Bill Ayers' name came up last night. No, it wasn't at a neighborly Hyde Park gathering of aging radicals, I don't frequent that terrorist chic milieu. But Barack Obama does. You might say they gave him his start in politics. Bill Ayers.
Bill Ayers' name came up at the Democrat debate in Philadelphia, at a hall commemorating the Constitution. You might say the setting was appropriate, as was the question from ABC--why associate with a domestic terrorist who, in an interview with the NY Times published, as it happened, on the morning of Sept. 11th, said I don't think we bombed enough. You see, Barack Obama bills himself as a constitutional law professor, yet chose to launch his political career in Illinois by soliciting funds and support at former Weatherman Bill Ayers' (and Bernadine Dohrn's) house--at the home of people who were so angry they plotted and then bombed their own country--a most uncivil and evil act.
ABC raised the issue of the Rev. Wright, and Hillary pursued it.
Clinton seized on Obama's decision last year to rescind an invitation to Wright to give an opening prayer for his presidential kickoff to argue that the controversy over the pastor's incendiary sermons was not closed.Especially when he pops up in swing states and makes more controversial remarks.
Newsweek, representative of many in the MSM, may be bored by the debate, giving it the usual liberal intellectually lazy, flabby analysis, leaving it to others to vet Obama, even as they lay blame on the Republican-attack-machine-to-come for their current lack of the professional rigor we as the public should expect. But of course we don't, from them. That's why we blog.
We didn't hear about Tony Rezko, nor former U of C, now Columbia Professor Rashid Khalidi last night, whose group received a donation from the Woods Fund, on whose board Obama and Ayers amicably served together. He serves amicably with a former terrorist bomber, yet strikes a blow against his supposed gift for bipartisanship by comparing a Republican US Senator to Ayers.
What does this say about his judgment, to draw this disgusting kind of comparison, once again, to get himself out of a tight spot? Obama may look like a "normal, reasonable person", but his actions, and increasingly his own words, reveal that he is not. Obama is the Dem front runner, and last night was finally treated as such, but many Americans still don't really know who he really is. Obama considers these character questions as "distractions", but Americans must, in this most important job for our country, and indeed the free world, judge a president by the content of his character.
UPDATE: Obama, the unhappy warrior, Powerline. No happy days are here again from the Dems. Get your Obama Snobwear. McCain won last night's debate? Independent Republicans moving back to McCain, Republicans no longer underdogs in race--new poll, RCP average. Rasmussen tracking:
In a match-up against Clinton, the former First Lady attracts support from 14% of Republican women. However, McCain earns the vote from 25% of Democratic men. With Obama as the nominee, 14% of Republican women say they’d vote for the Democrat. Twenty-one percent (21%) of Democratic men would vote for the GOP hopeful. Overall, McCain leads both Democrats by double digits among men and is competitive among women.GOP funnier than the professionals last night at the White House correspondents dinner.
UPDATE: To sum it up, The RCP Blog, Barack Gets Rocked. One more bit--missed this last night as I was still watching the debate--Cheney gets in a good hit on Obama. Watch.
Posted by Anne Leary on April 17, 2008 9:19 AM
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