Obama And Ayers - What's The Story?

Marc Ambinder wonders, what is the point of the Obama-Ayers connection?

What "radical" ideas did Obama and Bill Ayres come up with to foist on the Chicago school system?

What specific projects -- "radical" projects -- did Obama work on with Ayres?  Is there evidence that they collaborated and schemed to  ... do anything "radical" together?   Ever?

...

Is the real story here that Obama once served on the board of a liberal education charity?

Silent Running wonders whether Google has canceled Marc Ambinder's subscription:

WTF Ambinder? Google blocked at your place? | September 23rd, 2008

CY points out a classic lefty response - toss out a bunch of simple questions already answered in the material they don’t like, avoid the (repeat of the just as simple) answers, then hope something else comes along to change the subject.

My guess is that Google probably is blocked, since Ambinder resolutely misspells "Ayers" as "Ayres".

Steve Diamond, who has been advancing this story for months, has a summary here and a full paper devoted to the Ayers education agenda.  From the summary:

Rather, I think there was a more pressing purpose at the heart of the award and the support it engendered among certain elite institutions and individuals in Chicago. Ironically, while Kurtz wants to tar Obama with the red paint brush of the 60s "radical" Ayers, an understanding of the real purpose of the CAC indicates a much closer political alliance between Obama and Ayers.

The grant application itself and much of what the CAC was up to emerged in the heated "Chicago School Wars" underway in that city from the late 1980s until the late 1990s.  This war was for the control of Chicago's public schools. 

One side in this war was controlled by Mayor Richard M. Daley, Jr., son of the legendary Mayor Daley. 

And the other side was led by Ayers and a small group of reformers that had emerged several years earlier in 1988 during a battle to create a new power center in the Chicago schools, the so-called Local School Councils, or LSCs.  The LSCs were an effort to rein in the power of unionized teachers, school principals and school administrators, in the wake of an unpopular teachers' strike in 1987.

This milieu around Ayers also included, as far back as the late 80s, Barack Obama and the Developing Communities Project (DCP) that had hired Obama as its Executive Director in 1985. The DCP was a leading participant in the campaign to establish the LSCs.

Thus, in fact, the "radical" Bill Ayers and his ally Barack Obama, a Democratic political activist and lawyer on the rise in Chicago, were engaged in an anti-union effort to influence the direction and nature of the entire Chicago public school system.  It would lead them into a battle with Mayor Daley himself.

I don't know why the real story can't be the ongoing Obama cover-up of his once-close relationship with an unrepentant domestic terrorist.  Isn't the cover-up worse than the crime?  Obama and his campaign (including David Axelrod) have been providing false and misleading answers to questions about the Obama-Ayers relationship since February.

And this cover-up is continuing - there is an excellent chance that Obama and Ayers first allied in 1988 but the campaign has not admitted this and the press is not exactly pushing hard for answers.

We will see where Ambinder takes this.  At a minimum, we hope he can figure out how to spell "Ayres".

AHH, YES:  If you remember without looking that Fox News also mis-spelled "Ayres" you have been following this story too closely.  But you will also remember that this is the only time Obama came close to describing his relationship with Ayers (it was a few days after the Philadelphia debate, in which Ayers was just a guy from the neighborhood.  Here is Obama with Chris Wallace of Fox:

OBAMA:  ...Now, Mr. Ayres is a 60 plus year old individual who lives in my neighborhood, who did something that I deplore 40 years ago when I was six or seven years old. By the time I met him, he was a professor of education at the University of Illinois.

We served on a board together that had Republicans, bankers, lawyers, focused on education, who worked for Mayor Daley. Mayor Daley, the same Mayor Daley probably who when he was a state attorney prosecuted Mr. Ayres’s wife for those activities, I (INAUDIBLE) the point is that to somehow suggest that in any way I endorse his deplorable acts 40 years ago, because I serve on a board with him.

Well, it is hard to characterize the Chicago Annenberg Challenge as having "worked for Mayor Daley" given its role in the Chicago school wars.  And the suggestion is not that Obama endorses Ayers' domestic terrorism; the suggestion is that Obama and Ayers share a hard-left educational philosophy, that Obama has an odd taste in friends, and that Obama has been lying about his past.

