Political Punch

What is it about McCain/Bush that makes folks go to any level to continue the horror? This war, our economy, the ecology, etc., is at its worst and a person like Obama may make a positive difference in our lives. Give up the hate...please!!

Obama couldn't close the deal in Pennsylvania. Is he electable?

I saw this interview...I know it's campaign season, but does that mean that every time someone mentions something negative or has an opinion about another candidate that makes it an "attack".

Anyone who thinks that hanging out with a terrorist as long as his crimes wer a long time ago must live in Chicago. Obama befriended Ayers for political expediancy. He is really an opportunist with poor judgement. The movement is something else...the man has Achilles heels on both feet.

Could Cyndi McCain's USMC pin (The View) be any bigger? And the audience could read her as fake.

Comment and a Question.

Comment: Senator Obama was not 8 years old when he sought William Ayers' endorsement for public office.

Question: When he met with Ayers to get his support, what constituency was he going after?

I'm so glad ABC had the courage to bring Ayers/Obama connection up in the debate. I hope McCain keeps it going.
Just another seed of doubt about Obama.

How people can just ignore Obama's shady associations with anti-Americans is unbelievable.

I question their patriotism and love of this country.

I'm thrilled that McSame and his merry little band of followers are hanging their hats on stuff like this. This stuff might fool the less intelligent right-wing voters, but that's not going to be enough this time.

Obama supporters are still making excuses for Ayers... who is unrepentant and even said as late as 2001 he wished he could have done more (bombings).

We all have associations with undesirables... but really... do we all make excuses for their illegal and dangerous behavior? NO.

Additionally... the real problem with Obama's connection to Ayers is that Obama has tried to downplay it, yet more information keeps dribbling out. He did the same with Rezko... and Wright. It looks like he is trying to hide something... and anyone knows that in politics it will all come out eventually... so smart politicians reveal the entire story so that they have control over it.

So is Obama trying to hide something... or isn't he that smart?

P.S. I agree with McCain... Obama should never have compared Senator Coburn to Ayers... Obama first called Coburn a friend and then threw him under the bus. It is starting to get really crowded under that bus with Grandma and Jesse Jackson.

McCain's the perfect candidate to lead the march to facism that Bush/Cheney have begun. Goodbye democracy. Welcoem to the United States of Militarism.

People talk about McCain as though he is like Bush when really Obama is more like Bush. Neither has experience so they just blindly make stupid mistakes. The American people will see Obama for the arrogant, slime-ball that he is, hopefully before the general election.

Good old George.... he's still in there. Wow !!!! Must be on the Clinton payroll. Hillary and Bill have been saying for a while that they have an ace in the hole that they were going to use against Obama. His name is George Stephanopolous.All this fuss about Clinton supporters voting for McCain if she doesn't get the nomination is a testament that her followers are not real Democrats.

McCain who ?

to all those harping on this

how about the media doing a single story, just one, on just one of the clinton scandals during this entire primary...not one.

and do you think America knows the details of anything outside of Monica...and the lying on the stand thing...

uh, no, absolutely not...that is what is so funny about this election

your so called "biased media" jumps all over any relationship Obama has had in the past. Predominantly ignoring all of the ones the other candidates have had for the most part. ...but yet

can you tell me the details of the cattle futures? what was the outcome? what was the controversy over Vince Foster? what was whitewater exactly and why was Hillary implicated? what was the wehole fbi thing? who was Norman Hsu? Who is Paul? what was there relationship with clinton? What does the head of Tyson have to do withy the Clintons? are their accusations of Hillary's performance during watergate? and what were they? how many people that were supposed to be involved in some way in a scandal with the clintons and the ensuing investigations have died suddenly? how much money did Hillary's brother have to return when an investigation turned up he had received it for the pardoning of two men?
again this all just off the top of my head... but I bet almost all of you couldn't answer a single one of these questions past ..."the republicans investigated these and spent tons of money on it and came up with nothing"

uh, no. The republicans investigated until they discovered Bill lying on the stand, focused on that issue and spent a fortune trying to get around the cover-up that Bill was trying to put in the way...and in the end after spending all that money they succeeded in ahving him impeached while the Clintons threw sand in the American people's eyes saying it was a great right wing conspiracy...He lied to the American people and on the stand.

It is not just about "sex."
...stop with the biased in the media crap. if the media actually started focusing on what you all want and are trying to win on, hillary would have never won her senate seat.

