Ayers Interviewed (Again) By Ignorant Reporter (Again)

Here's another one for the "What Else Is New" file - a Salon writer "interviews" Bill Ayers without first educating himself as to the most basic of facts.  The (presumably desired) result - another Ayers apologia.

From the lead:

Proving yet again that there are indeed second and even third acts in American lives, Bill Ayers had transformed himself over a quarter of a century from an on-the-run-from-the-law member of the Weather Underground to a Distinguished Professor of Education at the University of Illinois at Chicago. But because of a single event -- a 1995 coffee that he and his wife gave for fledgling state Senate candidate Barack Obama -- Ayers again found himself in the cross hairs of history.

Please - the "met at the coffee" excuse was offered in May (succeeding the "kids in the same school" and "guy in the neighborhood" classics) and dropped by August when the Obama campaign, bitten by reality, acknowledged that Obama had met Ayers earlier during their work on the Chicago Annenberg Challenge. 

Let's hear from Ayers on when the two men met - he volunteers that "I met [Obama] sometime in the mid-1990s" and a bit later expands on that:

Do you have a strong sense of what his views are on your subject -- education?  

I don't have a strong sense of his views on education ... The only foundation that we were active in together was the Woods Fund in Chicago, which is a small foundation that is focused on supporting community organizing. Which is a grand tradition in this country. The Woods Fund in particular is interested in supporting democracy, interested in the participation of people in issues like job creation, housing, against predatory lending. Things like that. Those were the issues that we talked about in those board meetings. And the board included Republicans, conservatives, me. But we came to a consensus around the idea of supporting marginalized poor people in their efforts to get organized and get the things that they need and deserve.

I have not reviewed the tape of the interview to track the missing ellipsis.  I suppose it is possible that Ayers said "I don't have a strong sense of his views on education even though I worked hand in glove with him on education reform for five years on the Chicago Annenberg Challenge", and Salon elected to drop that as irrelevant.  But I will Boldly Aver that it is more likely is that Ayers decided to drop the Annenberg Awkwardness and the reporter, by ignorance or choice, gave Ayers a pass.

This bit of Obama's Otherworldly Innocence is a comic gem:

The Obama campaign insisted that when you and your wife gave a coffee for Obama in 1995, he had no idea of your radical background, he just thought that you were a leading educator in Chicago.  

I'm certain that's true.

Why are you certain that's true?  

This morning I was on "Good Morning America." I got a phone call from a student an hour afterward saying, "I had no idea." I said, "You didn't notice the political campaign?"

The issue of my past in the Weather Underground or my past in the student movement has become so big in the last few months that people think it's a sign that I wear on my chest. That's not true. My students don't know this about me and it's not what I talk about. I talk about education, I talk about youth, I talk about social justice. These are all the issues that I write about and talk about all the time.

Twenty-somethings don't know about the Weather Underground so why would a forty-seven year old who went to Columbia and grew up in thrall to radicals and activists have heard of the SDS and its offshoot?  Sure, that follows.  And Obama's first full time job was with the most SDS-oriented firm in America, but Obama never heard about them there, either.  No problem.  And I'm a Yankees fan who never heard of Billy Martin.

Whatev.  How willfully ignorant is the Salon writer?  When Obama offered the "Ignorance is bliss" defense, he actually cited his work with Ayers on the Annenberg Challenge (but not by name.)  To be fair, the Obama campaign was a bit more protective of their fan base's ignorance and mentioned Obama's oblivion in the context of coffees.

Someday historians may sort this out.

Comments

[bad]

I would enjoy interviewing Ayers.

[Porchlight]

bad,

I would enjoy reading your interview with Ayers.

[clarice]

Maybe if we smeared Halliburton dust on him. Or stuffed him in Palin's sumpster.

[bad]

Thanks Porch, remember all the good stuff for the interview comes from TM, Steve Diamond, and Stanley Kurtz.

