Airing Out Ayers

John and Sarah re-engage the Ayers discussion.

AllahPundit of Hot Air has video of Obama discussing this with ABC News.  Key point - Obama claims that he first met Ayers "ten or fifteen years ago" (1993 to 1998) when they partnered up on the Chicago Annenberg Challenge.

Left unasked and unanswered - how did they *not* meet in 1988?  There was a major push for school reform in Chicago in 1987-88.  Although he intended to leave his Developing Communities Project in May 1988 prior to entering Harvard Law School, per his autobiography (p. 289) Obama was involved in the school reform effort:

"The months passed at a breathless pace, with constant reminders of all the things left undone.  We worked with a citywide coalition in support of school reform."

The ABCs Coalition was formed in March 1988 (p. 20) and was coordinated by Bill Ayers (photo). 

Yet Obama never met the fellow coordinating this 1988 coalition.  And years later, after all his hard work in creating the Chicago Annenberg Challenge Bill Ayers graciously assented to Obama becoming chairman even though the two men had never met, Obama had no background in education, and no one had reviewed Obama's qualifications with Bill Ayers.  Uh huh.  Well, that is Obama's current story - let's see if they stick to that through the election.

IN COMPLIANCE WITH FEC REGS:  I am Tom Maguire and I approve this ad.  The Ayers issue is not what Ayers did in 1969, it's why Obama lied about the relationship in 2008.

CONTEXT:  Andy McCarthy puts Ayers' radical "past" in context.  Ayers never stopped being a radical lefty, he just changed tactics and adopted education as his vehicle for social change.  Forget about bombs - how much of that philosophy does Obama share?  It's hard to know since Obama keeps lying about the relationship.

SMALL WORLD:  File under "I'll be damned" - in the early 80's Bill Ayers was studying for a degree in education at Bank Street College, less than a quarter-mile from Columbia, from which Barack graduated in 1983.  Given Obama's interest in radicals and organizers its a shame they didn't meet then.

Comments

[Mahmoud Ahmadinejad]

"I honestly don't think a terrorist president could do more harm to the country than Bush and Cheney have."

Welcome Infidel.

[clarice]

Cecil--maybe that explains how he could graduate without honors from Columbia in poli sci--As I said this is impossible unless your brain was removed.

[Charlie (Colorado)]

Steve Bainbridge has it figured out:

The answer was now obvious. Barack Obama was a mole planted in American political elites by Saddam Hussein’s Iraqi Special Security Organization. No wonder he opposed Gulf Wars I and II! Obviously, he was doing the bidding of his spymasters back in Baghdad.

Need more proof? What’s Obama’s middle name? Hussein! QED

The pieces all fell into place.

Of course, his boss Saddam Hussein is now worm food. The pressing question of the hour thus is who does Obama work for now?

[Lori]

Sara-thank you for that summary on your blog. It's exactly what I was looking for to email around.

[sbw]

who does Obama work for now?

1) Whomever feeds his narcissistic needs best.

2) He doesn't know, has a tiger by the tail, and is very, very afraid.

[Mahmoud Ahmadinejad]

"I'm proudly voting for Hussein."

He was hanged a while back,do you want a second choice?

[Lori]

Don,
None of us believes that McCain is the perfect candidate and you will see plenty of discussion on this site about areas of disagreement. But it seems to me that most Obama supporters refuse to consider anything about his past, his political philosophy, or his stance on issues objectively. Is there nothing that concerns you about an Obama presidency? Most Obama supporters that I know are not even able to articulate the reason they support him. I'm beginning to think that it is pathological.

[Antimedia]

"But I'd vote for Bill Ayers himself rather than let Republicans keep control."

There you have it. Don is perfectly happy living in a communist state where he has no choice over how his life is lived.

Now what makes any of you think that a) he's amenable to persuasion or b) worth wasting your time on? Perls before swine.

My concern is what happens to Don after McCain wins. The trauma could cause permanent damage. Granted it wouldn't be noticeable, but still.....