I got this from a fellow blogger and thought this might be interesting for us here -
==================
Maybe someone should ask Cheney his thoughts on Bill Ayers:

On ABC's ``This Week,'' Cheney defended his 1986 vote against a resolution that called for U.S. recognition of the African National Congress in South Africa, freedom for the organization's then-imprisoned leader Nelson Mandela and negotiations with the black majority.

``The ANC was then viewed as a terrorist organization,'' Cheney said Sunday. ``It was a step that we simply weren't prepared to take.''

Now, Cheney says he believes the ANC has ``mellowed'' and Mandela is ``a great man.''

``He deserves an enormous amount of credit for the transformation of South Africa,''

Cheney said ``But I don't have any problems at all with the vote I cast 20 years ago.''

How corrupt is the system when John McCain can operate outside of the campaign finance laws and no one questions this action?

That is the major problem with McCain. He changes his position on issues almost weekly. It is a form of lying. McCain will say one thing to this group of voters and the exact opposite to another set of voters. McCain lies. He even lied about public campaign finance money. McCain is another Bush in so many ways. McCain just wants to be president at all costs. McCain lies when necessary.

It seems that the anti-war protest in which Obama spoke and opposed the war was attended by Ayers and Dohrn. Read below; this article is from that time and has many quotes that are reminiscent of Obama today and his call for post-partisan view. Ayers and Dohrn hate the Democrats and they say so, explicitely.

Debunking the 60s with Ayers and Dohrn
Bernardine Dohrn and Bill Ayers, activiists leaders in SDS in the ‘60’s, say a new movement must be built.
By Laura S. Washington
'One of the things that sits very heavy on the progressive impulses today is the myth that there was a golden age in resistance.'Tags activism Share Digg del.icio.us Reddit Newsvine They are storied and iconic, America’s Numero Uno radical couple. In the ’60s, Bernardine Dohrn and Bill Ayers were activists and leaders in Students for a Democratic Society and the Weathermen. Dohrn, now 64, and Ayers, 61, played starring roles as Vietnam War dissenters. When their protests turned violent, they became fugitives from the law.

Forty years later, they are still in the game. I recently invited them to dinner at Yoshi’s Café in Chicago’s Boys Town. The national convention of Students for a Democratic Society was coming to Chi-Town. So what do these longtime Hyde Parkers think about those good old days, when radicals were radicals and the movement was muscular?

“The ‘good old days’ is a funny way to think about the left,” said Dohrn.

Ayers picked it up. “One of the things that sits very heavy on the progressive impulses today, and young people in particular, is the myth that there was a golden age in resistance, that the ’60s was where it was really at.”

Today Dohrn is a scholar and director of the Children and Family Justice Center at Northwestern University. Ayers serves as a distinguished professor of education at the University of Illinois at Chicago. They visit college campuses around the nation, where, Ayers says, “We spend a fair amount of time debunking the received wisdom of the ’60s.”

That “wisdom,” he explains, is that resisting the war “was easy to do and everybody did it.” It was a hard-fought slog.

Iraq brings its own lessons of protest. He points to a failure of leadership in the run-up to that war. “In March 2003, we participated in the largest antiwar movement in our lives, possibly in history. Now there was a leadership problem in a sense that the leadership said this is the demonstration that will prevent a war.

“It was a wrong thing to say,” Ayers argues, “because it didn’t help people who participated in that, particularly young people, to analyze the situation, to make sense of it, to make a contribution, and then to continue organizing. It said we’ll prevent a war. That war was not preventable.”

Forget the Democrats, they say. “The Democratic Party supported the war in Vietnam …” Dohrn began. Ayers cut in: “Led the war in Vietnam.”

“And they’ve been supporting, and leading this war,” Dohrn continued. “I don’t look to the Democratic Party. I don’t have hope for the Democratic Party. I think the Democratic Party is bankrupt. And I think the only answer is for us to build an independent, radical movement, and, I mean, the big ‘us.’ “

To mount a movement, “let’s look at history,” said Dohrn between bites of her tuna nicoise salad. “Lyndon Johnson was not a civil rights leader; Lyndon Johnson was responding to a civil rights movement. FDR was not a labor leader; FDR was responding to a labor movement. We confuse these things when we think about them today.”

Indeed, that’s “a great mistake. Lyndon Johnson was the most effective politician of his generation, but it took a movement independent of Lyndon Johnson to get Lyndon Johnson to use that effectiveness for the good.”