Comments

[nlcatter]

hmm let me parse

1 The CAC money of $50 million was NOT public money.

CAC -> $50 million -> not public money

simple except for fucking moron like you

2 it was grants to the 40% of the Chicago school system

grants -> to 40% -> schools

again simple

schools -> budget 3 Billion dollars

budget -> not under CAC control

I will change the Conclusion -

50 million of CAC money was NOT public MONEY!

[DrJ]

I just can't let stupidity go. I'm terribly sorry, but some assertions are just so silly.

it was grants to the 40% of the Chicago school system that had a budget of 3 Billion dollars that was not under CAC control

Ok, so the remaining 60% was controlled by the CAC. Work out the sums, and that is $120 million, far in excess of the $50 million or so claimed here.

Obam accounted to the board of CAC where the 50 Million went.

Obam[a] was board chair early on, and on the board later on. Would you explain to me please what Obam[a]'s accounting to the board means when he was either the chair of that board or a member of that board? This is terribly ill-formed. He either had a fiduciary responsibility or he did not. Did he?

[bad]

DrJ, denial is not just a river in Egypt. This one may be the funniest one yet. Bless its widdle heart...

[JM Hanes]

I think nicatter must have gotten one of those action memos and is just getting her talking points mixed up. It seems she's unfamiliar with the concept of matching funds.

[DrJ]

I'm terribly sorry 0.6x3=0.18, in contrast to the 0.12 I showed earlier. My mistake. I await eagerly nlc's response.

[bad]

Its almost embarrassing...but not quite. Just really funny.

[Topsecretk9]

Bad

Obama's $7 an hour crew is working over time.

---

Tell em, Why would Clarice need the charity list of Independent Sector?

[DrJ]

bad, JMH,

Please forgive me. I have had so many coops and interns that are just so uninformed with basic things like adding and subtracting that I feel compelled to respond.

Please forgive me for me grievous sin.

:)

[bad]

Tell em, Why would Clarice need the charity list of Independent Sector?

She's serving arugala?

[bgates]

bad, I think I recognize nlcatter's writing style.

[bad]

Obama's $7 an hour crew is working over time.

If this crew is like ACORN they earn far less than minimum wage.

[bad]

bgates

How generous of you to refer to that as a "style."

[JM Hanes]

LOL

[nlcatter]

matching funds were not GIVEN to CAC

CAC gave matching funds to the Schools.

[nlcatter]

NO you fucking faced moron,

40% of the schools were involved

[DrJ]

Ignorance is bliss, I suppose.

I see no proper English, no links, no sums, no response to earlier posts, and nothing of worth.

nlc, I do hope that you are able to graduate from whatever institution to which you currently pay tuition. If any. And if I were you, I would ask for my money back.

[nlcatter]

aha ad hominem attacks
showing you are bereft of intellgence

such as Palin the Creationist.

[DrJ]

I see no proper English, no links, no sums, no response to earlier posts, and nothing of worth.

No response here. This is not ad hominem. It is simple fact.

[nlcatter]

talking about grammar is not addressing the issue - thus ad hominem -

imbecile

[nlcatter]

CAC did not control ANY public money,

they administered the DONATED money from Annenberg.

[Topsecretk9]

Bad, my bad...I meant, Tell ME why a list of ISector charities would be useful to Clarice?

[Topsecretk9]

they administered the DONATED money from Annenberg.

And as an executive he sucked on both fronts, is that what you are saying?

[Topsecretk9]

they administered the DONATED money from Annenberg.

And Fannie Mae executive and Obama adviser administered upwards of 500 million of taxpayers money - DONATED MONEY - to charities that do not perform...

I.E. Go down that road Obamabot.

[DrJ]

I see no proper English, no links, no sums, no response to earlier posts, and nothing of worth.

There is nothing you have offered to change the above. That is, unless you have something to contravene the documents issued by the CAC board. Obama was a member of that board.

Have at it!

[Ann]

There really isn't more to be said here than bad's wonderful:
"Bless its widdle heart..."

Don't mess with our "bad AssJOMer". She will win every time.

