematic and television references: "My Mother the Car," "Gigli," "Heaven's Gate" and, of course, "Freddy Got Fingered." And don't forget "Dave" and "Being There." What do these all have in common? Colossal flops, disasters and train wrecks. Flame-outs. Great potential, then it's all over. Think the Mets.

Exhibit A? The Bill Ayers connection. Quick, everybody, in unison, repeat after me in your most ominous tone: "Oooooooooo." Good, but next time more Vincent Price. McCain animal trainer Steve Schmidt and his post-Atwater/neo-Rovian associates have culled this issue from the bottom of the political barrel. That's right. Bill Ayers. Again, on my cue: "Oooooooooo." Ayers, as you must know by now, was a 60's radical who cofounded the Weather Underground. He later helped secure a grant for the Chicago Annenberg Challenge that in fact delivered $50M for school reform. (How radical!) He met and associated with Chicago Mayor Richard (fils) Daley and Barack and countless others in connection with this noble effort. The very dreaded liberal New York Times "exposé" quoted by Palin itself reports that Obama and Ayers weren't all that close. Details, details. What's the big whoop, right? Well, there is a big deal here. To wit . . .

This is classic Steve Schmidt. His Atwater/Rovian pedigree is shining through. Attack, attack, attack. Who cares about issues? Who cares about substance? Just hit 'em with a red-meat issue that's bumper sticker ready and pre-digested. The imagery is classically GOP. The New York Times. A 60's terrorist group. A black candidate with a funny name. Forget the issues. Forget that we're in the midst of an economic crisis that knows no precedent. Old Man Potter has no answers neither does Marcia Brady. If it wasn't so pathetic, it would be a hoot. Look at the polls. McCain's tanking in critical battleground states, some that have never gone Democrat since JFK. This is seismic in its importance. The issue before Joe 24-Pack (sorry, six-packs run out quicker) is the economy that has only begun to tank. And we haven't seen anything yet. And while we're talking about associates, I'll put my criminal and shady friends up against Barack's any day. You call a 60's radical a scary criminal? Just come to my local pub, the Retarded Algonquin Round Table, and I'll introduce you to some of the scariest Hell's Kitchen denizens with impeccable criminal pedigrees that some hoary ex-radical would pale against.

You wanna talk miscreants? Don't get me started. And oh, yeah. While we're still on the subject, let's talk about Methuselah's pal, Hoboken's favorite son and resident rodentophage, G. Gordon Liddy (who told me once that he consumed a rat to conquer his fear of same). Seems that G. suggested that if one found himself in a firefight with ATF agents, they would best be neutralized by head shots as their body armor might get in the way of an effective and easy kill. That's right: suggestions and recommendations on how to best dispatch federal agents. I could go on.

What about Paul Begala's accusation that McCain sat on the board of the U.S. Council for World Freedom. He reported on "Meet the Press" that "[t]he Anti-Defamation League, in 1981 when McCain was on the board, said this about this organization. It was affiliated with the World Anti-Communist League, the parent organization which ADL said had increasingly become a gathering place, a forum, a point of contact for extremists, racist and anti-Semites." I got your straight talk right here!

The fact of the matter remains that McCain and Mrs. Muir are realizing that the campaign has gotten away from them. The times they are a-changing. His initial campaign message of anti-terrorism is ringing cavernously hollow. There's a new domestic disaster in downtown Manhattan; this time our financial system has imploded. And you know it's bad when Elisabeth Hasselbeck, resident abderite and vacuous cupie on "The View," tries to explicate the relevance of Bill Ayers. They even tried to unearth Reverend Wright. Can you say shades of Willie Horton? This is what these folks are all about. Visceral, Pavlovian reflexes and reaction. Not substance, hope, change, name it, But fear, fear of the black guy with the funny name and his radical friends. Lee Atwater's smiling from above. And note also that when the right talks of Obama, they don't come out and say, "Oh, yeah, don't forget, HE'S BLACK!" No, they're a tad subtler. They'll remind you that he doesn't share our "values" (translation: pigment). He doesn't know "our America" (translation: White America). And if you thought Rudy G was deft at referencing 9/11 at the drop of a hat, you haven't met these guys. Ayers = terrorist = bombing = 9/11.

That linear meme may have been relevant and effective a year ago, but as long as local newspapers emblazon their front pages with images of NYSE floor traders channeling Edvard Munch's "The Scream" and plummeting Dow graphs, the latter day Charles Lane and his Lois Lane become more and more irrelevant and anachronistic.

This reminds me of my trial lawyer days. Let's stipulate to the fact that Bill Ayers was a despicable man who did terrible things and held beliefs that were antithetical to those of upstanding Americans. For all you common law practitioners, let's file a demurrer: let's admit that all of the facts pleaded are true, viz. that Ayers did these terrible things then, when Barack Obama was in elementary school. What is the relevance to Obama, his campaign or us today? If it were suggested that Obama had plans to appoint Ayers to a cabinet position or designs on Ayers as his Attorney General, then certainly that would reflect upon his character and judgment. But that's not the case here. If this were a court of law, a trial judge would dismiss the complaint or cause of action because there is no crime or offense charged. Barack met Ayers; Ayers was a bad guy. Case dismissed.

Now, if you want to talk about associating with bad guys, I mean really associating with bad guys, ask Old Man River about that Keating feller.