[sylvia]

I like the comment above which said that he'd rather vote for Ayers himself than have a Republican. That's why this story is getting any taction I guess.

You know the word will never get out. I tried to comment several times in places that usually print my comments no problem, about how Obama was the chairman of Ayers organization, not just a co-board member. For some reason, none of those comments ever appeared. There were of course a bunch of anti-McCain comments appearing. The fix is in, there's not much we can do.

[sylvia]

thats - why the story ISN'T getting any traction.

[M. Simon]

Don says:

but this Ayers crap is going to make McCain lose even worse than he's already has.

If you believed that wouldn't you be encouraging it?

[Mahmoud Ahmadinejad]

"This sex chat window now gets my full attention. Later!"

Well,that won't be long.Clean the screen afterwards.

[bgates]

Lori - Ace had a great link to a Howard Stern bit - they sent a guy up to Harlem who got a bunch of Obamatons to express support for their candidate's positions...pro-life, anti-stem cell, win in Iraq.

They were even happy about his choice of Sarah Palin for VP.

[Jane Whitman]

Don,

You have been voted off the island.

[Don]

M. Simon-I just come here to offer my analysis.

If you can get me in touch with the upper echelons of the McCain campaign, I will gladly encourage them to push Ayers.

[sylvia]

"More information on current activities on Chicago school reform can be obtained from the following groups: [snip] ABCs Coalition, c/o Prof. William Ayers, "

That's the first time I ever noticed that in that scanned snapshot. You've got to point that stuff out to us TM, we aren't all as sharp as you. Funny how subtle it was right at the end. But it does say, ABC Coalition, care of Ayers. No where else on that clip does it specifically link ABC Coalition with a name, out of the perhaps hundred of names on there.

If we wanted to get serious about this, we should have interviewed other directors on the level of Obama, and ask them how common it was to meet Ayers, what Ayers role was there. There are dozens of people to interview, we have their names right there, it shouldn't have been that hard. But no one in the media did it. And it's too late now. This should have been done last year.

Funny how we know everything about Bush, about his dental appointments, and all his frat parties, but we didn't have any investigations about Obama's link to a violent terrorist. The fix is in, however, it's too late.

[Lori]

bgates-why am I not surprised?

[PeterUK]

Posted by: Don | October 09, 2008 at 06:02 PM

Back so soon? Now wash your hands.

[clarice]

Isn't that grand? Bgates is my favorite.

[Sara (Pal2Pal)]

Today my son and I were out driving around for about 2 hours doing some combined errands. In that time we counted 601 McCain-Palin bumper stickers, 122 McCain-Palin yard signs and ran into 5 people wearing McCain-Palin buttons. The only Obama supporter we saw was at Walgreens drug store where I stood in line behind a guy wearing an Obamanation tee shirt.

Just saying.

[clarice]

Interesting,Sara.Were you in a Rep district?

I heard a snippet of the Wis rally on FNC--Powerful!

[PeterUK]

"The only Obama supporter we saw was at Walgreens drug store where I stood in line behind a guy wearing an Obamanation tee shirt."

And he was waiting for his Methadone.

[M. Simon]

M. Simon-I just come here to offer my analysis.

If you can get me in touch with the upper echelons of the McCain campaign, I will gladly encourage them to push Ayers.

I'm in touch with them Don. Care to give me a carefully worded message? I'll pass it on. If it is of any use.

[royf]

PeterUK

I read earlier about the court in the UK ordering a homeowner to remove a barbwire fence he had put up because he had been burglarized like 3 or 4 times.

The judge said the thieves might get hurt on the fence. Wow just wow, that has got to smart for the Britons not completely neutered.

[bgates]

Clarice - woohoo! Now if I can just think up a job for the island.

Zen thought for the day:
The authorization for the use of military force in Iraq passed the Senate on a bipartisan basis, despite the fact that no one could produce documentation proving that Saddam Hussein had ties to terrorists as close as Barack Obama's.