Still, I asked, aren’t progressives putting high hopes in November? Even leading Republicans admit that the Dems are likely to recapture at least one house of Congress.

So what? That’s not the point, Ayers says. Electoral politics is a tool to connect causes, like gay rights, disability rights, voting rights, human rights. “That’s how you use electoral politics. Not as an end in itself, but as an organizing mechanism. Our deepest belief, I think, is that we need to connect all these good projects and build the movement. …we should always be positioning ourselves, thinking, okay, if I’m involved in this next election, how am I positioned to help contribute to building a movement, raising consciousness, making the connections, and that’s a real tricky business.”

It wasn’t so tricky for Ned Lamont. On Aug. 8 Lamont blew out of nowhere to knock off the pro-war U.S. Sen. Joe Lieberman in the Connecticut Democratic senate primary. For my money, that vote is a strong predictor of the power war-weary voters will bring to the polls this fall.

Despite their critiques, Ayers and Dohrn are eternal optimists. Over coffee, Dohrn reflected that their activist days can serve as a metaphor for a “candle” that illuminates the past—and the future.

“The issue holding us back today, to me, is the idea that what you do won’t make a difference. The elite powers tell us the world is too complicated. They spend a lot of energy fostering despair,” she argues.

The candle shows us that “it’s not true,” Dohrn says. “I don’t think it’s all the complicated issues of what kind of an economic society we really want and how are we going to deal with globalization and all of that. Those are tremendously complex challenges but they’re solvable by human creativity and ingenuity and collective effort.”

Stay vigilant. The light will come.

btw - did anyone notice on "This Week" that McCain thinks people pay capital gains taxes on their 401K plans?

People Unclear on the Concept.

Madison, Wisconsin is known to be pretty leftwing. Berkeley, California is known to be pretty leftwing.

Chicago, Illinois has never been accused of being leftwing. Mayor Daley has never been accused of being leftwing. The Chicago Tribune has never been accused of being leftwing.

So when you hear all these ooh! ooh! comments coming out about someone that Chicagoans (who presumably would know him best) have fully accepted into their community, give that some thought.

The Chicago Tribune's editorial the day after the debate supported Ayers's work in Chicago. Mayor Daley made a statement supporting Ayers's work in Chicago.

If it sounds too bad to be true...it probably isn't true. McCain oppo research team is either ignorant or trying to mislead voters. (Likely both.)

Every time Senator Obama or one of his spoke persons tries to link Senator McCain's policies to President Bushs', McCain should link Obama's policies with the failed presidency of Jimmy Carter--because that's what you're going to get.

lisa, it matters to many. and we do care.

This is an intriguing recap of an article stating that Rupert Murdock has the goods on Obama but is saving them to break after he beats Hillary Clinton. He wants Bloomberg in.

It covers Rezko and Auchi but boy of boy this looks plausible.

LMAO calli, another republican plant

pp, duel citizen doesn't matter. Who cares.

Pssst....Hardy did you happen to know that Ayers' father was a CEO Commonwealth Edison, which is owned by Exelon the largest utility in Illinois.

Which does support Obama....

Soooo is Ayers still connected with Commonwealth Edison? Even with stock that would benefit from Obama and his support of nuclear power?

I don't know...but that is still a connection larger than $200, not to mention that coming out party in his living room back in the 90s.

And that is a connection that maybe the voters in Nevada might want to know about since Obama has such strong ties to a company that has been itching to export/force it's nuclear waste probelm on another state.

CNN: After All the Major PA Newspapers Shun Her, Clinton Boasts of Support by Richard Mellon Scaife's Conservative Pittsburgh Paper. Pathetic. "The New York senator famously built a relationship with former critic Rupert Murdoch, whose New York Post frequently blasted both Clintons. The Australian-born media baron even hosted a fundraiser for her during her second Senate run. But over the past few months, her presidential campaign has taken its apparent embrace of former media adversaries to a new level, sending reporters articles that praise Clinton and attack Barack Obama drawn from conservative outlets including the National Review and the American Spectator, and quotes from Republican pundits like Ed Rollins and Grover Norquist. And former President Bill Clinton made an appearance on talker Rush Limbaugh's show the day of the Texas and Ohio primaries - contests in which the conservative radio host had urged listeners to vote for Hillary Clinton as a means of sabotaging the Democratic nominating process. 4/21 About says it all doesn't it ?

lisa, the "so what" about dual citizenship is that your husband is not running for the president of the us, swearing allegiance to it alone. elected officials, in order to show they are impartial, step down from boards, ceo positions etc., and put their assets in blind trusts so there is no impropriety. i would think citizenship "might" be included there.

