JOE McCARTHY LIVES – AT 8:10 A.M. ET:  Hey, I thought questioning people's patriotism was something done only by the so-called "far right."  Apparently, I didn't quite appreciate the skills developed by the left, including a certain political operator from Chicago.  The Washington Post instructs us:

The White House intensified its attacks Sunday on the powerful U.S. Chamber of Commerce for its alleged ties to foreign donors, part of an escalating Democratic effort to link Republican allies with corporate and overseas interests ahead of the November midterm elections.

The chamber adamantly denies that foreign funds are used in its U.S. election efforts, accusing Democrats of orchestrating a speculative smear campaign during a desperate political year.

President Obama, speaking at a rally in Philadelphia, said "the American people deserve to know who is trying to sway their elections" and raised the possibility that foreigners could be funding his opponents.

"You don't know," Obama said at the rally for Senate candidate Joe Sestak and other Democrats. "It could be the oil industry. It could even be foreign-owned corporations. You don't know because they don't have to disclose."

The remarks are part of a volley of recent attacks by Obama and other Democrats on alleged foreign influence within the Republican caucus, whether through support for outsourcing jobs by major U.S. corporations or through overseas money making its way into the coffers of GOP-leaning interest groups.

COMMENT:  This is really sleazy stuff.  Not one iota of evidence has been produced.  And Dems like Obama adviser David Axelrod said over the weekend that the Chamber would have to "prove" its innocence, a somewhat un-American concept.

Several news organizations have already reprimanded the president and his party for unsubstantiated allegations.

The Democrats are desperate.  But a resort to McCarthyism is lower than low.

October 11, 2010