[M. Simon]

Don,

The whole Obama troll system is a bad idea.

First it telegraphs arguments against McCain giving time to develop defense.

Second it telegraphs which blows hurt.

All useful stuff in an information war.

Of course banning the opposition from a political site means the best counter arguments do not get developed.

The fact that the trolls are getting weaker is a positive sign. Thanks to Don for bringing us the good news.

[Lori]

I, on the other hand, spent my day in NYC (lower east side and the west village). Huge Obama mural, messiah-like, on the side of a building on Avenue C. Obama baseball hat on a really fat woman. But that was it.

[PeterUK]

royf,

Socialist Britain,Tony Blair = Barrack Hussein (no relation) Obama.

[JM Hanes]

I love it when trolls bust in to tell us just how exceedingly much nobody cares about the next guy in line for the bottom of the bus. Guys like Don don't need sex chat windows, they get off on typing puffed up crudités one handed while imagining our shock and awe if we only knew how he completes his smutty mission.

[PeterUK]

Saddam Hussein was only 24 when Barrack Hussein Obama was born.Know what I mean?

[Sara (Pal2Pal)]

I'm in a red county in what is always called the solidly blue state of California. Something people forget is that out of 58 counties in California, 21 were blue, 37 were red in 2004. And a few of the 21 blue were like Sacramento County, 49.52% to 49.29% blue to red.

[Barney Frank]

bgates at 6:32.

LOL.

[DrJ]

Sara,

Is that right for Sacramento County? It sure does not seem that way.

[Sara (Pal2Pal)]

Did you all see this intro from a Joe Biden rally. It is really funny.

The next Vice President

[Sara (Pal2Pal)]

DrJ:

It is from the 2004 Presidental voter map.
Mouse over the county for totals.

[Barney Frank]

Is that right for Sacramento County? It sure does not seem that way.

DrJ,

Sacramento has lots of satellite cities, most of which are pretty conservative.

[DrJ]

Barney,

I know that -- I live in the area. The county is not that large, though, and my experience with the town and its people did not lead me to believe that it was this close.

[Sara (Pal2Pal)]

Note the map shows dem. counties in red and repub counties in blue.

[Lori]

Survey of JOM'ers-have any of you been surprised about the political leanings of people with whom you come into contact? I have had only one surprise in the last few weeks. Here is what I have found:
In New York and Fairfield County CT:
Obama supporters
-stay at home moms who only read fiction and NYT and watch Oprah
-extremely rich people
-slightly to extremely nerdy men

McCain supporters
-stay at home moms who read blogs
-hard working but not overly rich men and women
-small to medium sized business owners

[PeterUK]

"-slightly to extremely nerdy men",

Who over compensate by using expletives and an aggressive manner.

[matt]

there's your bumper sticker...Obama knows more terrorists than Saddam!

[Charlie (Colorado)]

-slightly to extremely nerdy men

now wait a minute. I'm a mcCain supporter.

[bmeuppls]

Charlie you're a geek... big difference. Nerds, like trolls, play MMORP when they are not trolling. You, like most geeks, have a job.

[Lori]

Charlie-you are not a nerd.

[Lori]

bmeuppls is right...geek is good, nerd is not.

[bmeuppls]

--> said as one geek to another, of course.

[bmeuppls]

FTR I work in IT and I'm kidded about working at computers all day and going home and blogging on them all night. And that is by the techie nerds. I'm a programmer, FWIW.

When I'm not playing golf, of course.

[Charlie (Colorado)]

Charlie you're a geek... big difference. Nerds, like trolls, play MMORP when they are not trolling. You, like most geeks, have a job.

Uh, Second Life, and not currently.

[Charlie (Colorado)]

In any case, I'm perfectly happy to be called a nerd. It was the inference that I was an Obama supporters that I was objecting to.

[bmeuppls]

My former Director of IT did his Master's thesis on using Second Life as a tool for studying business models for real life application. Interesting stuff.

