Okay, maybe I am just too much of a "lefty" or a "social progressive" (as Bill O'Reily likes to say) to understand why I should be upset about the fact that Barack Obama associates with Bill Ayers. Unlike most of the nut-jobs who actually support the McCain/Palin ticket, I have actually looked into Bill Ayers, not just his history with the Weather Underground, but his recent work on education reform. Here's some links:
Bill Ayers Wikepedia entry: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Ayers The Weathermen, or Weather Underground organization entry: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weatherman_(organization) And finally, a link to some of the education reform organization he has been involved with: In fact, here is his blog: http://billayers.org/
Okay, so now we have that out of the way, and you too can check him out. Look, the guy has written like a dozen books on education reform, focused heavily on the idea of teaching students from an early age, to become active participants in the civic square of America and beyond. That means teaching students to be critical thinkers; to question authority before they become docile and obedient; to learn to understand and enjoy the important role that arts and music play in society, and the list of foci goes on long and wide. The point here is simple, the guy spends all of his energy trying to the make the United States of America a better country, by helping to reform the education structure, which is perhaps the worst in the industrialized world now, and once was the best.
Oh, but wait, there's that nasty "domestic terrorist" past that we have to deal with too. Let's just get it out there in the open. He rose to national notoriety as one of the leaders of SDS [Students for Democratic Society], ultimately becoming its national president or something to that effect. This was right around 1967/8, so you can imagine the role that a group like this played in the drive to revolution that was so present at the time. Then, still the defacto leader of the Jesse James Gang - a wing of SDS - he made "substantial contributions to the Weathermen toward militancy," according to the Wikepedia page. In other words, he played a very key role in the development of the Weathermen into a more focused, action-driven organization, set on creating change where there was none. Eventually, Ayers became the most important leader in the Weathermen, and in some case even the most confrontational. He was pretty much a street fighter, and continues to take that intensity into every social and political movement he is a part of.
In short, I as a proud progressive, really like this guy. Look, the right wing in this country, read McCain campaign and the radio show hosts that think he is not right wing enough, are telling folks they should not vote for Obama because he served on a board with Ayers and talks to him from time to time. Meanwhile, it is the right wing who is still bombing the shit out innocent civilians in Iraq, Afghanistan, and who knows where the fuck else! It's the right wing who has consistently fought against livable wages in this country. The right wing who still pushes for health care as a "responsibility" and not a "right". The American right wing would be happy if all the progressives were rounded up and slaughtered, or at least put into prisons where they can keep a good eye on them while they "reform" America.
I love the fact that Bill Ayers is involved in the American political debate right now. I hope Obama hires Bill Ayers. He won't, because he has already let the right wing affect his judgment, but I'd be happy if he did.
So tell me again Mr. "bomb bomb bomb, bomb bomb Iran" why the fuck I should be afraid of Barack Obama's associations with Bill Ayers? Listen you sick, sycophantic fuck: I think that what the Weathermen did is not altogether different than what many citizens did all over the world in a struggle to wrest the government from the hands of the oligarchs. The real question is where is that kind of outrage today? I think you and your sick right wing friends bombed the towers and the Pentagon, just like hundreds of thousands of other American who actually looked at the "evidence" you presented. It's surprising to me that more weatherman style groups have not surfaced in recent years. One has to ask the real question why not?
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