[larrymcg421]

Originally Posted by CamEdwards

I had a much longer post all ready to go, but I think it's kind of a waste. Honest to Christ, if you can't figure out why some people might be bothered by the fact that Ayers is a respected member of society 40 years after he engaged in a bombing campaign that left at least 4 people dead, then of course you're not going to understand the big deal about Obama having even a professional relationship with the guy.

Because he doesn't have a professional relationship with the guy?

For the record, DT:

1) Ayers was not exonerated or cleared of any charges by the government. Prosecutorial misconduct led to a plea bargain.

Has nothing to do with Obama.

2) They served on the board of directors of the Woods Foundation, and also had a fairly long association with the Chicago Annenberg Challenge. While it may be true that Obama wasn't in a position to remove Ayers, he certainly WAS in a position to speak out about Ayers' involvement.

They met 4 times a year on the Woods foundation, and it was merely to approve funding proposals.

3) One of Obama's first fundraisers was at the home of Ayers. I'd think Obama would certainly be in a position to say "hmm... can we have it at your neighbor's house instead"?

You neglect to mention that this fundraiser was organized by someone else and this is when Obama was first introduced to Ayers. So it's likely that he didn't even know about Ayers past at the time.

You don't have to think of Bill Ayers as a criminal terrorist mastermind in order for Ayers to be someone you don't really want to be associated with. Frankly, I think the worst part about this whole story isn't that Obama has any sort of relationship with Ayers. I think it's the fact that several societies (Chicago political society, national community of educators to name two) apparently have no problem with a guy like Ayers being closely involved in their issues. Apparently we have a community statute of limitations on terrorists.

My guess is it has to do with what he was protesting.

I see Obama as going along to get along. He's certainly displayed no great moral example in his associations with Ayers, but politically speaking he hasn't had to. I expect Chicago politicians to act like Chicago politicians. I just wish there weren't so many Americans who felt the same way.

I expect so many Americans to not regard these handful of meetings as close ties. I'm sure if we use such a flimsy standard, we can find McCain's close ties with some unreputable people.

Of course, Palin's quote mentioned that he was "palling" around with terrorists, which is certainly not the truth no matter what you think of his previous ties to Ayers. She cited a NY Times article as proof, but said article concluded that Obama and Ayers were not close. So maybe she has actually picked up a newspaper, but there's still no proof that she knows how to read one.