It is funny how these dog trolls get out, and everytime they head straight for the road.

[DrJ]

It is funny how these dog trolls get out, and everytime they head straight for the road.

Agreed, but you do a disservice to dogs.

[JM Hanes]

How about this scenario, nicat: CAC was supposed to raise $100 million in matching funds per the 2:1 agreement with Annenberg, but they didn't. They scoured everybody's books for money they could list as matching funds, but that they never actually raised from anybody. Then they handed out the original $50 million to Ayers' pet projects. Et voila! No wonder there was no discernable change in the schools they were supposedly helping, eh? If you don't like that scenario, there are other variations on the numbers -- none of them good, alas.

[nlcatter]

I pointed out from the report that he was not in control of ANY public money,

CAC provided and controlled their OWN money,
but you liars are seem too stupid (ala Palin) to understand the facts.

[DrJ]

Ask for your money back. It is the only recourse for education monies misspent.

[kim]

'Bless his widdle heart'. Wong, wong, wong!
===========================

[clarice]

http://pajamasmedia.com/blog/obama-ayers-partners-in-revolution/2/

[DebinNC]

Link to clarice's article.

[bad]

Great article Clarice. I like that you asked the question of why Obama omitted reference to Ayers in his books. Someone with intellectual curiosity would be fascinated by a pair of terrorists, former FBI's most wanted, married and immersed in the shaping the lives of children.

The silence is deafening.

[clarice]

Thanks, bad.

[bad]

Tops

She is looking for Obama connections with that group.

[JBean]

Clarice --

Great job!

[JBean]

They scoured everybody's books for money they could list as matching funds, but that they never actually raised from anybody.

But they repeatedly claimed they did raise the money from public and private sources -- until of course, the CAC is criticized as having wasted public money. Then they didn't. Interesting how that works.

On the same subject of matching funds, I just re-read that 9/08 NYT article by Sam Dillon which was referenced in the Rollings email published by Kurtz yesterday, and we have yet another take on the subject:

"Chicago received $49 million from a $500 million endowment by Walter H. Annenberg, the billionaire publisher, for school reform efforts nationwide, and the city added $98 million in matching funds for the Chicago Annenberg Challenge..."

The 2007 Loyola report (linked previously), has numerous 2004 quotes from Rollings whining about how the city, in the person of Paul Vallas, "tried to wrest that money (the Annenberg grant itself) away from us." Rollings also moaned about Vallas' attempts to control Title One monies -- those public taxpayer funds that CAC was counting on as a "local match."

But now, four years later, with a presidency on the line and all the Chicago bags packed and ready for the move to DC, the city gave CAC the matching funds.

Change you can believe in!

[bad]

the city added $98 million in matching funds for the Chicago Annenberg Challenge..."

Sloppy and careless of Sam Dillon, although typical of the NYT, to get the amount wrong when the CAC files show the actual amount raised. Steve Diamond and Tom Maguire managed to get it right. And they are (gasp) bloggers...

[Ranger]

the city added $98 million in matching funds for the Chicago Annenberg Challenge

Well, it is correct if you take "city" to mean the entire community, not the city government. It is sloppy writing but I don't think it is technically wrong. I have a feeling it results from just being too lazy to figure out how much came from local foundations and how much was added from education money already targeted to various schools that the NAC allowed CAC to count as "controbutions".

[bad]

Ranger

My point is that the amount is wrong. The correct figure is $110 million. Sorry to be unclear-- again. (sigh) People will think I write for NYT...

[bad]

Page 37 of the LINK UNDER NAME pdf file Annual Report to Annenberg shows the final figures for matching funds raised at The Chicago Annenberg Challenge.

Private Funds $59,808,146
Public Funds $50,655,505
Grant $49,000,000

The referenced document is the final certification of matching funds for The Chicago Annenberg Challenge.

LUN

[Ranger]

Sorry bad,

I'll be honest, after a certain point I just stop paying attention to the numbers.

[bad]

Look out world!! Obama is gonna bring Chicago Annenberg Challenge education to the entire world.

