William Ayers and Barack Obama

We keep hearing that Bill Ayers is an "unrepentant terrorist." What does that mean? It means that in the late 1960s this man co-founded a terrorist organization — the Weather Underground. His group preceded al Qaeda in bombing the Pentagon. They also bombed the United States Capitol, New York City police headquarters, and several other government installations. In a famous robbery perpetrated by the group, a Brinks guard and two police officers were killed. At another time, two of Ayers' "comrades" (his word) were killed while assembling a nail bomb. Nails in a bomb like that have a single purpose — hurting people. This sounds a lot like terrorism.

He is called "unrepentant" because he is . . . unrepentant.

In an article published in the New York Times, ironically enough on September 11, 2001, he is quoted as saying, "I don't regret setting bombs" and "I feel we didn't do enough." Asked if he would "do it all again," he said, "I don't want to discount the possibility."

The "unrepentant" label can come off anytime he chooses. As recently as last week, Bill O'Reilly's program (in one of those horrible ambush interviews) caught Ayers walking from his car to his house and asked him again if he regrets what he did. He gave no answer. Frankly, I wouldn't have answered under those circumstances, either. But at any time over the last many months, all he had to do was call a press conference and say, "I'm sorry." He refuses.

The Obama connection, to some, seems contrived. Okay, they had a little fund raiser in Ayers' house way back at the beginning of Obama's political career. Also, they served on a board together. When I heard that, I thought, "Who does a background check on all the members before joining the board of a reputable foundation?"

But there is evidence of a much deeper connection between these two men. In 1995, Bill Ayers co-founded an education reform group called the Annenberg Challenge. It was a big deal in Chicago at the time. To head up this new organization, Ayers chose a thirty-something, second year lawyer named Barack Obama. If he hadn't known Obama before, why did Ayers choose him? If he hadn't already proven himself, why choose him? If they didn't get along, were not like-minded, why would Ayers choose Obama for this key position?

The classroom may be the most strategic arena on earth and that's where Bill Ayers has taken his radical agenda. For one of his education books, A Kind and Just Parent: The Children of Juvenile Court, Obama wrote a blurb published in the Chicago Tribune. This is another indication of the closeness of the two men and of Obama's respect for Ayers. Endorsing the book of an associate is usually an endorsement of that associate as well as his book. In many cases, the endorser hasn't even read the book, though that may not be true here.

At the very least, this raises the question of Obama's judgement.

Back to the main essay.

Posted: 10-28-2008
Note: At original posting, all links were active.