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William Ayers and the election
Listening to the McCain people talking about Bill Ayers I realized that many people don't know who he was or what he did or didn't do.
It was the 60s and the Viet Nam war was in full swing. There was no end in sight. A few in power were like John McCain, believing that " victory" at any cost was the only way for the U.S. to save face and to "save our nation from Communism". Many young people were facing the draft and did not believe in that war. Some of them could not bring themselves to kill people who had done nothing wrong, in their minds.
Many young men [there were no women drafted] believed that their government was right and they went to Viet Nam to fight.
I am not taking sides in the matter, only honoring all those who were deeply involved and those who were deeply injured by it, on both sides.
We have been hearing a lot from the McCain camp about William Ayers being a "domestic terrorist". That title is a matter of discernment. I want to offer you the facts as history has defined them and let you make your own decision as to what Ayers and his followers really did and who they were.
Yes he did head the SDS [students for a democratic society] and yes he did head a group of mostly students, who made bombs.
Do you know that he called ahead, before every bomb was planted to warn the authorities where the bomb would be and to stay away from that sight on the day and time when it was set to explode? The bombs were all quite small and planted in places like obscure restrooms that were either abandon or in very out of the way places around the capitol. No one was ever injured by any of the bombs. Two young men from the group were killed while building a bomb.
Ayers and his team were making a point about how frightening a bomb can be to civilians. At the time there were an average of 500 Viet Nam civilians killed by bombs, exploding in towns and villages all over South Viet Nam, every day!
I am not defending Ayers, but I am trying to defend the truth. For weeks now the press has been reporting the McCain talking points that insist that Ayers was a domestic terrorist who tried to blow up the Pentagon.
Not true.
There must be some reason that both Ayers and his wife are free and working as professors in good standing at this very moment. Yes they went into hiding [I knew many people who were in hiding from our government in those days for doing much less]. Later Ayers turned himself in, for trial.
Yes what Bill Ayres did was wrong. No he did not do what McCain is telling America that he did.
My intent is not to anger anyone or to dishonor anyone. I firmly believe that everyone who acted in what ever way did it in the very best of conscience.
The 60's were a tumultuous time and a defining time for our nation. Some were giving their lives for social reform in the way of civil rights. Some were fighting for their country to save us from what they saw as evil Communism in South East Asia and some were fighting to end a war that to many seemed wrong and senseless and without honor.
Those wars are still with us in the events and decisions of today's elections.
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Thanks for giving those
Thanks for giving those days some perspective Di. We who were there, remember them well, and in many respects, our country was more divided then, than it is now.
The bottom line, however, is that the 60s era produced the Civil Rights movement and integration, and the anti-war protestors and activists managed to exert enough political pressure to bring about an end to a disastrous war.
Unfortunately, the only lessons learned from those days by the neoconservative Republicans, was to curtail the power of the People, and to be more secretive. This led to Raygun's covert support for the Contra "freedom fighters" (which many viewed as terrorists) and a repeal of the Fairness Doctrine, which paved the way for Lee Atwater's and Karl Rove's (Lee's protege) "dirty tricks" type of political advertising. It also led to a massive cover up of criminal activities during the Nixon presidency, a huge government deficit during Bush I, and signing statements, abuse of power, and an even larger deficit by his son, Dubya.
It is again time for the People to exert their Constitutional power, and bring our democracy back from the brink of "unitary executive," corporate Facism.
In an interview
I found it interesting that McCain hears Obama issuing him a challenge to talk about Ayers, while I hear a challenge to say in person all the negative things that McCain claims to be facts about Obama in his ads.
If Obama handles the matter well it could show McCain for the desperate old loser that he is.
" Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter." ~ Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Ayers
Ayers is the piece of crap he is! And OBAMA did sit on boards with Bill and OBAMA has admitted it. So quite lying to yourselves and admit it. OBAMA is not here as a saviour the Democrats are trying to make him out to be. I am a registered Democrat and I follow both sides with my mind open to all. That is what's wrong with our nation now. To many only listen to what one group has to say and nothing else. Even believing the lies that are told. I follow up by looking up old articles and clips showing the proof and then decide. I will not be led around like a horse or dog on a leash to decide by only a one sided conversation. Both sides are to blame and Americans need to wake up to what is really happening here. The Government is to be for the People. Some parties are for their agendas only. I say fire them all and lets start over with fewer lawyers to corrupt this great land of ours and get people that are not corrupt and regulate the Government. That is the main problem here. They have to much power!!!
So What?
Does sitting on a board with someone make you responsible for what they did or what they do?
It sounds as if that leash that you are so worried about is attached to your own personal resentment. The remark about lawyers is not only out of context, but straight out of "How To Over Simplify for Suckers 101".
If you don't agree with my post that is fine, give me a solid argument, but to come here knowing nothing about us and strike a superior pose makes you sound much more like a republican than a Democrat to me.
My point is that William Ayers is nothing but a diversion from the really important facts that won't be debated as long as the press and the voters are preoccupied chasing ghosts from years gone by. Ayers has not had nor will he ever have any position in a Barak Obama government. So all this hubbub is about nothing, nothing but the desperate struggle between and old man and his desire for power, apparently at any cost.
If you really care as much as you seem to care and you really are a Democrat help us elect some really good people to the congress and retain those in the congress with good voting records.
"When fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag, carrying a cross." ~ Sinclair Lewis
Di, some people say that
Di, some people say that this poster, Will Wright, has had an affair with his secretary, and was once in the same room with a known felon. And, he reportedly will not answer the question: Have you stopped beating your wife?
For these reasons alone, he does not seem to view America the same way we do, so is he qualified to vote?
LOL Bill
You are soooooo smart and logical too ;)
"When fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag, carrying a cross." ~ Sinclair Lewis
"There must be some reason
"There must be some reason that both Ayers and his wife are free and working as professors in good standing at this very moment."
That's simple. His daddy was a Chicago energy tycoon and friend to the mayor. The Ayers family had great influence in a town where your standing is based entirely on who you know. This is why Ayers and his wife were able to reassimilate themselves into society even as unrepentant domestic terrorists.
As to why they are free, it was due to shoddy surveillance work by the CIA, not due to being innocent. Ayers freely admits that he is "guilty as sin" and "free as a bird".
I originally intended to vote for Obama, but this was before I knew that he surrounds himself with criminal slumlords, violent socialists, communist party members, racists, and unapologetic domestic terrorists. Every time I look at him I can't help but get sick at the idea that he thinks I still don't know any of this - he thinks I am stupid and ignorant, and that I will vote for a man like him without realizing what he actually is.
"He Lied" About Bill Ayers
Well Antaios, fact check.org seems to think that your facts are nothing but bilge water.
You do know that this is a web site for PROGRESSIVES don't you, Antaios?
"When fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag, carrying a cross." ~ Sinclair Lewis