Barack the "suspect"
Yesterday I had a conversation with a friend of mine who's Republican about the election. One of his reasons for opposing Barack Obama was Obama's "ties" to Bill Ayers. I spent an hour or so today reading about Bill Ayers. Once I read the articles about him, I remembered him quite well. I guess I parse the reason this was an issue into two pieces. The first is that Ayers is a political radical and, at least in some people's eyes, unrepentant for his Weather Underground actions. The second is that he's influenced Obama's political philosophy in a significant way.
Based on what I've read, Ayers is pretty public about his political positions. Nothing very underhanded. His educational ideas may foment disagreement, but then No Child Left Behind evokes ferocious disagreement. Regarding his 'repentance' about the Sixties, I found conflicting quotes about what he 'didn't regret'. Although Weather Underground members did bomb politically linked sites, I didn't see anyone saying that he did. I might have missed that. Admittedly he believed bombing political targets was acceptable back then. He's not advocating bombing anything today as far as I can tell. And ideas, even abhorrent ideas, are what creates dialogue in our culture.
So the more important question is what influence he had on Obama. Based on what is insinuated, for example that he sat on a board with Ayers, I think it's pretty cheesy. I have had a member of my board for the past 14 years who's an absolute conservative Republican whose been at presidential events . However, our serving on the board hasn't influenced my policies---except perhaps to make me more tolerant of differences. He hosted a coffee for Obama and made a modest donation to him years ago. He's not someone in Obama's advisory group---or at least there's no evidence presented that he is. I'd say this is an attempt at guilt by innuendo. If they live in the same neighborhood, are both liberal Democrats, and have served on committees and Boards from time to time in Chicago, they must be in cahoots.
That contention wouldn't hold water with anyone I know. I can think of dozens of liberal Democrats here in Portland that fit into those kinds of categories---doesn't even begin to imply they agree on politics. Or are 'conspiring'. Based on what I could find from reputable sources, this dog won't hunt. And I note that it's very time consuming to try counter each allegation, regardless of source.
Based on what I've read, Ayers is pretty public about his political positions. Nothing very underhanded. His educational ideas may foment disagreement, but then No Child Left Behind evokes ferocious disagreement. Regarding his 'repentance' about the Sixties, I found conflicting quotes about what he 'didn't regret'. Although Weather Underground members did bomb politically linked sites, I didn't see anyone saying that he did. I might have missed that. Admittedly he believed bombing political targets was acceptable back then. He's not advocating bombing anything today as far as I can tell. And ideas, even abhorrent ideas, are what creates dialogue in our culture.
So the more important question is what influence he had on Obama. Based on what is insinuated, for example that he sat on a board with Ayers, I think it's pretty cheesy. I have had a member of my board for the past 14 years who's an absolute conservative Republican whose been at presidential events . However, our serving on the board hasn't influenced my policies---except perhaps to make me more tolerant of differences. He hosted a coffee for Obama and made a modest donation to him years ago. He's not someone in Obama's advisory group---or at least there's no evidence presented that he is. I'd say this is an attempt at guilt by innuendo. If they live in the same neighborhood, are both liberal Democrats, and have served on committees and Boards from time to time in Chicago, they must be in cahoots.
That contention wouldn't hold water with anyone I know. I can think of dozens of liberal Democrats here in Portland that fit into those kinds of categories---doesn't even begin to imply they agree on politics. Or are 'conspiring'. Based on what I could find from reputable sources, this dog won't hunt. And I note that it's very time consuming to try counter each allegation, regardless of source.
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