[clarice]

**Dumpster***

[mark l.]

anybody know if he is getting a chance to plug his old books...

particularly,
"Fugitive Days: A Memoir"

with some follow up, like a new chapter about: Grooming the Next President, it would be a big seller.

[Thomas Collins]

Ayers in the interview says the group was "off the tracks." See LUN for an article on Weather Underground activities that might more accurately be described as a racketeer influenced and corrupt organization all of whose members should be held responsible for all murders and other reprehensible acts committed by any member of the organization in furtherance of the organization's aims. I am not an expert on criminal conspiracy law or double jeopardy law, so I am not going to delve into the question of whether it is too late to hold these folks to account in a court of law. I do commend folks such as Kurtz, Diamond and TM who appear to be holding them responsible in the court of pursuit of historical truth.

[bgates]

The issue of my past in the Weather Underground or my past in the student movement has become so big in the last few months that people think it's a sign that I wear on my chest.

I wonder why they keep lying about this. It's not like Obama's supporters are going to be upset that he's a communist.

[bad]

bgates, I think he's referring to the big scarlet "A" on his chest. I see it everytime he's filmed or photographed. In fact, I usually say the word when his name comes up.

[PeterUK]

"Professor of Education" ,as much use as a penis tech in a harem.

Here's my question,
"Mr Ayers,what was it about rent human flesh and shattered bones that turned you on"?

[bad]

Peter, I think a better question is what didn't turn him on.

[PeterUK]

"Twenty-somethings don't know about the Weather Underground so why would a forty-seven year old who went to Columbia and grew up in thrall to radicals and activists have heard of the SDS and its offshoot? "

Exactly,just like an aspiring rock guitarist who has never heard of Jimi Hendrix or a wannabe actor who has never heard of Paul Newman.
What is being said is,Obama didn't know his business.

[PeterUK]

"Peter, I think a better question is what didn't turn him on."

The democratic process,peaceful protest...

[matt]

it's become very obvious that this is a rehabilitation scheme on the order of PR China or the USSR.

Next, Ayers will be promenaded out as a rehabilitated terrorist who's really, really sorry, but has great ideas on how we can educate children really, really good, so we should all accept his apology and who he is and don't forget Bernadine and those explosions and the nail bombs in the townhouse in Greenwich Village and the fire and the bodies and none of that really matters now it's been so long and cantwealljustgetalong and whathappenedtothe$160millionatCAC andthoserepublicansaresomeanandcrazyanyway....

(sorry, feeling Joycean today)

[cathyf]

...might more accurately be described as a racketeer influenced and corrupt organization all of whose members should be held responsible for all murders and other reprehensible acts committed by any member of the organization in furtherance of the organization's aims. I am not an expert on criminal conspiracy law or double jeopardy law, so I am not going to delve into the question of whether it is too late to hold these folks to account in a court of law.

I was under the impression that RICO was specifically designed to get around the constitutional protections against double jeopardy, among other things...

[bad]

Double jeopardy shouldn't be an issue since none of this ever came to trial.

[matt]

there is no statute of limitations on murder, so I am mystified that Ayers was never prosecuted. I know the case was flawed, but would think that with some of the Supreme Court rulings that some of the evidence that was throwen out could be admissable. Again, not sure of double jeopardy implications. Basically, Ayers got away with murder.

[Rick Ballard]

"I would enjoy interviewing Ayers."

Hmmmm....

interview

n.

1. A formal meeting in person, especially one arranged for the assessment of the qualifications of an applicant.
2.
1. A conversation, such as one conducted by a reporter, in which facts or statements are elicited from another.
2. An account or a reproduction of such a conversation.
3. Informal. An interviewee: “I had been warned that [he] was a tough interview—that he doled out flip answers … to questions he was tired of being asked” (David Roberts).

v., -viewed, -view·ing, -views.

v.tr.