Calli, please tell me what is off about him now. I forgot to put this in my post to you.

There was something off with Ayers back then and there is still something off with Ayers now.

I remember the man...and blame him for his own actions and ----------------------------------------------------------

Calli, I guess you know him personally to make that statement.

Folks, this Ayers guy didn't contribute one penny to Obama's presidential campain as far as we know. In 2001 he once contributed 200 dollars to an Obama campaign in Chicago.

People who sit on boards of foundations don't select each other. Nor do people in a neighborhood of a city select each other.

If we like it or not, Ayers is a distinguished Professor and a wellknown and active guy in Chicago nowadays. Everyone in politics, charity foundations, education program etc. knows and works with the guy. I read the statement by the Mayor of Chicago who knows Ayers a lot better than Obama does , who worked with him on several programs etc. and who wrote that it is ridiculous to blame Obama for knowing Ayers.

Other than the Mayor btw, Obama called the Weather Undergrounds acts 'detestable' which is a pretty strong condemnation in anyone's book.

So what IS the problem? Is everyone in Chicago who knows and works with Ayers a supporter of the 70's actions of that Weather Underground? Is everyone who lives in Obama's pretty chique neighborhood and who's on friendly terms with neighbor Ayers suspect? No doubt a lot of Repuclican voters talk to him all the time as well.

So yes if your goal is a smear campaign against Obama, using all the nonsense there is, go ahead. But don't pretend there's any substance here, and if you think that Obama has any respect for these Weather Underground actions you must be out of your mind for these are the total opposite of everything this man stands for and has stood for in the 20 years of his public service.

Another note on this...

"William Ayers Weather Underground past no big deal in Chicago." Lynn Sweet, Chicago Sun-Times. April 18, 2008

"Ayers, who became a scholar at the University of Illinois-Chicago, was also eventually embraced by a pragmatic son of blue-collar Bridgeport desperately trying to upgrade Chicago's chronically troubled schools: Mayor Daley, whose father's legacy was tarnished because of anti-Vietnam War protesters getting clobbered in the 1968 convention and the "Days of Rage" the next year.

Rabbi Arnold Jacob Wolf knew Ayers in the 1960s and re-met Ayers and Dohrn decades later. In the 1960s Wolf said he and Ayers were on opposite sides of the use of violence to effect social change. Then, Ayers thought it useful. Wolf came out of the school of nonviolence."

Maryland,

I grew up in the SF Bay Area, and have no probelms separating who did what during that turbulant time. Ayers and his group always seemed like a rich, college kids, who loved cameras in their faces more than anything.

Then all the random off the wall comments that had no bearing on the peaceful anti-war movement, like 'kill your parents'.

Of course, their bombing escapades and camera time was rather significant which lead many to believe their goals had nothing to do with anti-war beliefs.

In other words, in CA we thought they were frauds, especially since the media could find them nightly but somehow the govt couldn't.

Now in Oakland, the Black Panthers were started because of police brutality. They read the Constitution and discovered it was legal for them to carry shotguns, as long as it wasn't concealed. They organized as a way to protect their community. They also help to start a breakfast program for needy children.

Here is one organization which seemed to only serve itself and was destructive...sorta. While making weird demands all the time, and throwing in random off the wall statements like 'kill all the rich people', 'kill your parents', which have nothing to do with the anti-war movement.

Compared to the Black Panthers that formed in service to it's community. Literally, to help save lives and then to help those same people's children before they went to school.

There was something off with Ayers back then and there is still something off with Ayers now.

I remember the man...and blame him for his own actions and those he inspired in his group.

Maybe you should take a walk over to Wiki and remind yourself.

mara,

FYI: I have had posts blocked also. Usually it concerns a copy and paste from a newspaper though. However, a few of my own creations have been deleted after posted. I am not sure there is consistency to state that any point of view is favored. I am a Clinton supporter; I assume you are an Obama supporter. I tried to post a short article from the today's Boston Globe. It was blocked as "spam." It could be that it is copyrighted.

I am amazed at the ignorance of some bloggers here.

PP, Obama has a duel citizenship, so what. My husband does too.

