Things That Make Me Mad on PNN

Things That Make Me Mad

Posted by laurieboris Posted on: 10/14/08

Things That Make Me Mad

I am getting so tired of William Ayers. Hillary threw him in Obama’s face all during the primaries, and nobody bought it. McCain and his running mate are still throwing it at him, and throwing it at him, and throwing it at him, and getting their surrogates to throw it at him. Never mind that this story was fully explored and yawned at by several mainstream media sources. Never mind that we can play “Six Degrees of Separation” with almost everybody in this country and find someone that they wouldn’t want to be associated with. Never mind that Sarah Palin, every time she brings up this association, makes things worse for McCain. The Republicans, and their media backers, are never going to let it go away, no matter how hard they try to make it stick. News flash, guys: if you beat a dead horse, it’s still a dead horse, whether it’s wearing lipstick or not.

Another thing that’s making me mad is a story that I read in the New York Times about the supposed “source” behind the outright lie that Obama is Muslim who has been concealing his religion. For one, Obama is a practicing Christian. For two, this lie, in the form of a press release put out by this man and released to a Republican website, is being spread by McCain supporters (whether or not these are independent operators or campaign surrogates is unknown) in letters and e-mails being sent to potential voters. This is how that frequently-televised woman in one of McCain’s political events got the disinformation that led to her comment to McCain that she was “scared” of Obama because she heard that he was an Arab. Kudos to McCain for sending her straight. (And make note of that, because I don’t give him kudos very often)

For three, the man behind this lie is a certified nut job (my apologies to nut jobs). A former law school student, he was not permitted to become a lawyer after a psychiatrist tagged him with a “moderately severe character defect manifested by well-documented ideation with a paranoid flavor and a grandiose character.” This did not discourage him from filing numerous lawsuits, many of which were found to be frivolous. He has tried unsuccessfully to run for numerous offices in numerous states, and also has a prison record. He has been interviewed several times on Fox news and his “revelations” about the Senator from Illinois were never challenged.

And, the last straw is that I’m angry with the New York Times for printing his name and giving him so much attention. I suppose he has that free speech thing going for him, but freedoms come with responsibilities. Some of those responsibilities include not using it for slander or hate speech. They include facing the consequences of your speech. Although the Times did what they could to discredit this individual, Fox gave him nothing but free media space to spread his lies. And the demographics played right into the McCain camp. I suppose that’s politics, and I should be used to it by now, but it still makes me mad. And I’ll always have the right to say that.

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I'd like to see the Obama campaign turn the Ayers story into this: William Ayers was a young, violent radical whose actions then were despicable. He eventually turned himself into federal authorities and was processed by our legal system. Since then, he has reformed himself into a respected educator and awarded community activist. The Annenbergy Foundation, the founder of which is a Republican, saw fit to award Mr. Ayers $50million for education reform in Chicago. The board of the organization was made up of respected Republicans and Democrats alike. Given Mr. Ayers 40 years of history since his deplorable acts as a young man, Obama supports his good community works and accept that people can reform and become productive members of society. The alternative is to isolate and ostracize anyone who has ever done anything bad and to, therefore, create a hopeless discouraging people from reform. We applaud Obama's recognition that Mr. Ayers has tranformed and serves his community.

By allison on October 14, 2008 19:12
Agreed! When Ayers went on the lam, Obama was eight years old. When I was eight years old, my father worked with a man named John Silber* at the University of Texas. As they both held important positions in the philosophy department, they had to work closely together even though they didn't always agree about things. And John Silber came to our home occasionally to meet with my father. So does this mean that I am forever tainted by having known John Silber? (Granted, I haven't had any contact with him as an adult, but then, unlike Ayers, he hasn't changed his ways.) Yet, if he were to show up at a meeting for a cause that was important to me, I wouldn't quit just because he was there. I don't want to sink to McCain's level, but maybe we should do like Doonesbury and list all of McCain's unsavory contacts. *For those who don't know who John Silber is, try Wiki or Google.

By wendyj on October 14, 2008 21:56
Allison -- I love the way you think. Your message should get more eyeballs! Thank you. Wendy -- is this the same John Silber who was at Syracuse University? If yes, he was in quite the position of power when I was a student.