1. To obtain an interview from.

2. To roast on a spit over a low fire for a period of 72 hours.

v.intr.

To have an interview: interviewed with a publishing company.

Which one did you intend, bad?

[PeterUK]

"The only foundation that we were active in together was the Woods Fund in Chicago, which is a small foundation".

These seems to be the operative wwords. Not much chance of misssing each other at the water cooler.

[bad]

Which one did you intend, bad?

The appropriate ones, Rick. Only the appropriate ones...

[Thomas Collins]

I don't know if RICO would apply to pre-RICO enactment acts, cathyf. There may also be statute of limitations problems. Of course, hardnosed creative litigator types can often find rationales for plausible criminal and civil actions that might at first blush not seem to have much of a chance.

Ultimately, I think the most we can hope for is that the individuals of the Weather Underground are called to account in the court of historical justice. I would also be interested in knowing whether parent or grandparent money financed the terrorist acts of those children of privilege who joined 60s terrorist groups such as the Weather Underground.

[clarice]

RICO was enacted in 1970. I don't recall that initially it was as expansive or used so often against non-Mobsters by prosecutors, but it may be that the tainting of the evidence by illegal wiretaps would have doomed such an attempt to failure. Pity.

[Aient]

I dont know if Obama bought the Judo, but that's what he had done with mortgages and foreign aid cash policy. The war against conservative radio, already had that with the guy who said something Obama didn't like and they traded for one of those Power universities that traded for the shootings at the non power universities. This is how Obama got to be president and got all that money done. I don't think you missed it, but that's not Ayers-it's Obama trading.

[Jor]

HEH TM -- I don't want to burst your bubble, but my guess is people aren't even going to remember Ayers in 3 months -- let alone historians getting to it. You really are delusional in your obsession. Perhaps you should leave the deep south once in a while.

[cathyf]

Ok, so they can't use the evidence from the illegal wiretaps -- why can't they use the info in Fugitive Days and all of Ayers' other public bragging about killing people?

[JM Hanes]

Jor:

"Perhaps you should leave the deep south once in a while."

LOL! You'd have to live on the Artic Circle to call Connecticut deep south or have serious reading comprehension problems, but mostly serious comprehension problems.

[Lori]

Any Chicago JOMers? Ayers is speaking at Northwestern on Thursday. He must be up for some big position in the Obama administration. Otherwise, why would he be out there promoting himself? LUN

[Thomas Collins]

Looks as if Ayers is on the public lecture/interview circuit in earnest. It is reported that he is appearing in Evanston, Illinois this Thursday. See LUN

[PeterUK]

Jiok,
Perhaps you should leave the deep shit for a while.Youa re sickening little pervert who condones mass murder,the slaughter of the innocent by a psychopath who masked his madness by feigning political intent.Don't you know, you imbecile,that this is same mentality that ran the extermination camps in Germany,Russia and China?
Being a fool won't protect you Jork,when they decide the useful fools are surplus to requirements.

[bad]

Lori and Thomas, Ayers is being a good capitalist, striking while the iron is hot. He is pushing his books, and hoping to up his speaking fees.

[Lori]

Tom Collins,
Did you get the breaking news email from NU too?

[Rick Ballard]

How long was it after Clinton was elected that the names of Susan and James McDougal faded from memory? Was it before James died in prison? While Susan was in prison? During Clinton's impeachment? After he was impeached? Before the impeached Clinton pardoned Susan on his way out the door (having sold several million dollars worth of pardons as a last gesture of contempt toward the American people).

I really don't remember it happening at all.

Obama's domestic terrorist commie buddy isn't going to be forgotten any time soon either. Nor will his racist preacher nor the felon who first purchased Obama's political favors.

[clarice]

Lori--Worse. He's trying to make big bucks.

[bad]

What does Jor have against the deep south, and why does he insist TM resides there?

Jor is a racist.