We should not judge Obama with "guilt by association?" Excuse Me - Radical Left Wing Moveonorg. Liberals - if someone is thinking of running for President of the United States of America, it would seem logical and practical to extricate yourself from some of your more "radical and terrorist and anti-american" friends before announcing your candidacy. Unless, of course, you are so stupid (in the George W. Bush sense of the word) to understand that your friends are "radical and terrorist and anti-american" and they make you unelectable. Is the correct word for Obama "filled with HUBRIS"?? It will be a very, very annoying run for the presidency for Obama since the Republicans are certain to keep bringing up "guilt by association" and silly issues like flag pins! OBAMA SHOULD MOVEON OUT OF THE RACE! NO WIMPYBAMA 08! NO MOVEONORG. IN THE WHITE HOUSE! NO RADICAL LEFT WING TERRORISTS IN THE WHITE HOUSE!!!

No coincidence, first Stephanopoulos gets this info from Fox News Hannity, then brings it up in the so-called debate. Then McCain is his first guest on thisweek... Now who is "Fair"????

The modern state of Israel was founded by terrorists (vs. Britain most notably). I suppose we should dump them by McCain's "Ayers Logic". What fools.

Caligirl,

During the Vietnam era there was so much violence, remember Kent State.
Innocent college students were killed by the National Guard. You cannot single out one person for all the violence. And this was so long ago. We need to get past this.

Why didn't they go to prison. And shouldn't the people who associate with them be condemed. By your way of thinking.....they should.

What I don't get this man is a prof at the university..Wy are they giving him a job if he is sooooooooooo bad for this country.By knowing him you are guilty of all he believes in?????By the way Mc Cain where was your flag pin during this interview???????Where was Georges???????Makes a difference huh guys?????Two face jerks

Why in the world would Obama chose to associate with
a former terrorist?

The thing about Ayers.....

" on 9-11, he was quoted in The New York Times saying, "I don't regret setting bombs. I feel we didn't do enough."

I'll Take Hillary, Thanks!

During the Vietnam era there was so much violence, remember Kent State. Innocent college students were killed by the National Guard. You cannot single out one person for all the violence. And this was so long ago. We need to get past this.

What is this all about, for pete's sake?

In the ABC debate Obama said about Ayers: "The notion that me knowing somebody who engaged in detestable acts 40 years ago, when I was 8 years old, somehow reflects on me and my values doesn't make much sense."

What more is there to say? Is DETESTABLE ACTS not strong enough? I'd think calling people's actions DETESTABLE is VERY strong.

Then he says that the fact Ayers is among the (very many, as we can guess) people he knows does NOT say one thing about Obama's ideas and values.

The rest, as many have said, is McCarthyism. Has America sunk to that level of political paranoia again? Are we SO weak, SO scared to death about everything that is not 100% middle of the road America?!

Obama is 100% bona fide, as McCain knows very well. JM should kick Rove overboard; such strategies will only hurt him for they remind Americans exactly of the politics they are done with. He's make a great mistake to take this path.

So how do we know that Ayers isn't planning on planting any bombs? Perhaps he considers Iraq another Viet Nam?

This is no distraction it is an issue. Obama claims he only did 3 or 4 hrs legal work for the slumlord Rezko and it turns out they are lifelong friends and Rezko is his fundraiser and benefactor as late as 2005 (right before Rezko got indicted). And while Rezko bundled money for Obama's campaign 11 slums in obama's district went without heat...are you kidding me this is an issue! This is Obama's record.

And Ayers is not just a guy that "lives in Obama's neighbood" He is a friend that sat with him on the Woods Foundation Board where they paid to have studies done to take away the 2nd Amendment. Obama sought him out for political gain in Chicago...Obama sought out and befriended Ayers...because after all those bombings took place a long time ago. This is Obama's record and judgement.

And Wright is not just Obama's "former Pastor" Wright is a racist who preached hate and blames America for 911...Wright has written for years in a church bulletin that Isreal deserves to be bombed....before Hamas endorsed Obama they endorsed the church and Wright's rhetoric. This is Obama's record and judgement.

Wake up this is not a distraction...it's the point. It's all about Obama's record and judgement...what else does he have?

Obama is running a negative campaign..always has...He is not different at all apparently the dirtiest politicians in the world are sitting in Chicago...although the corruption probe is going to take a lot of them down..Maybe obama is next. Who knows he doesn't take questions.

Phildelphius,

What about FL and MI voters?? Why won't Obama agree to count them?

