..."What McCain didn't mention is
that he has his own Bill Ayers -- in the form of G. Gordon Liddy. Now a
conservative radio talk-show host, Liddy spent more than 4 years in
prison for his role in the 1972 Watergate burglary. That was just one
element of what Liddy did, and proposed to do, in a secret White House
effort to subvert the Constitution. Far from repudiating him, McCain
has embraced him.

How close are McCain and Liddy? At least as close as Obama and Ayers
appear to be. In 1998, Liddy's home was the site of a McCain
fundraiser. Over the years, he has made at least four contributions
totaling $5,000 to the senator's campaigns -- including $1,000 this
year.

Last November, McCain went on his radio show. Liddy greeted him as "an
old friend," and McCain sounded like one. "I'm proud of you, I'm proud
of your family," he gushed. "It's always a pleasure for me to come on
your program, Gordon, and congratulations on your continued success and
adherence to the principles and philosophies that keep our nation. Which principles would those be? The ones that told Liddy it was fine
to break into the office of the Democratic National Committee to plant
bugs and photograph documents? The ones that made him propose to kidnap
anti-war activists so they couldn't disrupt the 1972 Republican
National Convention? The ones that inspired him to plan the murder
(never carried out) of an unfriendly newspaper columnist?

Liddy was in the thick of the biggest political scandal in American
history -- and one of the greatest threats to the rule of law. He has
said he has no regrets about what he did, insisting that he went to
jail as "a prisoner of war."

All this may sound like ancient history. But it's from the same era as
the bombings Ayers helped carry out as a member of the Weather
Underground. And Liddy's penchant for extreme solutions has not abated....