Obama and Ayers: Part 2 Obama's "I-was-only-8" lie by Jared Israel [Nov. 3, 2008] Part 1 of this series, Obama and Ayers: The Provocateur Exhumed can be read at http://emperors-clothes.com/exhumed.htm ========================================== As I wrote in my last article, "Obama and Ayers: The Provocateur Exhumed," when it comes to Obama's ties to former Weathermen Bill Ayers and Bernardine Dohrn, I am something of a primary source. I was co-leader of the opposition to the Weathermen within Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), the organization that Weathermen Bernardine Dohrn and Bill Ayers tried to destroy, and then, by their supposed connection to it, to defame, in 1969. Four weeks ago it dawned on me -- to my horror -- that after many years, with the media coverage of Ayers' alleged links to Obama, the Weathermen were back in the public eye. Since I know from bitter experience who these people are, and the harm they do, I wanted to do something about them. I had lost sight of them in the mid-1970s, well before they all resurfaced, with the top leaders getting no jail time -- literally getting away with murder. I decided to do some research. How did the Weatherman escape incarceration for their bombing campaign? Why didn't state and federal prosecutors, for example the Justice Department under Ronald Reagan, go after them? Was it true that nobody was ever hurt by Weatherman crimes? And what was Obama's real relation to them? Here I will start with Obama. The attack on Obama has been that he has worked closely with Weatherman leader Bill Ayers. The problem is, we need to know more -- for example, is there any evidence Obama has tried to cover-up for Weatherman crimes? In defending himself from attack, Obama and his campaign have made statements to the media and in Obama's own "Fact Check on Obama and Ayers," on his campaign website. 40% of Obama's "Fact Check" consists of media and various VIPs saying it is no big deal that Obama worked with Ayers. These statements mean as much as the blurbs on the back of a mystery novel - obviously they wouldn't be published unless they said what Obama wanted, so what do they prove? In the remaining 60% of the "Fact Check," Obama a) states his core defense for working with Ayers and b) defends Ayers by portraying him and the Weathermen as having been excessive -- even violent -- in pursuit of their ideals, but not murderous, and, at least in the case of Ayers, of having changed into model citizens. This is the interesting part, for I have found that a) Obama's core defense for working with Ayers is based on a lie about the Weathermen in which Obama covers up for murder and b) the rest of Obama's defense of Ayers and the Weathermen is rife with deception and deceit as well. This is a serious charge. Let's take a look. ========================================== Eight years old and not counting ========================================== Obama's "Fact Check" starts by repeating the core argument in his rebuttal to the charge that he is linked to the Weathermen:
Did you notice that within the space of 67 words above, Obama repeats three times that he was eight-years old in 1969, stating that that's "when the Weathermen were active." This was his central point in answering the Ayers charge when it was raised in a debate with Clinton on April 17. [2] And by the same token, on October 8, 2008 Obama told ABC News' Charlie Gibson:
By the way, please notice that Obama juxtaposes "despicable acts" with being a professor of education (indeed a college professor of education, not to mention at a university), as if the latter had some redeeming relationship to the former.
Notice that Burton says Obama condemns Weatherman violence "as he does all acts of violence," thus putting the Weathermen in a group with all purveyors of violence, from people who get in fist fights in a bar, to mass murderers. This fits the current fashion in Weatherman rehabilitation, as expressed in a recent Associated Press dispatch that described Bill Ayers as:
So, a new concept: idealism plus "non-fatal" bombings.
The New York Times reported that there were 60 sticks of dynamite in the exploded townhouse. [7] Provoked by Burton's remarks, I decided to check: what did the Weathermen do when Obama was twenty?
The arrested Weathermen were Cathy Boudin and Judith Clark. The Times reported that:
As for Judith Clark:
The next day, the Times gave the story top billing on page one. Here are the headline and a few paragraphs:
Three dead, two wounded, all by people who never hurt people, just property. |
| ============================================ Footnotes and Further Reading =========================================== [1] "Fact Check on Obama and Ayers," Obama campaign website, April 17, 2008, at http://factcheck.barackobama.com/.../fact_check_....php or http://snipurl.com/502e9 [factcheck_barackobama_com] [2] "Transcript: Obama and Clinton Debate. Full Transcript of the Democrats' Before Pennsylvania Primary," April 16, 2008, Speakers: Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., George Stephanopoulos, ABC Anchor, Charles Gibson, ABC Anchor, at http://abcnews.go.com/print?id=4670271 [3] "Obama: McCain Scoring 'Cheap Political Points'- Democratic Contender Discusses Economy in Post-Debate Exclusive with Charlie Gibson," by Katie Escherich and Lauren Sher, October 8, 2008 http://www.abcnews.go.com/.../story?id=5985237&page=1 [4] "Obama's Ties to Left Come Under Scrutiny," The New York Sun, February 19, 2008, by By Russell Berman, Staff Reporter of the Sun, at http://www.nysun.com/.../obamas-ties-to-left-.../ [5] "Powell endorses Obama, chides McCain campaign tone," The Associated Press, October 19, 2008, by Stephen Ohlemacher, at http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081019/ap_on_el_pr/powell Backed up at http://www.tenc.net/a/arch/powell.htm [6] New York State Law, Article 125: "Homicide, Abortion and Related Offenses," Section 125.25: "Murder in the second degree," at http://ypdcrime.com/penal.law/article125.htm#125.25 [7] "2 Women in Brink's Case Identified with Weathermen from Start in '69," The New York Times, October 22, 1981, Thursday, Late City Final Edition, Section B; Page 4, Column 1; Metropolitan Desk, 1723 words, by Paul L. Montgomery, posted at http://emperors-clothes.com/dohrn-brink.htm#8 [8] "Quieter Lives for 60's Militants, but Intensity of Beliefs Hasn't Faded," The New York Times, August 24, 2003, by Daniel J. Wakin, at http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F...59C8B63 [9] "Days of Rage: The beginning of the end ...," United Press International, October 24, 1981, Saturday, BC cycle, Domestic News, 796 words, by Marcella S. Kreiter, posted at http://emperors-clothes.com/dohrn-brink.htm#16 [10] "Obama's Account of New York Years Often Differs From What Others Say," by Janny Scott, The New York Times, October 30, 2007, at http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/30/us/politics/30obama.html The Times writes: "Mr. Obama arrived in New York in August 1981, at age 20, from Occidental College in Los Angeles." [11] "2 Women in Brink's Case Identified with Weathermen from Start in '69," The New York Times, October 22, 1981, by Paul L. Montgomery, posted at http://emperors-clothes.com/dohrn-brink.htm#8 [12] "Police Raid Apartments to Gather Evidence on Killings in Rockland," The New York Times, October 23, 1981, Friday, Late City Final Edition, Section A; Page 1, Column 3; Metropolitan Desk, 1975 words, by Robert D. McFadden, posted at http://emperors-clothes.com/dohrn-brink.htm#11
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