Before last Wednesday I’d never heard of Bill Ayers or the “Weather Underground.” I’m sorry that I’m not up on 1960s radical groups. But for reasons that are unclear to me, George Stephanopoulos decided to ask Senator Barack Obama about this man during the most recent debate.
It turns out that the Washington Post has painted a completely different picture of Ayres. He is currently an educator, fighting for smaller schools to improve the quality of education throughout the city (I personally agree with this action). He is an informal adviser to Chicago Mayor Richard Daley. The story is such a non-issue that Daley issued a statement stating that Ayers is a “valued member of the Chicago community.”
For reasons that are unclear to me, Republicans continue to use the same old “look over here at this pile of horse manure” tactic and the media continues to fall for it. All the while, the Democrats are telling the media to focus on a ‘burning building’ to get everyone to try to save it. In the end, the metaphorical building continues to burn as the media reports on the Republican’s pile of manure.
The Ayers story is a pile of horse manure.
What’s the big deal?
From NRO:
“The Weather Underground attacked the Pentagon, the Capitol and other public buildings; Ayers was quoted in the New York Times on Sept. 11, 2001, as saying, “I don’t regret setting bombs; I feel we didn’t do enough.”
I was surprised that Clinton would pursue the issue given her husband record of pardoning convicted terrorist.
In the Post article, Ayers doesn’t seem interested in clarifying or retracting the comments he made in the New York Times:
“Ayers and Dohrn did not return calls or e-mails seeking comment. In an April 6 posting on his blog, Ayers described his reaction to his intermittent celebrity as conservative pundits hammered him for his Weather Underground past and his comment in a New York Times profile, published by coincidence on Sept. 11, 2001, that he did not regret his militant tactics.
‘Day in and day out,” he wrote, “I go about my business, I hang out with my kids and my grandchildren, take care of the elders, I go to work, I teach and I write, I organize and I participate in the never-ending effort to build a powerful movement for peace and social justice.’”
Would Obama’s association with an unrepentant bomber suggest anything about how he would handle terrorism as President?
In and of itself, no. I think Obama did a good job of distancing himself from Ayers while also attacking Clinton. However, there seems to be a steady drip of revelations about Obama that may not be an issue for most voters but could be an issue for those conservatives still angry with McCain.
The general election campaign will be interesting. I think Obama will have a difficult time plausibly moving to the center compared to Hilary.
TCB-
I appreciate your comments as always.
I’m sorry, maybe I should get whipped up about a terrorist who something 40 years ago but I can’t. What has he done lately? Did he go to jail? Did he pay his debt to society? If so, let’s move on. If he has talked about violence overthrow of our government lately he needs to be on the terrorist watch list. If he has planned a violent act lately then he needs to arrested and tried.
I think it is funny how conservatives embrace G. Gordon Liddy who is a convicted criminal who undermined our constitution but that’s no big deal. They go on his radio show and embrace this man. This is the same man who instructed his listeners on how to shoot a federal agent if their house was going to be raided. I will not even get into Oliver North.
ET: I’m sorry, maybe I should get whipped up about a terrorist who something 40 years ago but I can’t.
I’m not sure time is as important to me as it seems to be to you. Would 2, 5, 10 or 30 years make more of a difference?
I was glad that the convicted the man who bombed the Birmingham church even if it was 30 years later.
If OBL climbed out of a cave 40 years from now, I still would want to give him the needle.
I don’t buy the hero worshipping stuff from the Washington Post or folks like Mayor Daley. To his credit, Obama has avoided any gushing comments about Ayers. The Clinton pardons are far more serious than anything Obama ever did.
If OBL climbs out of a cave 40 years from now he would be 80. Hopefully, our next president will arrest or kill this killer.
How many people died because of Bill Ayers?
BTW, TCB –
Did you not do some stupid things as a young Emory student? As a matter of fact, I can think of a few.
What political advantage would Mayor Daley have for supporting some guy who was a lead weight? He must be doing some good in Chicago.
ET: Did you not do some stupid things as a young Emory student? As a matter of fact, I can think of a few.
I can think of more than a few. However, the point is that I think that whatever I did was stupid, wrong etc. Mr. Ayers apparently doesn’t believe what he did was stupid, wrong etc. As he said to the Times, “I don’t regret setting bombs; I feel we didn’t do enough.”.
ET: How many people died because of Bill Ayers?
Three. I do think that Ayers bears some moral (if not legal) responsibility for his friends that blew themselves up in Greenwich Village.