By laurieboris on October 14, 2008 22:19
writingby - I think you are blowing this out of proportion (compliments of Freud). To equate Ayers to binLaden is really extreme. I did look at your blog and it does indeed indicate that you are way over there on the right, so I understand. BUT, Vietnam was different. Thousands were drafted and killed in a war that most of us young people believed was unjust. There were protests du jour and most of them peaceful (though the cops often came in buses to beat and mace the participants). ROTC buildings were bombed on virtually every campus in the country. Our own Natl Guard gunned down 4 kids at Kent State U. Even monkey societies will rebel and resort to violence when the oppressors don't listen. It was a desperate time. We wanted the war over (and no draft). The govt couldn't accept defeat. It was a serious situation here. So, don't tell me that Ayers is like binLaden. I'm thinking you are an extremist by nature.

By boojygirl on October 15, 2008 15:54
Also, lori, Ayers has in the past 25 years, shown himself to be a transformed person. He is no longer a terrorist. He is a respected scholar and awarded citizen. Why do you leave the image of who he is stuck in acts he committed 40 years ago but not updated with all of the good he has done since then? Your desire to create parity between him and Osama bin Laden is laughable. Bin Laden has declared himself at war with the U.S. and has willingly killed many. Ayers was upset about the prosecution of the Vietnam War. Not everything in the U.S. and he was not hurting people. He was very clear that he would only destroy property. (not that I condone that, but there is a huge difference.) Again, he has since become a respected scholar and community member. Republicans and Democrats alike work with him. So, what about Obama supporting highly lauded education reform efforts makes Obama suspect?

By allison on October 15, 2008 18:33
S'cuse me, Lori, but I don't know a single soul older than 50 who DOESN'T know someone who was a 60s radical back in the day. My mother, for example, was an anarcho-syndicalist in the late 60s and early 70s. Now she's a middle school English teacher and housewife with three daughters and a minivan. She's on the PTA, she's the head of our Sunday school, she knits socks for shut-ins at our church, and she's the most Christian person I know. To insinuate that a bunch of young kids with big dreams who did stupid things in the 60s are equivalent to terrorist masterminds like bin Laden is just kind of silly. Come over to Ohio and meet my mom sometime-- I think you'd like her!

By anewphilosophy on October 16, 2008 01:31
And laurieboris-- good article. I too am growing tired of hearing this silly crap repeated over and over. I know it's just because McCain doesn't get to run his own campaign, but still, it gets annoying.

By anewphilosophy on October 16, 2008 01:32
anewphilosophy-Thank you. Living near Woodstock, I know many, many people who were 60s radicals who are now living the most upstanding lives. History is an important thing, and like they say, those who don't know and understand it are doomed to repeat it.

By laurieboris on October 16, 2008 15:13
It's amazing how liberals can rationalize Bill Ayers actions. While some people grew their hair long, and handed out flowers to people, to protest the war, Bill Ayers manner of dealing with social issues was to hurl bombs at people. Not only was it counterproductive, he's still proud of it. And even more amazing is peoples unwillingness to realize that black liberation churches such as the Holy Trinity Church, which support Farrakhan waiver back and forth very publicly with their religious beliefs. In addition to Obamas church supporting Hamas and Hezbollah leaders who have caused great damage to Christians in Lebanon, Senator Obama and his church have replaced all our American traditions with Pan African ones. Thanksgiving is Umoja Karamu, Christmas is second to Kwanzaa, they celebrate juneteenth instead of July4 Obama has Nation of Islam staffers on his payroll, and continues to support the work of Louis Farrakhan, hoping the public won't notice.

By Titania Jones on October 16, 2008 18:32
Ayers never murdered anyone. Get your facts straight. Other members of his group split off and committed those acts. Ayers turned himself into the federal authorities for prosecution and was willing to face prison time for the property damage he committed. He was never accused of being connected to the murders that happen. The person who wrote that article is justifiably emotional about his experience. But in that emotionality he is not keeping his facts straight.

By allison on October 18, 2008 06:18

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Things That Make Me Mad

Things That Make Me Mad

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