Who Is This New Guy They're Using To Smear Barack Obama?

BE ELECTED
by Christine Bowman

Last night George Stephanopoulos asked Barack Obama about "the general theme of patriotism in your relationships ..." He said:

A gentleman named William Ayers, he was part of the Weather Underground in the 1970s. They bombed the Pentagon, the Capitol and other buildings. He's never apologized for that. And in fact, on 9/11 he was quoted in The New York Times saying, "I don't regret setting bombs; I feel we didn't do enough."

Who is that? He's William C. Ayers, Distinguished Professor of Education at the University of Illinois at Chicago. He serves on the board of the respected Woods Fund of Chicago, as did Obama from 1999-2002.

The Woods Fund "supports nonprofits in their important roles of engaging people in civic life, addressing the causes of poverty and other challenges facing the region, promoting more effective public policies, reducing racism and other barriers to equal opportunity, and building a sense of community and common ground."

The Woods Fund is a highly respected member of the traditional Chicago foundation community and they chose Ayers for his expertise in education to join their board. The Clinton Camp, ABC News, and the McCain camp might as well accuse a major Chicago philanthropic organization of being in bed with the Commies, as imply something is horribly amiss by implying guilt by association in Obama's case.

Obama responded to Stephanopoulos as follows:

SEN. OBAMA: ... This is a guy who lives in my neighborhood, who's a professor of English in Chicago, who I know and who I have not received some official endorsement from. He's not somebody who I exchange ideas from on a regular basis.

And the notion that somehow as a consequence of me knowing somebody who engaged in detestable acts 40 years ago when I was 8 years old, somehow reflects on me and my values, doesn't make much sense, George.

SEN. CLINTON: Well, I think that is a fair general statement, but I also believe that Senator Obama served on a board with Mr. Ayers for a period of time, the Woods Foundation, which was a paid directorship position.

And if I'm not mistaken, that relationship with Mr. Ayers on this board continued after 9/11 and after his reported comments, which were deeply hurtful to people in New York, and I would hope to every American, because they were published* on 9/11 and he said that he was just sorry they hadn't done more. And what they did was set bombs and in some instances people died.** So it is -- you know, I think it is, again, an issue that people will be asking about. And I have no doubt -- I know Senator Obama's a good man and I respect him greatly but I think that this is an issue that certainly the Republicans will be raising.

And it goes to this larger set of concerns about, you know, how we are going to run against John McCain. You know, I wish the Republicans would apologize for the disaster of the Bush-Cheney years and not run anybody, just say that it's time for the Democrats to go back into the White House. (Laughter, applause.)

There's a lot of fact checking needed here, and we can only begin to skim the surface. Stephanopoulos, Obama, and Clinton all selectively recall or misstate facts. The AP has posted a brief "fact check," and The Huffington Post provides some links that look at political commentators' views of Ayers.

But are we at BuzzFlash the only ones who noticed that Barack Obama didn't even know what department Bill Ayers teaches in? (It's not English, Barack; he's in Education.)

As reported by ABC News February 22, 2008, this smear's had ample help from camp Clinton. Clinton spokesman Phil Singer was pushing the Ayers story with emails to reporters two months ago.

"Wonder what the Republicans will do with this issue," mused Clinton spokesman Phil Singer in one e-mail to the media, containing a New York Sun article reporting a $200 contribution from William Ayers, a founding member of the Weather Underground, to Obama in 2001. ...

In a separate e-mail, Singer forwarded an article from Politico.com reporting on a 1995 event at a private home that brought Obama together with Ayers and Bernardine Dohrn, another former member of the radical group.

Clinton Camp Pushes O-Bomber Links: Ignores Her Own Radical Ties (abcnews)

BuzzFlash Editor Mark Karlin provided analysis of those smear tactics on February 24:

It is another sleazy attack that Senator Clinton supporters will have to compromise their souls to support.

Why? Because William Ayers and Bernardine Dohrn in their adult lives have devoted themselves to improving the lives and prospects for children. Ayers is a professor of education at the University of Illinois in Chicago, and Dohrn – who became a lawyer – heads a highly regarded program at Northwestern University that is dedicated to the rights and welfare of children. Obama served on the Board of Directors of a prestigious foundation in Chicago with Ayers -- and they all live in the Hyde Park (University of Chicago) neighborhood. So, here are two people, now virtually senior citizens, who have devoted their adult lives to children (they have two of their own and raised another), and the Clinton campaign, which claims that their candidate is a champion of youth, trashes both Ayers/Dohrn and Obama by bringing up a radical movement from the ‘60s.

Who would be against that? Sixties radicals like Ayers (and Tom Hayden, for another) can find redemption. Bill Clinton himself recognized that fact, after all:

In his final day in office, President Clinton pardoned another one-time member of the Weather Underground, Susan L. Rosenberg, after she had served 16 years in prison on federal charges.

Rosenberg had been arrested in 1984 while unloading 740 pounds of dynamite, a submachine gun and other weapons from the back of a car.

Rosenberg admitted the materials were to supply others for politically-motivated attacks. Authorities had been searching for Rosenberg since 1981, for what they believed was her role in the robbery of a Brinks truck in Rockland County, N.Y. The attack, for which Rosenberg was thought to have aided with surveillance and getaway driving, left two police officers and a guard dead.

Clinton Camp Pushes O-Bomber Links: Ignores Her Own Radical Ties (abcnews)

Ayers Bio at UIC.EDU

ABC Transcript

No Regrets for a Love Of Explosives; In a Memoir of Sorts, a War Protester Talks of Life With the Weathermen (NY Times)

* Ayers' comment was made in an interview prior to 9/11.

**The people who died were Underground members who died when an explosion occurred in their "safe house."

Tell us what you think with a comment. 

BE ELECTED

Technorati Tags: Be-Elected Ayers Obama Clinton ABC Singer Smear Weather Underground