[nlcatter]

Chicago did NOT add 98 million in matching funds.

and the mathcing funds they did provide were dollars ALREADY allocated to the schools under Title 1.

CAC did not control those funds.

[DrJ]

Isn't he (she? it?) cute. Of course Chicago did not add $98 million in matching funds. Do you even read here? Nah, reading is too hard, it seems.

[Ranger]

...the mathcing funds they did provide were dollars ALREADY allocated to the schools under Title 1.

Posted by: nlcatter | September 25, 2008 at 11:00 AM

Which was essentially an acounting fraud to free up NAC funds by claiming matching monies that never existed (with a wink and a nod from NAC). I'm not sure that is really the argument you want to push.

[bad]

CAC did not control those funds.

Annenberg required 2:1 matching funds be raised and implemented in order for Ayers and Obama to qualify for the grant of $49.2 million.

Are you saying they committed fraud in order to get the grant?

[nlcatter]

yes, I agree they never raised new matching funds - just Counted funds taht were goign to be spent already

by point was not how much funds,

but that Obama did not spend , thus waste in your terms, public Funds.

Thus accountability was maintained.

[MayBee]

nlcatter- who sent you? We don't want nobody nobody sent.

Seriously- what is your background in looking at the CAC?

[JM Hanes]

"Thus accountability was maintained."

We now know a fraud was perpetrated, thus accountability has been maintained. You must be a progressive.

[MayBee]

He was accountable to the people who wanted the fraud carried out, JMH.

[nlcatter]

of public funds

thats what you all were WHINING about

you have no right to whine about funds from Liberal groups. its their money not yours.

[bad]

LOL LOL LOL The new talking points are killing me. What a hoot.

[bad]

The public funds were diverted from their original purpose, educating disadvantaged minority students, in order to pursue "The Annenberg Way. All of the evaluations incliding the ones funded by CAC say the initiative was a failure. A failure that cost $160 million.

If the money was not diverted to "The Annenberg Way" then CAC perpetrated a fraud in order to get $49.2 million from Annenberg.

Take your pick: failure or fraud?

[MayBee]

I want to know about the man running for President of the United States, nlcatter.
How he decides priorities, how he determines budgets, what he thinks are good investments, and with whom he chooses to collaborate. If he becomes POTUS, he will be making decisions with taxpayer money.

So yeah, it really is my business. They are our school children, right? They certainly weren't the children of the liberal group.

[DrJ]

Take your pick: failure or fraud?

Bad, I've been scratching my head about the truly bizarre logic (if that's what you can call it) nlc has been promulgating. We never brought up misspending of public funds -- that was just a given, as all the monies were misspent. That was nlc.

Now instead a fraud is proffered as a preferred explanation. I've never seen anything like it, and I've seen a lot.

[JM Hanes]

MayBee et al:

Could someone do me a favor? When I try to access Quasiblog, I keep getting a not found window. Could you give the link a click and let me know whether you get a "not found" error instead of the blog's front page? I'm trying to figure out whether or not it's just my internet host that's funky. I'm afraid it's something more though, because JOM won't allow me use the URL in my LUN.

[bad]

JMH

I was redirected when I went to your site. Wonder what that means? Who have you been writing about?

[bad]

DrJ

I'm flabbergasted by the new talking point. It has been proffered several times so it isn't that we are misunderstanding. But I'm cool with it.

[boris]

I get a "Cannot find server" and a redirect that claims it doesn't exist JMH.

[JBean]

JM Hanes -

Re: Quasiblog: I get an error in both FF3 and IE7 -- the website must be down.

[DrJ]

I don't get you site either, JMH. The whois database shows that the site registration expired yesterday Pay up!!

[JM Hanes]

Oh lordy. I can't possibly have had the domain name that long! On the other hand, I've had it so long, I can't remember whom to pay....argh. I hate it when it turns out to be my own damn fault!
Thanks guys!

[DrJ]

You've had it for four years. It looks like your registrar is pairNIC. You can change it to whatever company you want. GoDaddy is cheap.

[JBean]

nicat --

by point was not how much funds,

but that Obama did not spend , thus waste in your terms, public Funds.

Thus accountability was maintained.

Accountability of what? And to whom? 