[PDinDetroit]

I am perfectly happy to be called a WingNut, now that the Red Wings are playing!!!

[Extra Jane Whitman]

ToddK: McCain needs to get used to the idea of being called a racist. If he wins, that's the way it's going to be.

Yes, and until he figures this out, scum like Barney Frank will be able to avoid the scrutiny they deserve, which could turn this election around.

Frank: GOP Criticism of Housing Crisis is Aimed at Poor Blacks

Now honestly, if the issue is "Republican deregulation," as Obama claims, then how about asking Obama to explain what he's talking about? What regulations were changed that led to the current situation?

Or, better yet, McCain, just tell the story about how Democrats used political correctness and mortgage affirmative action to engineer the 401k losses that everyone's trying to understand right now.

This can only happen in a debate, and there's only one left.

[Sara (Pal2Pal)]

Just went out to get my mail and my ballot has arrived. Let's see, for President my choices, in order of ballot appearance,are:

Ralph Nader
Barack Obama
Bob Baar
John McCain
Cynthia McKinney
Alan Keyes

It includes 12 Propositions including 2 controversial ones:

#4: Waiting period and parental notification before termination of minor's pregnancy initiative constitutional amendment [state]

Changes California Constitution, prohibiting abortion for unemancipated minor until 48 hours after physician notifies minor's parent, legal guardian, or, in limited cases, substitute adult relative. Provides an exception for medical emergency or parental waiver. Fiscal impact: Potential unknown net state costs of several million dollars annually for health and social services programs, court administration, and state healthy agency administration combined.

#8: Eliminates right of same sex couples to marry, initiative constitutional amendment [state]

Changes California Constitution to eliminate the right of same-sex couples to marry. Provides that only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California. Fiscal impact: Over next few years, potential revenue loss, mainly sales taxes, totaling in the several tens of millions of dollars, to state and local governments. In the long run, likely little fiscal impact on state and local governments.

That is the way the ballot reads, but I don't get the loss in sales tax revenue bit. Why would that be?

[Sara (Pal2Pal)]

I ran Fannie Mae into the ground requiring a taxpayer funded bailout and all I got was this $8.25 million house.

[matt]

Lori;

in 1975 I was young and impressionable and a Democrat. Not far from you I went to Roosevelt HS for the convention of the New York State Democratic party. I met most of the candidates, and listened to a nitwit governor from Georgia chant kumbaya (figuratively). I hate to say it, but you're in the heart of the beast. Manhattan is mindless liberalism central....

[clarice]

I sam listening to an American Studies Professor from Temple University--He is worse than an idiot..
For example, "hockey mom" is a racist code term because blacks dont't play hockey..What a crock! A few more of these and people wll be hiring consultants to figure out how to get their kids Plumbing apprenticeships.

[clarice]

*I AM listening***

[jpe]

Chicago's got, like, 500 people or so. How, I ask, how could they not have met?

[PeterUK]

"Chicago's got, like, 500 people or so. How, I ask, how could they not have met?"

If you have a passion for something jpe,you gravitate towards people with the same interest.You hang out in the same places,have the same acquaintances.Politics is no different. The movers and shakers have cliques,the tyros will try their utmost to get in.
If you observe Obama's ascent up the greasy pole you will note that at each stage he had patrons or sponsors,Ayers was one such.

[glenda waggoner]

Is it a big deal the headline at Drudge,says it's a definite Obama secretly
tried to get Iraqi government to not negotiate with Bush Admin., but wait for him? Help-where is DOT? PeterUK?

[Kristen182]

I'm wondering why I haven't heard anything about Obama's years at Columbia from people like Barbara Ransby, a history prof since 1996 at Ayer's UIC who attended Columbia and graduated '84. She was a founder in 1981 of the "Coalition for a Free South Africa," originally part of the Black Student Organization, a cause for which Obama says he was "deeply involved" with both at Occidental and Columbia.

