McCain flack Michael Goldfarb gets on CNN with Rick Sanchez and starts smearing Barack Obama for allegedly "hanging out" with anti-Semites. Sanchez does the Journalism Thing and actually tries to pin him down. What transpires is both amusing and terribly telling:

Goldfarb: Look, you're missing the point again, Rick. The point is that Barack Obama has a long track record of being around anti-Semitic, anti-Israel, and anti-American rhetoric.

Sanchez: Can you name one other person besides Khalidi who he hangs around with who is anti-Semitic?

Goldfarb: He pals around with William Ayers who is a domestic terrorist.

Sanchez: No, no. The question I asked you is, Can you name one other person that he hangs around with who is anti-Semitic? Because that's what you said.

Goldfarb: Look, we all know that there are people who Barack Obama has been in hot water ...

Sanchez: Michael, I asked you to name one person. One.

Goldfarb: [Smiles smugly]

Sanchez: You said he hangs around with people who are anti-Semitic. OK, we got Khalidi on the table. Give me number two. Who's the other anti-Semitic person that he hangs around with that we, quote, all know about.

Goldfarb: Rick, we both know who Number Two is. [Silence]

Sanchez: Who?

Goldfarb: [Smiles, says nothing]

Sanchez: Would you tell us?

Goldfarb: No, Rick, I think we all know who we're talking about here.

Sanchez: Somebody who's anti-Semitic who he hangs around with?

Goldfarb: Absolutely.

Sanchez: Well, say it!

Goldfarb: I think we know who we're talking about, Rick.

At this point Sanchez just has to move on and does so.

But it's interesting how right-wing smearmongers work, isn't it? They'll say Obama hangs out with anti-Semites but won't actually name them. This is straight out of the Joe McCarthy Handbook.

Obviously, Goldfarb realized he had gone too far, probably because he knew that bringing up Louis Farrakhan had been ruled out by his superiors for this campaign, and with good reason: It's a completely specious claim and old news to boot.

That dead air told us everything we need to know about Goldfarb's integrity as a source of information and insight, though.