Cynical Optimist

Sarah Palin took Barack Obama to task today for his longstanding association with renowned American terrorist Bill Ayers. She was reacting to a story about the relationship on the front page of the New York Times.

In Colorado today, Palin said “There is a lot of interest, I guess, in what I read and what I’ve read lately. Well, I was reading my copy of today’s New York Times and I was interested to read about Barack’s friends from Chicago.

“I get to bring this up not to pick a fight, but it was there in the New York Times, so we are gonna talk about it. Turns out one of Barack’s earliest supporters is a man who, according to the New York Times, and they are hardly ever wrong, was a domestic terrorist and part of a group that quote launched a campaign of bombings that would target the Pentagon and US Capitol. Wow. These are the same guys who think patriotism is paying higher taxes.

“This is not a man who sees America as you see it and how I see America. We see America as the greatest force for good in this world. If we can be that beacon of light and hope for others who seek freedom and democracy and can live in a country that would allow intolerance in the equal rights that again our military men and women fight for and die for for all of us. Our opponent though, is someone who sees America it seems as being so imperfect that he’s palling around with terrorists who would target their own country?”

That’s strong stuff, and it’s about time this got the attention it deserves. Those of us who have been following this have been utterly disgusted with the way the Main Stream Media has ignored or minimized the relationship.

The article Palin is referencing, like most MSM articles on the subject, is a whitewash. Essentially it repeats the Obama campaign talking points, but there are some nuggets of new information, and some admissions by the Times. Let’s look at some of those.

“A review of records of the schools project and interviews with a dozen people who know both men, suggest that Mr. Obama, 47, has played down his contacts with Mr. Ayers, 63.”

It’s nice to see that in print from the New York Times.

“The suggestion that Ayers was a political adviser to Obama or someone who shaped his political views is patently false,” said Ben LaBolt, a campaign spokesman.

I haven’t seen too many people suggest this. What has been suggested, and is legitimate, is the idea that the relationship calls into question Obama’s judgment and good sense. Many people, even in a corrupt city like Chicago, refuse to associate with Ayers. Even if it’s for a good cause. So why would Obama?

“More recently, conservative critics who accuse Mr. Obama of a stealth radical agenda have asserted that he has misleadingly minimized his relationship with Mr. Ayers, whom the candidate has dismissed as “a guy who lives in my neighborhood” and “somebody who worked on education issues in Chicago that I know,” and a few lines later, “Obama campaign aides said the Ayers relationship had been greatly exaggerated by opponents to smear the candidate.”

I find it interesting the Times would so conclusively show that Obama has been dishonest about his relationship and at the same time support the critical view. It is an astonishing admission, just as it is clear that Ayers wasn’t just a “guy who lives in my neighborhood.”

Steve Chapman, a columnist for The Chicago Tribune, defended Mr. Obama’s relationship with the Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr., his longtime pastor, whose black liberation theology and “God damn America” sermon became notorious last spring. But he denounced Mr. Obama for associating with Mr. Ayers, whom he said the University of Illinois should never have hired.

“If you’re in public life, you ought to say, ‘I don’t want to be associated with this guy,’ ” Mr. Chapman said. “If John McCain had a long association with a guy who’d bombed abortion clinics, I don’t think people would say, ‘That’s ancient history.’ ”

I agree. As should have Obama.

“Mr. LaBolt said the men first met in 1995 through the education project, the Chicago Annenberg Challenge.”

This is a new one. Previously, the Obama campaign claimed they first met at a fundraiser in Bill Ayer’s home. Now the Times admits, “Twenty-six years later, at a lunchtime meeting about school reform in a Chicago skyscraper, Barack Obama met Mr. Ayers, by then an education professor.”

Tom Hayden, a former California legislator and current Obama supporter, “If Barack Obama says he’s willing to talk to foreign leaders without preconditions,” Mr. Hayden said, “I can imagine he’d be willing to talk to Bill Ayers about schools. But I think that’s about as far as their relationship goes.”

It’s nice that Mr. Hayden thinks that’s as far as the relationship goes, but considering Obama’s false statements about it, how can he be sure?

Which is the point entirely.

Note: While writing this I went to the Obama “Fight the Smears” campaign website for material referencing the official Obama position which I had seen there previously, but all that stuff has been removed. The only thing I was able to find is the attempt to equate a 527 commercial with the Swiftboat thing in 2004. They are no longer attempting to minimize the relationship but are attempting to denigrate those who feel it’s an important issue to talk about. I guess the charade was wearing thin. That too says it all.

Tags: Media Bias, Politics //