There was a time not all that long ago when everyone was filled with good old fashioned pride that a bright, young, attractive, articulate black man could, in this great country of ours, run and be accepted as a candidate for the presidency of these United States.

Cue those amber waves of grain, those purple mountain’s majesty, those fruited plains.

But that was then and now is now.

Isn’t it amazing what happened to Sen. Barack Obama,once he evolved from a charming symbol of racial pride to a guy who actually might become the president of these United States?

The right-wing propaganda mills have been working at hyper-speed in recent months in an effort to portray Obama as some sort of tool of fundamentalist Islam, spreading lies as how the Illinois senator took his oath of office with his hand of the Koran (wrong), how he was educated in madrasses (wrong) and other assorted ponderous piffle.

Earlier this week, phony conservative radio talk show thug, Bill “Complete Dolt” Cunningham, at a campaign rally for Republican presidential nominee Sen. John McCain, found himself in full carpet-chewing mode, repeatedly referring to the Democratic Party presidential candidate as Barack Hussein Obama.

Cunningham, who must have graduated from the Joseph Goebbels’ School of Fear-Mongering Broadcasting, noted that he had had a dream where Barack Hussein Obama, meets with the world dictators before cozying “… up next to Hezbollah.”

So over the top were the remarks of Bill “Albert Speer Cunningham that he was repudiated by the very man the radio spittle merchant had come to praise - John McCain.

McCain, appearing to want to distance himself from Bill “Augusto Pinochet” Cunningham’s as if he was a walking Ebola virus (which, in fact he is), condemned the talk show stormtrooper’s remarks, noting “I absolutely repudiate such comments, and again, I will take responsibility. It will never happen again.”

For his part, Bill “Torquemada” Cunningham quickly hied away to the warm embrace of fellow traveller Sean Hannity of Faux News, which had to be a bit like Vlad the Impaler seeking out the gentle solace of Charles Manson.

Bill “Luca Brasi” Cunningham insisted he was merely, simply, innocently using the candidate’s full legal name, which just so happens to be Barack Hussein Obama, adding: “Sean, now why don’t you talk to his mother and father, recently departed? God bless rest their souls. His parents called him Barack Hussein Obama, not me.”

Could Bill “Joe McCarthy” Cunningham be any more disingenuous, any more ham-handed, any more of a phony prevaricator?

The dirty little fact of political life is that some people are simply dumber than a sack of ..., well Bill “Old Yeller” Cunninghams, come to think ot it.

The talk show spear carrier knew full well that by liberally using Obama’s middle name he would be conjuring up images of Islamic terrorism in a sloppy appeal to the baser instincts of a fearful electorate. And that is tragically sad at best and cheap, sleazy and declasse at worst.

Bill “Uday & Qusay” Cunningham, argued his beef with Obama was that the candidate wanted to close down the prison facilities at Guantanamo, reinstate habeas corpus and eliminate certain provisions of the Patriot Act.

Little wonder Bill “Moammar” Cunningham is so upset. Imagine the gall of a presidential candidate who opposes torture and believes in the Bill of Rights. Obviously this liberalism thing has gone way too far.

McCain is to be commended for disassociating his campaign from the prejudicial, not to mention dunderheaded foaming at the mouth of Bill “Spider Hole” Cunningham.

For his part, the talk show lummox said he was going to throw his political lot in with Ann Coulter, the Eva Braun of the drive-by bloviators.
“I’ve had it with John McCain,” Bill “Wolf’s Lair’ Cunningham pouted.

And you have to suspect the feeling is more than mutual.