Mara,

The problem is that the Ayers/Dohrn connection will be exploited in the GE. It is a source of great vulnerability. That is the reality. The Republicans have attacked Bill Clinton, Mike Dukakis, Al Gore, and John Kerrey for being unpatriotic when they had nothing to really go on. This time they have quite a hook. It matters not whether it is, in fact, circumstantial or guilt by association, in your eyes. It matters that this is a gift to the Republicans for the GE. It is a windfall!!

Moe....Obama is a stooge. It doesn't get any more real than that.

Why isn't anyone writing stories about how Hillary Clinton is only running for the votes of super delegates. She admittedly and whole heartedly does not believe that this election should be based on the popular vote of normal non-super-delegate citizens. Moreover, she bluntly states that the votes of ordinary citizens of the United States of America should not amount to any value whatsoever in this election. I heard her interviewed on NPR stating that pledged delegates who were appointed by elections in previous state primaries should ignore the vote of the people and vote for her regardless of percentages. Please, listen for yourself via this link to npr.org's recording of the interview by Michele Norris. She mentions this at around the 6min mark. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=89476099 Afterwards, ask yourself, "does she care about us?" I demand fair coverage by our evidently spineless commercial media!

Obama has clearly explained now all of you that dare question can just shut completely up. You see, Obama has effectively shot down all possible criticism, now and forever, by detailing how we, "The American People" want all of this questioning to stop. You see, his close association with a convicted terrorist (a racist who laments not be able to accomplish more bombings) and his 20 year adoration of his (another incredibly racist, completely absurd, drenched in hate, and totally whacked-out) father figure..why we don't care about any of this.
No, we are more concerned with the "wedge issues", such as education, "free" health care, the (terrible) economy, and the war (for oil of course) in Iraq. Issues such as the on-going invasion by people illegally storming our borders, our tax burden, and how he intends to fix the economy by raising taxes and allowing the government to intervene and regulate the free market are not what we care about. This are the "same old Washington politics", you understand, and "we do not need" to hear anymore of it.
I must have missed it, but somewhere along the line he became qualified to decide what we need to hear, and what we don't.
This guy is starting to frighten me, and thank you ABC for daring to be the only one in the major media with the onions to ask him a hard question. You might just restore my faith in modern journalism if you keep this up. In the meantime, I want to know why Obama refuses to put an American flag on his lapel..Whether he thinks I need too or not.

Erin, Not at all. I know my candidate and she has run her campaign well. I trust her and believe in her message, I also believe that she has the will and the ability to get things done. I give my money to her freely and support what she has done with it. On the other hand I don't know much about Barrack other than he offers a good speech and a lot of new voters. He is great at fundraising and can easily manipulate the direction of the campaign when it suits him. He can dish out negativity and attacks but can't take them. he associates both past and present with people I would not want near my White House. He has the Audacity to pretend he is scratching his cheek while everyone knows he really was giving an obscene gesture, twice in one day. I am awake, alive and have not bought into the oratory skills of a political pubescent. I respond on topic and do not use these blogs as another way to advertise for a specific candidate. Thank you.

NYT 2001 on Ayers:

Ayers has written a book, ''Fugitive Days'' (Beacon Press, September). Mr. Ayers, who is 56, calls it a memoir, somewhat coyly perhaps, since he also says some of it is fiction. He writes that he participated in the bombings of New York City Police Headquarters in 1970, of the Capitol building in 1971, the Pentagon in 1972. But Mr. Ayers also seems to want to have it both ways, taking responsibility for daring acts in his youth, then deflecting it.

''Is this, then, the truth?,'' he writes. ''Not exactly. Although it feels entirely honest to me.''

But why would someone want to read a memoir parts of which are admittedly not true? Mr. Ayers was asked.

''Obviously, the point is it's a reflection on memory,'' he answered. ''It's true as I remember it.''

Mr. Ayers is probably safe from prosecution anyway. A spokeswoman for the Justice Department said there was a five-year statute of limitations on Federal crimes except in cases of murder or when a person has been indicted.

Mr. Ayers, who in 1970 was said to have summed up the Weatherman philosophy as: ''Kill all the rich people. Break up their cars and apartments. Bring the revolution home, kill your parents, that's where it's really at,'' is today distinguished professor of education at the University of Illinois at Chicago ...

