Till now I followed the William Ayers connection to Barack Obama with both mild amusement and mild concern.
Obama's connection to the sixties radical is so small and so distant when compared to his entire body of work as a citizen, a politician, and candidate for president. It makes little sense for McCain, his hit-woman, Sarah Palin, and his allies to invest significants amount of time or money into establishing a link.
At the same time I know enough about the swift-boating of John Kerry and the tactics of the McCarthyites to have some concern that the American tradition of guilt by association going back to the Palmer Raids of the 1920's might take hold before November 4.
Sunday morning in the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, self-styled right-wing guy, Patrick McIlheran linked Pete Seeger, Ayers, and me in the same paragraph.
...The 1960s radical" seems to be the trope I'm hearing a lot in newscasts lately. Which Ayers was. And more. Pete Seeger was a 1960s radical. Paul Soglin was.
Ayers was something more, as well, a 1960s bomb-maker and terrorist...
There is much to be said for judging people by the company they keep. Unfortunately such a simple statement does not do service to the complicated nature of our lives, the growth and evolution of people, or providing a sense of proportion to our judgments.
I have my own serious problems with Ayers. When I read his biography, Fugitive Days, I found it self-serving and of little value. At the same time his more recent books, on education To Teach and Teaching Toward Freedom are serious thoughtful works, that might be labeled 'radical' by some, but do not reflect the thinking of a domestic terrorist.
Over the years I worked with some interesting people on public issues. There was a minister, as right-wing as they come, repressive to the core when it came to censorship on matters he found 'pornographic.' We worked together on civil liberties and civil rights for people of all colors and gender and sexual orientation.
There was the business leader, homophobic as they come. We worked to build Monona Terrace. There was more than one banker who embraced Newt Gingrich's Contract on America, the blueprint for deregulating the banks and today's financial meltdown.
Hopefully, my work will be judged by what I have done.
Hopefully McIlheran and every American would do the same in evaluating Obama or Bill Ayers.
It appears that you're saying that you haven't changed other then growing older and wiser. Is that correct?
Posted by: Anonymous | October 13, 2008 at 03:25 PM
how can you say that the Obama/Ayers connection is so small when neither of them will talk about it? How big a relationship between an admitted (and non-repentant)terrorist and Obama must there be before you think it is a legitimate issue for discussion and not simply amusing?
I imagine you hung out with the weather underground crowd (and Ayers??)in your radical youth, but at least we don't have to worry about you ever becoming president.
Posted by: stevo | October 13, 2008 at 07:24 PM
Obama finally came out with a decent ad on Ayers today. He points out that Ayers is not a terrorist but an education professor. Actually he is widely respected in this country, though it took Obama months to realize what thousands do here:
http://www.supportbillayers.org/
Obama also points out in the new ad that conservative Republicans funded the committee he was on with Ayers.
Finally, the committee failed to improve public schools in Chicago.
That is what we should be debating.
Posted by: Brian | October 15, 2008 at 09:10 PM