[clue-talk] Obama, McCain, and the American flag

[Nate Duehr]

On Nov 2, 2008, at 12:08 AM, David L. Willson wrote:

>> Obama never said anything against the American flag, and he's not
>> friends with a terrorist.
>
> He held a celebration party for his election to the Illinois State
> Senate in William Ayer's living room.  I don't know about you, but I
> wouldn't be anywhere near a guy's house who bombed Americans and says
> he wishes he'd bombed more.  And maybe I don't know how State Senate
> parties go, but I'm pretty sure you don't hold them in non-friend's
> houses.
>
> Nate, you know more than I do on this point.  Care to provide links?

With only a quick Google search (in hopes of finding a relatively  
factual site that just summarizes it, since it's a lot of articles to  
post to show the complete story), this one seems like it's certainly a  
"right wing" site I've never heard of, but seems to stick to the facts  
in the article:

<http://www.noquarterusa.net/blog/2008/08/12/the-obama-ayers-top-ten-highlights-of-the-20-year-obama-ayers-connection/ 
 >

And since I know we all generally approve of FactCheck.org here  
amongst intelligent discussion on the topic, here's their take:

<http://www.factcheck.org/elections-2008/he_lied_about_bill_ayers.html>

To find out who Ayers is, or the bombing incidents, you'd have to  
Google and read about the group Weather Underground -- being that it's  
only a couple of days to the election, you'll probably stumble across  
some outrageous websites that are anti-Obama in that process.

I'm not crazy enough to think that Obama and Ayers are good friends or  
anything, but Obama has certainly been associated with Ayers since  
before and after he bombed people.  If all you take to your grave is  
your reputation, and your reputation is based at least in part on the  
company you keep -- well, I wouldn't have been hanging around with the  
guy.  I know that.

FactCheck's conclusion is carefully worded and pretty good at  
explaining why some will see it as nothing and others see it as a  
serious character flaw in Senator Obama.

"Voters may differ in how they see Ayers, or how they see Obama’s  
interactions with him. We’re making no judgment calls on those  
matters. What we object to are the McCain-Palin campaign’s attempts to  
sway voters – in ads and on the stump – with false and misleading  
statements about the relationship, which was never very close. Obama  
never “lied” about this, just as he never bragged about it. The  
foundation they both worked with was hardly “radical.” And Ayers is  
more than a former "terrorist," he’s also a well-known figure in the  
field of education. "

I for one have no tolerance for people who bomb other people in their  
own country.  That's Mr. Ayers.

Ayers also dedicated his book "Prairie Fire: The Politics of  
Revolutionary Anti-Imperialism" to Sirhan Sirhan, the assassin of  
Robert Kennedy.

The dedication came from the book linked here:
<http://littlegreenfootballs.com/article/31776_LGF_Exclusive-_Bill_Ayers_Prairie_Fire_in_PDF_Form 
 >

"According to Sirhan's Mother, Mary Sirhan, he killed Kennedy because  
of his Arab nationalism. She said, "What he did, he did for his  
country." Further, Sirhan believed he was deliberately betrayed by  
Kennedy's support for Israel in the June 1967 Six-Day War,[11] which  
had begun exactly one year before the assassination."  (From Wikipedia)

Ironic that Ayers dedicated his book to the assassin of one of the  
Democratic Party's shining starts, isn't it?  Very odd that Obama  
isn't more up to speed on this guy throughout their two decade loose  
relationship?  I don't think Obama's that stupid.  He knows he has to  
play dumb about his relationship with Ayers, even if it's a very loose  
relationship, because the guy is a complete nut-job who blows up stuff  
to make his points.

A vote for Obama would mean that the next President of the United  
States has ties, even if they're loose, to the man who wrote that  
document above.  No thanks.  I'd like to be able to say I didn't vote  
for anyone who spent any considerable amount of time with a man like  
Ayers, personally.  People can choose what they want... but I won't  
vote that way.

--
Nate Duehr
nate at natetech.com