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/104/story/21544.html
http://web.archive.org/web/20000916205152/www.politicallyblack.com/audio22300.htm

[Kristen182]

sorry, here's the second link:
http://web.archive.org/web/20000916205152/
www.politicallyblack.com/audio22300.htm

[MayBee]

via Ben Smith

Obama on Ayres v. 7.0

"The gentleman in question, Bill Ayers, is a college professor, teaches education at the University of Illinois," he said. "That's how i met him -- working on a school reform project that was funded by an ambassador and very close friend of Ronald Reagan's" along with "a bunch of conservative businessmen and civic leaders."

"Ultimately, I ended up learning about the fact that he had engaged in this reprehensible act 40 years ago, but I was eight years old at the time and I assumed that he had been rehabilitated," Obama said.

[Jane Whitman]

I don't know where everyone is hanging out, but apparently there has been a decision in Troopergate and the Ohio AG is getting involved in the voter fraud.

[clarice]

Fed Dist Ct Judge ordered that the Ohio Sec of State who was allowing voters to cast ballots at the same time they registered was violating federal law..The problem is made worse because ACORN registered gazillions of fake voters ..and absentee ballots are about to be opened..Judge issued TRO.

Tens of thousands of fake registrations in the voter base right now.

I don't think the Troopergate report is due until tomorrow--what Jane might be referring to is something the Palin camp released.

[Jane Whitman]

Don't know - Greta told me.

[centralcal]

I am happy about one thing - Fox News is not letting up on ACORN. Greta has had a great show tonight, and it mirrors Clarice's comments above relating to Ohio.

[clarice]

I;m feeling violent about ACORN right now, I don't know about anybody else..
It will be hard enough with our enemies planning stuff during the transition period--to imagine a long post election fight because of this fraudulent behavior everywhere makes me see red!!!!!!!!!!!!

[clarice]

**Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner is breaking federal law by not giving county elections boards the chance to determine whether new voter registrations are fraudulent, a federal judge ruled tonight.

It is hard to imagine a public interest more compelling than safeguarding the legitimacy of the election of the president of the United States,” said Judge George C. Smith of U.S. District Court in Columbus, in upholding the Ohio Republican Party’s request for a court order.

Smith, appointed by President Reagan, said the Help America Vote Act requires states not only to verify the identity of newly registered voters with the state Bureau of Motor Vehicles and the federal Social Security Administration, but to provide counties with the names of new voters whose records did not match.***

http://blog.dispatch.com/politics/2008/10/brunner_must_check_for_voter_f.shtml>Brunner

[Sue-Jane]

I think the lady that was on from Ohio earlier ticked Greta off. I was only half listening but something about them sending her a letter after her interview.

[Rocco]

The word ACORN is a racist word. As any deer hunter will attest, there are two types of oaks trees, white oak and black oak. Deer prefer the sweeter meat from a white oak acorn. To tell the difference between the two, look for the rounded lobes of the white oak leaf. Black oak leaves have pointed lobes. Does that make the whitetail deer a racist game animal?

[Ann]

Two things:

I drove home tonight with a minivan in front of me with three stickers on the back window.
1. Stop Abortions
2. Vote for Democrats
3. Vote for Obama (official rainbow seal)
I about went off the road.

The other is the SoS in Ohio should be thrown out of office just like the AG was and I too am seeing red!!!! We have one week to verify the bogus Acorn votes and she is trying to prevent that from happening on a county level. She has centralized those voter registrations and votes and doesn't want anyone to see them until it is to late. I keep hearing that there were not that many same day voters here.. carp, how will we ever know?

Any ideas for a citizen in Ohio would be appreciated.

[clarice]

That lady was Brunner, I thought.

[clarice]

Ann, start calling and writing everyone in the local papers, govt, civil groups. Call Brunner's office--picket it if it's near..if it isn't picket the nearest Dem office.And make sure the press knows you are picketing.

