McCain Campaign Links Barack Obama to The Velvet Underground

In yet another desperate attempt from the McCain-Palin ticket to discredit Barack Obama with half-truths, Sarah Palin, speaking to a crowd in Jacksonville, Florida, Palin said the following:

"Well, gee whiz, according to the Buffalo Courier-Express, Barack Obama was heavily involved with a group calling itself the Velvet Underground. I mean, I don't know about you, but I hardly think this type of behavior is the kinda Country First kinda attitude that someone who wants to be our president should be behavin' like."

This statement was followed by loud boos and jeers from the crowd. But here are the facts that the McCain-Palin campaign may be unaware of, or simply omitted:

FACT: The Velvet Underground were a musical ensemble from the late 1960's and not a terrorist group (further proof of McCain being somewhat out of touch).

FACT: Obama was four years old when the Velvet Underground formed in 1965.

FACT: Obama never met any members of the group personally, though he and Lou Reed briefly shared an accordion teacher in the mid-1980's. Both have since abandoned the accordion.

FACT: The Buffalo Courier-Express ceased publication in 1982.

To make matters worse, the above picture was released to the Associated Press. A pathetic, preposterous hoax, it supposedly shows Obama standing just to the right of guitarist Sterling Morrison in a 1967 group portrait.