They're becoming a mob

[Guynemer]

Burden of proof is on the State, innocent until proven guilty, etc. etc.

[Naked Gents Rut]

Luckily for us, Ayers has no qualms about admitting to his past terrorist acts. Really Guy, are you so far in the tank for Obama that you'll defend an unrepentant terrorist?

[DinoDoc]

Originally posted by Guynemer
Burden of proof is on the State, innocent until proven guilty, etc. etc.

''I don't regret setting bombs,'' Bill Ayers said. ''I feel we didn't do enough.'' Mr. Ayers said.

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F02E1DE1438F932A2575AC0A9679C8B63

[Boris Godunov]

Originally posted by DinoDoc
''I don't regret setting bombs,'' Bill Ayers said. ''I feel we didn't do enough.'' Mr. Ayers said.

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpag...5AC0A9679C8B63

And Ayers has already said that the NY Times article misrepresented what he said:

http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2008/09/in-a-not-remote.html

"It's impossible to get to be my age and not have plenty of regrets. The one thing I don't regret is opposing the war in Vietnam with every ounce of my being.

"During the Vietnam war, the Weather Underground took credit for bombing several government installations as a dramatic form of armed propaganda. Action was taken against symbolic targets in order to declare a state of emergency. But warnings were always called in, and by design no one was ever hurt.

"When I say, 'We didn't do enough,' a lot of people rush to think, 'That must mean, "We didn't bomb enough s---."' But that's not the point at all. It's not a tactical statement, it's an obvious political and ethical statement. In this context, 'we' means 'everyone.'

"The war in Vietnam was not only illegal, it was profoundly immoral, millions of people were needlessly killed. Even though I worked hard to end the war, I feel to this day that I didn't do enough because the war dragged on for years after the majority of the American people came to oppose it. I don't think violent resistance is necessarily the answer, but I do think opposition and refusal is imperative."

While I am not that impressed by the defense of the bombings, he clearly was not saying he thought more bombs needed to be set.

Ayers did formally apologize to the only person hurt in a bombing, Richard Elrod (and Ayers had no actual involvement with that incident). Again, not entirely impressive, but still shows he wasn't absent regret.

So claiming that Ayers is an "unrepentant terrorist" is misleading, at best.

[Boris Godunov]

And what's the lie Obama told? Factcheck.org on a McCain ad claiming the "lie:"

We find McCain’s accusation that Obama “lied” to be groundless. It is true that recently released records show half a dozen or so more meetings between the two men than were previously known, but Obama never denied working with Ayers.

Other claims are seriously misleading. The education project described in the Web ad, far from being “radical,” had the support of the Republican governor and was run by a board that included prominent local leaders, including one Republican who has donated $1,500 to McCain’s campaign this year. The project is described by Education Week as reflecting “mainstream thinking” about school reform.

Despite the newly released records, there’s still no evidence of a deep or strong “friendship” with Ayers, a former radical anti-war protester whose actions in the 1960s and ’70s Obama has called “detestable” and “despicable.”

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

The notion that Obama had a close relationship with Ayers is false. There are Illinois REPUBLICANS who have a longer, closer relationship with Ayers.

He's been claiming than Ayers was "just a guy in his neighborhood", which is preposterous.

Please cite Obama saying that was the only extent of their relationship. You're lying.

[Naked Gents Rut]

While I am not that impressed by the defense of the bombings, he clearly was not saying he thought more bombs needed to be set.

Where does he say that he wishes he hadn't set the bombs that he did set? That's kind of required for him to be considered "repentant".

Please cite Obama saying that was the only extent of their relationship.

That was Obama's first description of their relationship. When pushed on the issue, Obama later admitted that they had served on a board together. That's hardly the entire extent of their relationship, however, which Obama has yet to come clean on. It'd be nice if the media would put some pressure on Obama and get to the truth, but we all know that's not going to happen.

[Velociryx]

*shakes head sadly*

It's a nice try all around, but I don't think we're ever going to convince them. Just like they're never gonna be able to convince me that there's not something more than meets the eye to the Keating affair (of course, in that one, at least McCain was actively involved, and we're not trying to somehow magically link him to something that happened during his childhood, which truly mystifies me).

-=Vel=-

(You know, I'd be willing to bet we could play the "six degrees of separation" game between Hitler and some members of Palin's family who died when she was eight...this, however, does not make her a Fascist...)