[JM Hanes]

Lori:

I'm guessing that the list of people who were told to hold their tongues till after the election by Team Obama was about as long as the tax code. Anybody who hopes to investigate Obama's past, unlikely though that be, had better take advantage of the two month, post-election/pre-inauguration window to do it. By the end of January, I do not doubt that Axelrod will have managed to get Obama's slate wiped clean as a whistle -- permanently.

[PeterUK]

It looks like Ayers is upping the ante now that Obama has been elected.Probably thinks his time has come,but the more prominence Ayers has, the more shit on Obama's shoes.

[Thomas Collins]

Yes, Lori, I get the Daily Northwestern feed. My youngest child is a Wildcat undergrad.

[PeterUK]

What is the betting that Hollywood will make a movie out of one of Ayers books.George Clooney staring,Sarandon is probably too old to play Dohrn.

[Pagar]

"Klein: ‘Fear of Obama’s ties to Ayers because of racism’. Referencing ‘white supremacy,’ Dohrn claims black man ‘not knowable’ to white people"

"The major campaign issue of Sen. Barack Obama’s affiliation with former Weathermen radical Bill Ayers was really a racist tactic meant to stoke fear among white people that they cannot trust a black man, according to Ayers’ wife and fellow Weathermen ringleader Bernadine Dohrn, Aaron Klein, Jerusalem bureau chief at World Net Daily, reported November 16, 2008."

"In her interview with Democracy Now!, Dohrn said following the 9-11 attacks it was more difficult for people to condone domestic bombings:"

LUN

I trust a lot of men, black and white, I just don't trust them when they are leftists, communists and home grown terrorists

Did it really take the 9-11 attacks to get
Americans to stop condoning domestic bombings?

Read the last of the comments on the LUN if you want to know more about the police officers murdered by the Weather Underground members.

"Sergeant Edward O’Grady and Officer Waverly Brown were shot and killed by heavily armed members of a domestic terrorist group, the Weather Underground, who had just robbed a bank and were attempting to escape. The suspects had just murdered an armored car guard and wounded two other guards before loading themselves into the back of a rental truck to be driven away by accomplices. The truck was stopped at a roadblock manned by several Nyack officers.

One of the female occupants in the cab of the truck told the officers their guns were making her nervous. Thinking they had stopped the wrong truck, the officers began to holster their weapons. Almost immediately afterwards several of the heavily armed men exited the back of the truck and opened fire with automatic weapons, fatally wounding Officer Brown and Sergeant O’Grady."

[Lori]

Thomas,
I get it too. My son is junior there. American Studies and Music.

[Lori]

I don't think it is for the money because he probably has a large trust fund. I think he is being considered for a big position in the administration.

[narciso]

Actually Piper Palin could do a better job than Walt Shapiro, and Chris Cuomo; don't mess with the Firestarter!

[bad]

For sure Narciso

[PeterUK]

Lori,
"I think he is being considered for a big position in the administration."

Ayers is calling in his markers,the unrepentant murderer, sees his time as having come.All the years of moral equivalence have left many in society unable to judge.

[centralcal]

Things that made me go Aahh or Ugh or Hhmm today (mostly ugh):

Frum left NRO - aahh

Huckster writes a book - aahh (he comes off like a petty ass, that's why he got an aahh)

McCain shmoozes with the Messiah - ugh

Obama tells his people no talky to press - hhmm

W leaving half (?) of bailot to Zero - ugh (I didn't think there was even that much left).

[bad]

I don't see how he could survive the risk of some investigating journalist getting off their a** and investigating, were he to become a part of the Obama administration.

He's in it for the money.

[Thomas Collins]

Is he in the marching band, Lori? My daughter is a sophomore marching band member.

[bad]

My daughter is a sophomore marching band member.

What does she play?

[PeterUK]

bad,
"He's in it for the money."

No,I think he is in it for the fame,with Obama as president,Ayers believes it is safe to brag.

[Lori]

No. Jazz bass.