Do you think for one solitary moment Barack Obama would have associated with the Ayers and Wrights of the world if he didn’t share their values?
Barack Obama’s Smooth Talk Express hit a road block last weekend when Sarah Palin stood athwart yelling stop and demanding to know why the Democratic standard bearer was “palling around” with an unrepentant terrorist like Bill Ayers, a founder of the Weather Underground.
Obama’s chief strategist, David Axelrod, claims Obama “didn’t know the history” of William Ayers and his activities with the Weather Underground. Just like Obama “didn’t know the history” of his former pastor Jeremiah Wright. Well, we know what they say about those who don’t know their history.
But let us for a moment give The Anointed One the benefit of the doubt. Let us suppose that he did not know Ayers’ past when he walked into his living room nearly 15 years ago. If Obama didn’t know that Ayers had participated in bombing the Pentagon three decades before al Qaeda did, when did he know?
Did Obama come to know about Ayers when he served from 1995 to 1999 as the Chairman of the Chicago Annenberg Challenge, an entity co-founded by Ayers that doled out tens of millions of dollars to Chicago public schools?
Did Obama find about Ayers’ past on the pages of the New York Times dated September 11, 2001? The very morning that al-Qaeda navigated passenger jets into the Pentagon and World Trade Center, the New York Times profiled Ayers, who had just come out with a book about his salad days with the Weather Underground titled Fugitive Days. The article begins with Ayers stating, “I don’t regret setting bombs. I feel we didn’t do enough.” (http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F021DE1438F932A2575AC0A9679C8B63)
Or did Obama only find out when he saw him last in 2007?
Whenever Obama found out about the truth about Bill Ayers he has very little to say for himself. Sure, he condemned Ayers’ actions but in the same breath stated that he was eight years old when Ayers did his deed. Actually, Obama was ten when the Weather Underground bombed the Pentagon. But this is beside the point. No doubt Barack Obama deplores the actions of Charles Manson and the Manson Family. But if Obama were to suddenly decide to visit Manson in prison to seek his advice don’t you think it would warrant calling his judgment into question? Or look at it in another way. If it came to light that John McCain had launched his political career in Arizona with the assistance of someone who bombed black churches in Alabama and was unrepentant about their actions do you think Obama would be so generous?
So what does Obama’s association with Ayers (and for that matter Wright) have to with the price of gas and the diminishing value of stocks? It has plenty to do with it. If Obama is so careless in choosing his friends and allies what makes you think he will exercise prudence and due diligence when it comes to your money?
Or ask yourself these questions. Do you think for one solitary moment Barack Obama would have associated with the Ayers and Wrights of the world if he didn’t share their values? Do you think Obama would have associated with the Ayers and Wrights of the world if he was truly proud of America? What self-respecting American tells people that our soldiers in Afghanistan “are just air-raiding villages and killing civilians”? (http://foxnews.com/story/0,2933,293187,00.html) Do we really need a President who, in the sage words of the late Jeanne Kirkpatrick, blames America first?
For the record, I do not believe Barack Obama when he feigns ignorance about Bill Ayers’ acts of terrorism anymore than I believe him when he says he never heard Reverend Wright utter an unkind word about America. If Obama is comfortable having associated with the likes of Ayers and Wright who hold this country in such utter contempt it is only fair then to ask about Obama’s regard for America.
Aaron
Everything you say makes sense, but there is something more that bothers me. When we see polls showing that 49% support Obama I have to wonder who these people are. I’m willing to concede that 18% are black and they support the first black nominee. Another 10% are just plain commies or hard socialists. In addition, another 10% are thoughtless Democrats made up of “FDR was a god” types, or children and grandchildren of these FDR Democrats who were infected with the meme that Democrats are for the little guy while the GOP is a party of rich people. That gets us up to 38% and begs the question; who are the other 11%? It was a little shocking and disappointing to see all those people in Rev. Wright’s church cheering him on when he said God Damn America and US of KKK, but it is hard for me to imagine how anyone can support Obama after learning that it was this man who married Barack and Michelle and baptized his children. For Barack to say he didn’t know is understandable. Politicians are liars by definition, but for people to believe this malarkey is something akin to the denial we saw so clearly in Nazi Germany and the USSR. After the fall of these two regimes many people ask, as they did Nixon, “What did you know and when did you know it?” If I’m ask that question in the future will be able to say “I knew it all before October of 2008, but other than voting I didn’t know what to do. It was a bit like watching your best friend with a syringe hunting for a vein.”