Let's leave aside the issue of  the fuzzy accounting of matching "public funds,"  for the moment.

Are you arguing that if a group takes private funds, designated for a specific purpose and goal -- most specifically, public school education -- and achieves no measurable results toward that purpose or goal, that's there is no accountability to the public?

[MayBee]

It worked for me, JMH.
But then, I've had you open in another tab for about 3 days.

[DrJ]

The way this usually works is that once you lose registration, the name servers no longer point to the right place. If you are already there (like from an open tab) you don't have that issue. The web site is not gone. It is just that no one can map the name to the IP address.

[JM Hanes]

Back in business, thanks to DrJ!

[JBean]

JM Hanes --

Back in business, thanks to DrJ!

Yes you are. Yay!

[MayBee]

I clicked JMH's link, though, and got there.

[MayBee]

Day late. Dollar short. Me.

[DrJ]

Nerds. Protectors of free speech!

[JM Hanes]

Yay Nerds! Yay, Engineers! Yay JOM!

The biggest problem with actually keeping a blog going is that the immediate feedback over here is a hell of lot more fun! That's why I decided to name my erratic effort quasiblog. I really don't know how the real bloggers like TM keep going, and going, and going. I'm always afraid he'll wake up one day and say, enough is enough.

[DrJ]

I really don't know how the real bloggers like TM keep going, and going, and going.

I share your amazement, particularly for bloggers who write original material (as opposed to link aggregators like Instapundit, for example).

[bad]

Has Ayers ever been asked about his relationship with Obama? Would he maintain silence like so many others from Obama's past?

[JBean]

Bad --

Has Ayers ever been asked about his relationship with Obama? Would he maintain silence like so many others from Obama's past?

Asked? Hard to say, but, as "a legend in his own mind," the silence must be really, really  tough on Bill. 

Would he maintain silence? Good question. I'm sure you know he's got a blog (no link from me)  --  he's been very, very, careful not to mention the "O" word. Cryptic?  Yes -- because of the inherent superiority of his very essence.

[bad]

OOOO JBean, good one!!

[JBean]

Bad --

Did you ever wonder why Obama never mentions Viet Nam, even though it's a a sure-fire bullseye among the '60's crowd (if you're not John Kerry, of course).

He's actually defended (publicly, if not through his subterranean media/net manipulation) McCain's service.

Hey, could it be because Viet Nam is an obsession of Bill Ayers?

I confess, I read "Fugitive Days" -- but I also attended the funerals of those who didn't make it back....and may Ayers, well, go to the place that's, um, appropriate.

[JM Hanes]

bad:

"Would he maintain silence..." With an appointment as Secretary of Education in the offing? I'd wager a yes.

[bad]

With an appointment as Secretary of Education in the offing?

I wonder if Obama could get away with that appointment. His need to loved is pretty strong. An Ayers cabinet position could result in some pretty low approval ratings.

AAWWW Who am I kidding....

[JBean]

Bad, JM Hanes --

No need for Ayers. There are plenty of surrogates. Ask Steve Diamond.

Speaking of the A-thing  (who shall not be linked), he has a new post up:

"My plan is to give $425,000 to every person 18+ as a “We Deserve It Dividend.”

Where did I put that Zantac?

[bad]

Where did I put that Zantac?

I'd require something stronger...

[DrJ]

I'd suggest Xanax... May still be too mild.

[JM Hanes]

Actually I doubt Obama would officially welcome into his cabinet. Ayers would probably be willing to make do with deciding where all the federal grant money should go....

[DrJ]

Oh no! You mean I wasted my time visiting NSF and NIH last week?

[JM Hanes]

DrJ:

If you filled it up with terms like collaboration and partnerships and leveraging, you should be OK.

[DrJ]

:)

Actually I have all that stuff already. Private-academic partnerships in spades. I just happen that I use an academic clean room to make my gizmos.

[bad]

I use an academic clean room to make my gizmos.

resisting...resisting...resisiting......

[DrJ]

Aw go for it bad.

[bad]

It would be bad DrJ.

[sophy]

Please do not hesitate to have twelve sky Gold . It is funny.