[clarice]

Next comes the stupid professor of American Studies from Temple--In essence he's arguing because there's so much racism in Americ, any criticism of Obama is a code for racism. I'm not making this up.

[Sue-Jane]

http://gretawire.foxnews.com/2008/10/09/were-we-unfair-to-the-ohio-secretary-of-state/>Here is the letter that Greta referred to.

[sbw]

And, obviously, any claim of racism is racist.

[Sara (Pal2Pal)]

Did you hear him say that "Hockey Mom" is racist and that if she had said "Hockey and Basketball Mom" it would not have been? I was gagging.

I'm also GD mad. I have never seen such racists in my life and they are ALL on the dem side. Good grief, it isn't racist that 95% of blacks are voting for Obama, most who cannot give you a single reason why other than he's black?

And that is just for a start. This ACORN stuff has me seeing red as well.

And I'm sick to death of Obama's lies and obfuscations and his sleazy spokesperson Bill Burton and, and, and, etc.

And it isn't bad enough, my best friend, who retired to Costa Rica, is sending me sh!tloads of carp on the fractured monetary supply, and every conspiracy theory and CIA plot going back 60 years. He has lost his friggin' mind.

[M. Simon]

-slightly to extremely nerdy men

now wait a minute. I'm a mcCain supporter.

The really smart nerds support McCain.

[Sara (Pal2Pal)]

Nerds are okay, it is the dweeb metrosexuals who I have a problem with.

[Ann]

Thanks, Clarice, I will do my best tomorrow. You know Ken Blackwell was a saint here in Ohio and what did he get for it. You are so right about good people not wanting to get involved.
Civil War sword in one hand along with a pitchfork I found in the shed in the other. :)

Bryon York has a must read at NRO:

"Memory is a Motherf—cker" [Byron York]

[clarice]

You can join the anti-ACORN troops by signing this petition..
http://stopacorn.org/index.php?option=com_rsform&Itemid=5>Stop Acorn

[RichatUF]

Tom's update:

File under "I'll be damned" - in the early 80's Bill Ayers was studying for a degree in education at Bank Street College, less than a quarter-mile from Columbia, from which Barack graduated in 1983.

I must be chopped liver here, I've been posting comments about that for the last month;)

[PD]

Sara: The proposition wording on the ballot actually *lobbies* you by staying fiscal impact? Wow.

[PD]

staying -> stating

[Ann]

If any other JOM Americans would like to help in this cause because it affects you too:

http://www.sos.state.oh.us/SOS/Text.aspx?page=3865&AspxAutoDetectCookieSupport=1
or
General Agency Phone Number: 877-767-6446 (SOS-OHIO) or local 614-466-2655 and here is a number for elections: 614-466-2585

[Rick Ballard]

"I must be chopped liver here"

Nah. Some of the time there's no one home. Off slaying sophists on lefty sites or being a good dad and playing with the offspring (an excellent way to spend time). I recall your pointers.

I really don't know how to get this through to the security sluts. It's too complicated. We need simple "did you know" stuff that can be uttered without sounding judgmental. That and "I trust McCain" (I have some real difficulty with the 'why' aspect).

[Sara (Pal2Pal)]

Have you seen this WU documentary? I've got all 9 parts linked here.

Creepy and brings back far more memories than I care to have resurrected.

[RichatUF]

And I forgot to add: Ayers was in Morningside Heights, NYC in school from 1982-1987 (Bank Street, Columbia)

Obama was at Columbia (81-83) then worked at Business International from 1983-85.

His time which over lapped Ayers would have included the Brinks robbery in 1981 and Dorhn's grand jury appearence and subsequent jail time. There is also another event in the time line I believe where another black nationalist group was planning to rob more armored cars which was broken up-the people involved were tried and got off with either light or no jail time. I'll have more details later.

[Rick Ballard]

Rich,

What would you think might happen if there were a concerted international effort that declared the CDS market to be play dough? Ha ha ha - return the premium plus LIBOR +5% for the term and you're even.