Obama has friends of this nature because he agrees with them.That is why his wife stated that she has never been proud of America until her husband ran for president.They both are radial socialist and they will do their best to change the face of America into a model of European socialism.
Maybe I’m being too optimistic, but remember this: despite their best efforts the media was unsuccessful in putting Gore and Kerry in office. We may end up with Obama, but that would be McCain and ACORN’s fault.
I do worry about what could happen during an Obama presidency. I went from thinking “at worst he’s Carter” to “at best he’s Carter.” And I wasn’t even around for Carter!
Anderson
I agree with your comments and I was around for Carter. It was bad, but I was lucky and muddled through with 6 different jobs during a time when home interest rates went to 16%. I recall that after Nixon we felt good that the country could survive. Then Reagan came along and answered our prayers. But that was also a time when there were Democrats who seemed to care about America. I don’t see that now.
I live in Lafayette, Louisiana, and I don’t think there is one family in my neighborhood (over 150 homes) that is voting for Obama. Of course, there might be a few, but they aren’t brave enough to put up any Obama 08′ signs.
I have seen and read more than enough to turn me away from Obama, but I have also seen very little to make we feel confident in McCain.
My entire family has discussed this multiple times. If the Republicans can present no better candidate than John McCain, they are indeed in trouble. McCain is now even losing more conservatives with his “forgive bad loans” recommendation. Poor campaigning, poor ads, and a horrible timing with the financial crisis spells almost certain doom.
Cajunfit,
I would disagree about the horrible timing as any other Republican candidate would have taken the issue of the economy and run with it.
There is this pseudo-belief that Obama loses on foreign policy. In fact, his whole campaign was based off of his “judgment” that the War in Iraq was a bad idea. That’s what gave his campaign fire and that’s why he was able to float to the top where other Democrats who had previously supported the war fell flat on their face. And he is one hell of a campaigner to take down a Clinton.
McCain’s timing couldn’t have been more perfect. As a Republican, the only time he would have gotten enough support was during a time when the party image was so bad, they had to go with someone who was likable, presentable to the media, and not tarnished with the bad Republican image. McCain fit the bill. He’s an awful campaigner, which we already witnessed in 2000. He doesn’t know the rules of the game, and he doesn’t have what it takes to win.
The primary focus for this election is the economy, and any other Republican would’ve toasted the Democrats and Obama for their Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac ties. But he’s already said he doesn’t completely understand the economy (a fair admission since most economists don’t either), which is a political suicide attempt. Instead, Obama’s camp has a stranglehold on the election again like he did before the Palin VP announcement.
Excellent points Anderson. I have put too much stock on the “guilty by association” tag they have given to McCain without realizing that not all Republicans would have let Obama/Dems get away with that.
Ayers, Wright, Rezko, ACORN fraud, and the NRA now going after Obama. Is it enough to sway Independents and get Republicans to the polls while our 401ks are at 50% of their value? McCain has one debate left to salvage something, but I have very little faith in his camp.
Cajunfit, on the other hand, would you vote for someone who advocated ousting government from the marketplace altogether and putting it back where it belongs: in a purely defense role?
“So what does Obama’s association with Ayers (and for that matter Wright) have to with the price of gas and the diminishing value of stocks? It has plenty to do with it. If Obama is so careless in choosing his friends and allies what makes you think he will exercise prudence and due diligence when it comes to your money?”
Actually, I think that Obama’s associations are of secondary importance. The policies he advocates are more than enough to condemn him: why waste too much time on when he knew the truth about his buddies?
A lot of people have absorbed the philosophy over the past decades that profit is somehow unsavory and less than best. “Non-profit” is the key to the city, as it were. Self-interest and the profit motive are all but dead and buried. The things Obama is saying openly – preaching the socialist word – he is preaching to fertile ground. The population has been well-prepared to receive him.
Reminding people of their rights – their true inalienable rights – and building a society with a government dedicated to their defense is sorely lacking. It needs to be advocated by those who DO value the lifestyle to which our species rapidly became accustomed.
John McCain and G. Gordon Liddy, anyone?
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/chi-oped0504chapmanmay04,0,6238795.column
Why would McCain be so friendly with someone who has so demonstrably undermined democracy and who has advised his radio listeners, if ATF agents attempted to disarm them, “Go for a head shot; they’re going to be wearing bulletproof vests. … Kill the sons of bitches.”? That makes Ayers and Wright sound pretty darned tame, by comparison.
Nice comment, you mentioned one radical for McCain and two for Obama.
Throwing my 0,02 cents worth in, I do see a pattern in Obama’s choice of “friends.” Fellow Travelers, as the saying goes.