Will Obama's Association with Bill Ayers Scuttle his Candidacy?

[chipmunk stew]

Is Obama's association with Ayers much closer than has been reported? Elizabeth Wurzel, in a bizarre piece about her adolescent crush on Bernardine Dohrn drops this tidbit:



Say what? The rest of the article is rather embarrassing as this ending hints:



Rolling my eyes here. For starters, Reverend Wright seems to be doing a pretty good job of bringing down even a deft political prestidigitator, to the point where Obama's nomination seems to be unraveling.

But by all means, let's hear more about this brilliant and comely couples' warm relationship with Barack Obama.

My god, Brainster. Why is it that your brain falls out at every hint of negative press on Obama?

You're salivating at the suggestion of a plagiarist and self-promoting sensationalist (and most definitely not a reporter--not even a Chicagoan) that "many reporters are well aware" of this relationship?

 

[Brainster]

My god, Brainster. Why is it that your brain falls out at every hint of negative press on Obama?

You're salivating at the suggestion of a plagiarist and self-promoting sensationalist (and most definitely not a reporter--not even a Chicagoan) that "many reporters are well aware" of this relationship?

This is a thread on the Ayers/Obama relationship. The Wall Street Journal publishes a guest article on the subject, I thought it was worth linking. I noted that much of it seemed nutty and dopey.

That said, thanks for cluing me into Wurzel. I had no idea what a loon she was.

 

[Learning Phase]

The Al Gore 'bot made that mistake when he ignored the story about his claiming to have invented the internet. He didn't literally say that. He did say his mother-in-law was taking dog medicine because she couldn't afford the human medicine. What a nice concerned millionaire son-in-law she has

QUOTE]

He can't afford to pay those medicine bills, he's too busy paying that electric bill, and the money to cleanse his soul through "Carbon Credits".

 

[Brainster]

A Chicago-area blogger has discovered a photo of Ayers stomping on an American flag from 2001, when he was still serving on the board of that charity with Barack. The photo is from a profile of Ayers in Chicago Magazine.

But, you know, he's just a mainstream Chicago liberal!

 

[Tsukasa Buddha]

A Chicago-area blogger has discovered a photo of Ayers stomping on an American flag from 2001, when he was still serving on the board of that charity with Barack. The photo is from a profile of Ayers in Chicago Magazine.

But, you know, he's just a mainstream Chicago liberal!

Speaking as a Chicagoan, yes, that is just a typical Chicago liberal.

 

[Dr Adequate]

Aw, I don't count ?

Fool! Only the ripe cherries count!

 

[Finnegan]

What a dreadful reply from Obama, after all McCain's associates are morally impeccable.

(Sorry, I'm just another of those snide - and foreign - Obama supporters.)

 

[BPSCG]

Pressed by Clinton at the Philadelphia debate, Obama said he expects "all kinds of attacks" but has confidence that he can "talk to the American people honestly and directly about what I believe in." But he appeared flummoxed, as though unsure of how to handle insinuations about his patriotism from a fellow Democrat against whom he is more constrained in returning fire. And the combination of hits has taken a toll. A poll released last week by the Pew Research Center showed that 61 percent of voters viewed Obama as patriotic, compared with 76 percent for Clinton and 90 percent for McCain.

Emphasis mine (link). I think this has to do with more than just whether Obama wears a flag pin, or a "combination of hits." He seems to hang out with an unusual number of people who have bombed government buildings, trash America in front of audiences, or accuse America of vile crimes. I suspect there are a lot of people who are uncomfortable with that, and the smooth eloquence isn't enough to relieve that discomfort.

 

[chipmunk stew]

Emphasis mine (link). I think this has to do with more than just whether Obama wears a flag pin, or a "combination of hits." He seems to hang out with an unusual number of people who have bombed government buildings, trash America in front of audiences, or accuse America of vile crimes. I suspect there are a lot of people who are uncomfortable with that, and the smooth eloquence isn't enough to relieve that discomfort.

Do you count yourself among the 39%?

 

[BPSCG]

Do you count yourself among the 39%?

He lost my vote long before I ever heard of Jeremiah Wright, before I knew he hung out with Bill Ayers, before I knew his wife thought America was "downright mean," and that she hadn't been proud of America even when we first landed on the moon. So I frankly never got around to thinking about whether he's patriotic or not. That's a question for the fence-sitters.

 

[Dr Adequate]

... before I knew his wife thought America was "downright mean,"

Does that quote even have a context, or does it just float freely round the Internet?

Still, I'm shocked that she should have suggested that America is not a nation united by mutual love.

... and that she hadn't been proud of America even when we first landed on the moon.

Quote? Reference? Only that one isn't even on teh internets.

