I am emphatically no fan of Sen. Obama’s. But I have a hard time seeing any upside to him in knowingly permitting a staffer, or anyone else over whom he has influence, to communicate with FARC using his name.

By contrast, it seems altogether plausible and likely to me that any number of flim-flam operators, arms merchants, and shady characters might well claim to have connections to him in order to open more possibilities in their discussions with FARC.

It’s certainly fair game to question Sen. Obama closely on matters involving free trade agreements and on matters involving American cooperation with foreign governments in fighting terrorism. But to impute ties between him (or his campaign) and FARC, with only this, seems to me to be pretty wild speculation.