[DinoDoc]

Originally posted by Boris Godunov
And Ayers has already said that the NY Times article misrepresented what he said:

It's kind of hard to misrepresent a statement like ''I don't regret setting bombs'' regardless of context. You may quibble about the ''I feel we didn't do enough'' statement but the point stands.

As for "But warnings were always called in, and by design no one was ever hurt:"

I guess they got a wrong number this time when calling in a warning: http://www.city-journal.org/2008/eon0430jm.html

People only avoided injury out of luck.

[Kidlicious]

Originally posted by Naked Gents Rut
No, he just sat in the church of a bigot for twenty years.

You can't compare Reverend Wright to these people. And even if you could Obama has clearly seperated himself from Wright. He isn't depending and soliciting the vote of people like that.

[Velociryx]

Has anyone seen any vids of Obama rallies where people are saying "kill him" etc., re: McCain/Palin?

I'd be curious if such stuff is occuring at Obama rallies, and if not....isn't that interesting?

-=Vel=-

$0.02 (I did a quick search on Youtube but didn't find anything...I'll certainly keep looking, but if anybody finds something, post a link...I'd be curious to see--what I've seen so far is Obama is fairly quick to tell his supporters to be respectful...that seems to be a recurring theme...)

[Boris Godunov]

Originally posted by Naked Gents Rut
That was Obama's first description of their relationship. When pushed on the issue, Obama later admitted that they had served on a board together. That's hardly the entire extent of their relationship, however, which Obama has yet to come clean on. It'd be nice if the media would put some pressure on Obama and get to the truth, but we all know that's not going to happen.

That's just not true. Obama published this information on his own website back in April, when the Ayers story first hit the media:

http://factcheck.barackobama.com/factcheck/2008/04/17/fact_check_on_clinton_attacks.php

Chicago Sun Times: Obama's Connection To Ayers Is A "Phony Flap". The Chicago Sun-Times wrote in an editorial, "But Ayers, it is also true to say, has since followed in the footsteps of the great Chicago social worker Jane Addams, crusading for education and juvenile justice reform. His 1997 book, A Kind and Just Parent: The Children of Juvenile Court, has been praised for exposing how Cook County's juvenile justice system all but eliminates a child's chance for redemption. Is Barack Obama consorting with a radical? Hardly. Ayers is nothing more than an aging lefty with a foolish past who is doing good. And while, yes, Obama is friendly with Ayers, it appears to be only in the way of two community activists whose circles overlap. Obama's middle name is Hussein. That doesn't make him an Islamic terrorist. He stopped wearing a flag pin. That doesn't make him unpatriotic. And he's friendly with UIC Professor William Ayers. That doesn't make him a bomb thrower. Time to move on to Phony Flap 6,537,204." [Chicago Sun-Times, 3/3/08]

Washington Post: Obama-Ayers Link "Is A Tenuous One." The Washington Post reported in a fact check, "But the Obama-Ayers link is a tenuous one." [Washington Post, 2/18/08]

Woods Fund President Harrington: "This Whole Connection Is A Stretch." The Washington Post reported in a fact check, "Whatever his past, Ayers is now a respected member of the Chicago intelligentsia, and still a member of the Woods Fund Board. The president of the Woods Fund, Deborah Harrington, said he had been selected for the board because of his solid academic credentials and 'passion for social justice.' 'This whole connection is a stretch,' Harrington told me. 'Barack was very well known in Chicago, and a highly respected legislator. It would be difficult to find people round here who never volunteered or contributed money to one of his campaigns.'" [Washington Post, 2/18/08]

Noam Scheiber Of TNR: "I Don't See Evidence Of Any Relationship" Between Obama And Ayers. Noam Scheiber of The New Republic wrote, "Ben says Ayers and Obama were, at best, casual friends. Even that seems to overstate things, though. I don't see evidence of any relationship. The only concrete connection we know of is the meeting, which was attended by a number of local liberals; their contemporaneous membership on the board of a local organization; and a $200-donation by Ayers to one of Obama's state senate campaigns. (Obama also once praised something Ayers had written about the juvenile justice system.) I'm not saying they couldn't have been casual friends; just that there isn't much evidence for that at this point." [The New Republic, 2/22/08]

Birdsell: Obama Links To Ayers Were "Pretty Slender Ties." The New York Sun reported, "'Those are pretty slender ties to a controversial figure,' the dean of Baruch College's School of Public Affairs, David Birdsell, said of Mr. Obama's links to Mr. Ayers." [New York Sun, 2/19/08]

How could Obama be only asserting they were neighbors and nothing else, when he publishes this information on his website?