 

[Brainster]

Does that quote even have a context, or does it just float freely round the Internet?

It was a standard part of her stump speech according to the New Yorker:

The four times I heard her give the speech—in a ballroom at the University of South Carolina, from the pulpit of Pee Dee Union, at an art gallery in Charleston, and in the auditorium of St. Norbert College, in De Pere, Wisconsin—its content was admirably consistent, with few of the politician’s customary tweaks and nods to the demographic predilections, or prejudices, of a particular audience.

Obama begins with a broad assessment of life in America in 2008, and life is not good: we’re a divided country, we’re a country that is “just downright mean,” we are “guided by fear,” we’re a nation of cynics, sloths, and complacents. “We have become a nation of struggling folks who are barely making it every day,” she said, as heads bobbed in the pews. “Folks are just jammed up, and it’s gotten worse over my lifetime. And, doggone it, I’m young. Forty-four!”

The "mean" part comes at about 7:50 into the video.

Quote? Reference? Only that one isn't even on teh internets.

I think he's referring to her comment that this was the first time in her adult lifetime that she's felt really proud of her country. Of course, she wasn't an adult when we went to the moon.

 

[UserGoogol]

Yes, she was five when the moon landing happened.

 

[chipmunk stew]

He lost my vote long before I ever heard of Jeremiah Wright, before I knew he hung out with Bill Ayers, before I knew his wife thought America was "downright mean," and that she hadn't been proud of America even when we first landed on the moon.

Something tells me he "lost" your vote long before you ever heard of Barack Obama.

So I frankly never got around to thinking about whether he's patriotic or not.

Well, now's your chance.

That's a question for the fence-sitters.

Actually, it's a question for a random sampling of voters. That's where they got the 61% from. So if Pew called you and asked you:
Do you consider Barack Obama:
Very Unpatriotic
Somewhat Unpatriotic
Somewhat Patriotic
Very Patriotic

How would you respond?

 

[BPSCG]

Something tells me he "lost" your vote long before you ever heard of Barack Obama.

See below.

Well, now's your chance.

Actually, it's a question for a random sampling of voters. That's where they got the 61% from. So if Pew called you and asked you:
Do you consider Barack Obama:
Very Unpatriotic
Somewhat Unpatriotic
Somewhat Patriotic
Very Patriotic

How would you respond?

See above. Since you purport to have such keen insight into my thinking, perhaps you should tell everyone how I would respond. I'd be interested to find out myself.

 

[chipmunk stew]

See below.

See above. Since you purport to have such keen insight into my thinking, perhaps you should tell everyone how I would respond. I'd be interested to find out myself.

Well, you've shown no evidence of being anything other than an strict Reagan Republican, so the fact that Obama came on the scene as a liberal Democrat leads me to suspect that he never had a chance at your vote. That tells me nothing of your view of patriotism, though. However, your avoidance of the question and your distorted references to Michelle Obama, Rev. Wright, and Ayers lead me to suspect that you consider Obama unpatriotic.

 

[BPSCG]

...your distorted references to Michelle Obama, Rev. Wright, and Ayers lead me to suspect that you consider Obama unpatriotic.

What distorted references have I made?

 

[Brainster]

Something tells me he "lost" your vote long before you ever heard of Barack Obama.

Well, now's your chance.

Actually, it's a question for a random sampling of voters. That's where they got the 61% from. So if Pew called you and asked you:
Do you consider Barack Obama:
Very Unpatriotic
Somewhat Unpatriotic
Somewhat Patriotic
Very Patriotic

How would you respond?

Very unpatriotic. His wife is very unpatriotic, his pastor is very unpatriotic, and Bill Ayers is very unpatriotic. He doesn't wear the flag lapel pin. He doesn't salute the flag during the national anthem. He does talk a good game, though.

 

[Dr Adequate]

Very unpatriotic.

Evidence?

His wife is very unpatriotic, his pastor is very unpatriotic, and Bill Ayers is very unpatriotic.

Evidence about Obama, rather than opinions about people who are not Obama?

He doesn't wear the flag lapel pin.

Except when he does.

He doesn't salute the flag during the national anthem.

Except when he does, i.e., AFAIK, since it was pointed out to him that you're meant to. So possibly that sentence would be less completely inaccurate if you recast it in the past tense.

He does talk a good game, though.

By which you mean, presumably, that he says lots of things that are patriotic, and not things that are unpatriotic.

Still, why judge a man's opinions by his clear statements of his opinions? That wouldn't give you the answer you want. No, what you've got to focus on is the fact that, just like every other American politician, he doesn't always wear the Stars and Bars on his lapels.

 

[chipmunk stew]

What distorted references have I made?

Let's start with "[Michelle Obama] hadn't been proud of America even when we first landed on the moon."

For starters.