Could it be any worse than this melt down? The Nikkei is down 10%. WTF? Did the Japanese do a triple gainer into the CDS pool based on those clever Anglos having developed it?

[kim]

Ooh, Ann, that would be good if Ayers were still on the lam, and the statute of limitations has not run out on some crimes he has committed. What are the chances he hasn't spoken to someone about them?
=====================================

[JM Hanes]

M. Simon:

Have the leaves started turning where you are yet? I clicked over to the Anderson Garden's main site from the link you posted last night, and this afternoon, I found myself thinking about how spectacular Japanese gardens can be in the fall. I'm growing on some Japanese maples to put in an eventual garden for the house I haven't gotten around to building yet (can't imagine where the time goes!)-- even down here in the south where fall coloring can be pretty random, they're wonderfully dramatic.

[clarice]

Thanks for sharing that JMH--It's so beautiful. I had a lovely Japanese maple but it didn't make it thru one very cold winter here. They are very beautiful.

[RichatUF]

Rick-

I really don't know how to get this through to the security sluts. It's too complicated. We need simple "did you know" stuff that can be uttered without sounding judgmental.

I suppose I "liked" the Clintonian 3-fer formulation. With Ayers and Dohrn: Obama was not offended by their political support[?], supported their work in education policy through CAC, and supported their work on crime policy through Woods. Doesn't have the catchyness as a photo and article in some radical leftist journal bylined by Obama and Ayers or some cable access program from 1984 with Ayers and Obama agreeing that the United States must be destroyed.

What would you think might happen if there were a concerted international effort that declared the CDS market to be play dough?

Let me think about this for a minute if I am getting your question.

[M. Simon]

JMH,

The trees are just starting to turn.

[Sara (Pal2Pal)]

JMH: My Mom had a beautiful 25 year old dwarf Japanese Maple in her front yard that she'd grown from a small sapling. When I put her house on the market, a guy came by and offered me $3000 for it. The Realtor told me I was stuck and couldn't sell it separately since there was an offer pending and the prospective buyer had mentioned the Maple as being one of the reasons they liked the property.

[Rick Ballard]

Rich,

I think the 'Exit' on this has to be a declaration of force majeure. Otherwise we've really sold the commies the rope.

Funny how a solid move changing the rules changes the rules. Let the stinking red whiners cry. They shouldn't have bet against the bank.

[Soylent Red]

Mmmmm...fall. Going up into the hills in western VA this weekend to some hippie art festival. But since there aren't a lot of trees where I come from, I figure I'd better not miss this chance.

Hey, this thing about O! and the Iraqi government...Isn't there a law against such a thing?

[sylvia]

"in the early 80's Bill Ayers was studying for a degree in education at Bank Street College, less than a quarter-mile from Columbia,"

See this is what I mean. There is no telling how deep the links are between the two. It's possile Obama knew Ayers or knew of him for a long long time through family friend Frank Davis, we just don't know.

It's possile that Obama was one of a host of young proteges that Bill Ayers nursed for the last 20 years. For instance one of the cofounders of the Annenberg with Ayers, is a young African American who was working in the juvenile department, which we know is a specialty of Ayer's wife, and somehow he also had a meteoric career rise in Chicago. Perhaps Ayers had the utilmate goal to get to the White House from the inside, and spent the last 20 years trying to get his candidates into the White House through money and connections. Obama just happened to be the one who suceeded. We see now that it's really not that hard of a task if you pull the right strings.

There's no telling how much Obama was just using Ayers in return, but the philosophical connection has to be not small. This might sound crazy, but from a guy like Bill Ayers, who has the motive means and opportunity, it doesn't seem impossible.

[sylvia]

I suppose the question the left will then ask is - so what if Ayers sponsored and guided Obama through the political scene? Doesn't Ayers have the right, like any other American to put forwardand support candidates he would like to see as President? And even if Ayers did pull strings, Obama had the skills on his own to carry it through.

I suppose there is nothing we can answer to that.