The fact is, Ayers was one of thousands of people Obama had small connections with as part of his life in Chicago politics and public service. The guilt-by-association is nonsense, since he and Ayers have never been associated on anything remotely illegal, unethical or otherwise. He's condemned the actions of the Weathermen. What more could be done? Nothing, and you know it. This is just the politics of the smear.

[Boris Godunov]

Ayers prosecutor outraged by attacks on Obama

William Ibershof, the federal attorney who prosecuted Weather Underground bomber William Ayers, dismissed attempts to try to tie Barack Obama to the former terrorist.

"I am amazed and outraged that Senator Barack Obama is being linked to William Ayers’s terrorist activities 40 years ago when Mr. Obama was, as he has noted, just a child," Ibershof wrote in a letter to The New York Times.

Ibershof was the lead prosecutor of the Weathermen in the 1970s, when they faced riot and conspiracy charges for a bombing campaign that targeted the Capitol, the Pentagon and other buildings.

Ibershof wrote the Times to note that charges against the Weathermen were dismissed because of investigators' illegal methods, including unauthorized wiretaps, break-ins and mail interceptions. The charges weren't dropped because of "prosecutorial misconduct," which was the reason given in a Times story about Ayers last weekend, Ibershof said.

He added that he was "pleased" to learn that Ayers, now a university professor and an education advocate, has become "a responsible citizen."

[Boris Godunov]

Originally posted by DinoDoc
It's kind of hard to misrepresent a statement like ''I don't regret setting bombs'' regardless of context. You may quibble about the ''I feel we didn't do enough'' statement but the point stands.

As for "But warnings were always called in, and by design no one was ever hurt:"

I guess they got a wrong number this time when calling in a warning: http://www.city-journal.org/2008/eon0430jm.html

People only avoided injury out of luck.

That is not, according to Ayers, what he told the times. He says they took what he said out of context:

http://billayers.wordpress.com/2008/04/21/clarifying-the-facts-a-letter-to-the-new-york-times-9-15-2001/

In July of this year Dinitia Smith asked my publisher if she might interview me for the New York Times on my forthcoming book, Fugitive Days. From the start she questioned me sharply about bombings, and each time I referred her to my memoir where I discussed the culture of violence we all live with in America, my growing anger in the 1960’s about the structures of racism and the escalating war, and the complex, sometimes extreme and despairing choices I made in those terrible times.

Smith’s angle is captured in the Times headline: “No regrets for a love of explosives” (September 11, 2001). She and I spoke a lot about regrets, about loss, about attempts to account for one’s life. I never said I had any love for explosives, and anyone who knows me found that headline sensationalistic nonsense. I said I had a thousand regrets, but no regrets for opposing the war with every ounce of my strength. I told her that in light of the indiscriminate murder of millions of Vietnamese, we showed remarkable restraint, and that while we tried to sound a piercing alarm in those years, in fact we didn’t do enough to stop the war.

Smith writes of me: “Even today, he ‘finds a certain eloquence to bombs, a poetry and a pattern from a safe distance,’ he writes.” This fragment seems to support her “love affair with bombs” thesis, but it is the opposite of what I wrote:

I do find a bit of amusing irony in the fact that conservatives trash the NYT all the time until it says something they happen to like...

As for that other story, there's absolutely no way of knowing if Ayers was involved in that or not. The Weathermen weren't particularly well-organized, and splinter groups were doing their own thing. The only documented fatalities involving members of the group were the morons who blew themselves up.

[Wiglaf]

http://michellemalkin.com/2008/10/12/crush-the-obamedia-narrative-look-whos-gripped-by-insane-rage/

http://michellemalkin.com/archives/images/killbush003.jpg

http://michellemalkin.cachefly.net/michellemalkin.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2008/03/dope.jpg

That's a mob, you dumb ****s.

Good news: I just got a big raise because I'm smarter than you idiots.

[DaShi]

Those are freedom fighters!