He went underground in 1970, after his girlfriend, Diana Oughton, and two other people were killed when bombs they were making exploded in a Greenwich Village town house. With him in the Weather Underground was Bernardine Dohrn, who was put on the F.B.I.'s 10 Most Wanted List. J. Edgar Hoover called her ''the most dangerous woman in America'' and ''la Pasionara of the Lunatic Left.'' Mr. Ayers and Ms. Dohrn later married.

''Everything was absolutely ideal on the day I bombed the Pentagon,'' Ayers writes. .

Between 1970 and 1974 the Weathermen took responsibility for 12 bombings, Mr. Ayers writes, and also helped spring Timothy Leary (sentenced on marijuana charges) from jail.

So, would Mr. Ayers do it all again, he is asked? ''I don't want to discount the possibility,'' he said.

Mr. Ayers has always been known as a ''rich kid radical.'' His father, Thomas, now 86, was chairman and chief executive officer of Commonwealth Edison of Chicago, chairman of Northwestern University and of the Chicago Symphony.

In 1967 he met Ms. Dohrn in Ann Arbor, Mich. She had a law degree from the University of Chicago and was a magnetic speaker who often wore thigh-high boots and miniskirts. In 1969, after the Manson family murders in Beverly Hills, Ms. Dohrn told an S.D.S. audience: ''Dig it! Manson killed those pigs, then they ate dinner in the same room with them, then they shoved a fork into a victim's stomach.''

In Chicago recently, Ms. Dohrn said of her remarks: ''It was a joke. We were mocking violence in America. Even in my most inflamed moment I never supported a racist mass murderer.''

In 1970 came the town house explosion in Greenwich Village. Ms. Dohrn failed to appear in court in the Days of Rage case, and she and Mr. Ayers went underground, though there were no charges against Mr. Ayers. Later that spring the couple were indicted along with others in Federal Court for crossing state lines to incite a riot during the Days of Rage, and following that for ''conspiracy to bomb police stations and government buildings.'' Those charges were dropped in 1974 because of prosecutorial misconduct, including illegal surveillance.

During his fugitive years, Mr. Ayers said, he lived in 15 states, taking names of dead babies in cemeteries.

And if there were another Vietnam, he is asked, would he participate again in the Weathermen bombings?

By way of an answer, Mr. Ayers quoted from ''The Cure at Troy,''

History says, Don't hope

On this side of the grave.

But then, once in a lifetime

The longed-for tidal wave

Of justice can rise up

And hope and history rhyme.

sluggo

I'm not ... god knows I pay enough into it. ugh.

coe your question regarding why mr. mccain's daughter does not have a job suggests, what? i would be more concerned with what kind of psychological damage obama's daughters have sustained as a result of sitting in a church that preached so much vile hatred for america. i resent people that hate america yet have advanced their lives (politically and economically) as a result of being americans. yes things are bad right now, yes mistakes have been made, yes we could have done better, but to bite off the hand that has sustained us will only weaken us as a nation. their is a difference between constructive criticism and outright hatred for everything american. i am first and foremost an american, then a hispanic, then a democrat, then a woman, and proudly a hillary supporter.

I feel bad for McCain
Here is a guy who has wanted to live his fathers dream and last time he tried to play it a bit more above board and run...

he got slammed by the machine.

This time he says screw it because that "dream" and his dad's legacy...and Grandad's legacy, for that matter are too important and it's a moral choice that he gets stuck with HE has to be President, just like Clinton it's there last shot... but the the country has moved on looking to someone who gets the future.

You can look at him and see that aging man who missed his opportunity because GW played dirty and now he is like Rocky 16 ...and he is watching his life long dream slip away because the country needs to look forward.

That's really sad.

Stella, No. McCain's statement was a half-truth. Coburn does apparently still work as a doctor. And I am not going to argue with anyone about pro-choice/ pro-life. I'm the 11th of 11.

Obama made his comment because Coburn has stated that the death penalty should be applied to any doctor who performs an abortion (except when the mother is endangered). It is on his website - Coburn for Senate 2010. Obama worked with the Senator on legislation for transparency for federal spending. I believe his point was that he didn't agree with the man's positions or record, but he was willing to put that aside to work on something he believed in. You don't have to agree - and I imagine you won't, but it made sense to me - not because I am an Obama Zombie, but because I have done community work - some in jails - and it only works because you're willing to put differences - and the past behind - and think only of who you are trying to help.

Does anyone think the American public will buy this crap again after what they have been put through the last 8 years? McCain the straight talker, man of honor has no plan for the war, the economy, the environment, healthcare, fuel prices etc. So what does he do, negative attacks. How disgusting.
American's will not tolerate this any more. They learned from the last disaster called Bush.

westcoast...

by the way

that is the only reason i can keep these blogs up on my screen and partake...because I am lucky enough after years of work to be able to now.

How come the Catholic Church can find great succesors, but we here in AMerica, can't find a decent, respectable candidate to run for president!

McCain is showing early that his straight talking, honorable image is a crock. He is resorting to the lame tactics of personal destruction just like we have seen over the years. Won't work this time because the public is fed up with that nonsense. BTW, if he wants to play dirty, then some democratic group may just decide to air his pathetically low blow at a republican dinner back in the 90's
where he made disparaging remarks about Chelsea Clinton's appearance. Now there's a leader for this country!

So if Mr. Obama condemns the actions of Mr. Ayers and the words of Rev. Wright and the swindling of Mr. Rezko and the slurs of Mr. Farkkhan and so on and so forth, will that erase the connections he has had in the past?
I am quite surprised that people are considered fools to say "Yes, Mr. Obama condemns all the people he was connected with in the past. He is now purified and can lead all Americans. Perhaps, he will teach all of us a lesson for not being submissive to the Islamic Fundamentalists because we had tried to hold their reign on terrorism."
After all, he and his surrogates have been appealing to the American guilt to put him in the White House. While we feel guilty for not having a black president, we might also feel guilty for
everything Mr. Bush did and jump to the extreme and open our borders to fundamentalists.
Like Mr. Kerry says that Muslim nations (like Syria, Iran?) will respect us if we elect Mr. Obama. What a joke!

Smart people need proof of all this political spin.

You know like lawsuits, investigations, fines...

Oh that's right McCain and Clinton have those.

Barack has had none.

Zippo. Nilch. Nada.

They all have this crap. But because Obama is new ...you all spin it and spin it...but Obama supporters will make sure the American people know the actual issues that are at stake.

You all will have a very tough time winning this time with spin. It is about our standing in the world, food prices, gas prices, crumbling infrastructure, economy, economy war, war war...losing afghanistan now and a military that is in a horrible state of affairs and one candidate acting like she some military thing and the real military guy wanting to crush the spirit and stamina of our military.

...not to mention the economy.

and that definitely doesn't make us safer.

1st choice, Hillary
2nd choice, McCain...no other choice.

NIcholas, you may have chosen beyond your name the color of your skin before birth. Obama is black does not mean anything, he is where he is because of his leadership vision and great managerial skills. He has organized the strongest camapign you will not see in a life time. Hill the Bosnian General is now in bed with Hannity, OReilly, Scaife, FoxNews. That is the end of the democratic party, she has joined the right wing. That is not reaching out to the over side but a plan being prepared to weaken the democratic party and get McCain in the White House. Hillary is unlectale she cannot win the nomination and we all know that reality. Remember that Scaife has put more than 1 m of his own money to impeach Bill Clinton while we all were supporting him. Hill is losing her soul and principals, that is the difference. God bless America and God bless Obama.OBAMA08.

steve

the problem is

Hillary's solutions either won't work, can't pass in a polarized congress... or are the same as Obama's.

that's the truth.

she is used to old politics...or should i say the system that seems to be in full swing over the past decade ...where nothing has gotten done.

Obama didn't need to sit in church each Sunday to hear Rev. Wright's anti-american, racist sermons.

Obama was well groomed by Rev. Wright's views. He molded him and inspired him the twelve years the two of them have been UNCLE and NEPHEW.

He got them "PRIVATE" talks from his uncle, Rev. Wright!!!!

He knows

steve

the problem is

Hillary's solutions either won't work, can't pass in a polarized congress... or are the same as Obama's.

that's the truth.

she is used to old politics...or should i say the system that seems to be in full swing over the past decade ...where nothing has gotten done.

BKMC..

No one should see anything wrong about Obama's strange choice of bedfellows like Rezko, Auchi, Ayers, Farakhan and, of course, the beloved pastor Wright; they should just embrace the vision of these people and his Hamas associates parsing policy in the Oval Office to get that warm fuzzy feeling.

No one should mind that Obama voted in favor of LATE TERM abortion, either, or that he left the senate table without voicing any vote at all at all in at least 135 instance.

I don't quite understand why anyone would want such a person leading this country... but everyone is entitled to his O N E vote.

HOWEVER....do NOT say the G-D has anything to do with his campaign!