Ayres introduced Obama to his friends in support of Obama’s first campaign for state office. Ayres apparently promoted Obama to head the Woods Foundation which then funded Ayres projects. They served together for 6 years on that board. Obama wrote an approving comment for the dust jacket or back page of a book by Ayres. Michelle Obama arranged symposia featuring Ayres and Barak together promoting the same radical education concepts.

No one is suggesting Ayres be fired for his anarchistic and anti-American views. The stifling of free speech is being done by those who try to shut down the people seeking to expose the dangerous Obama Ayres connection.

Frank, he’s right. It’s about time you all embraced the wholesome goodness of proceduralism. Only in this way can you prove a negative! It’s quite simple. If you do, then you prove your willingness to accept your assigned penance in good faith. That ameliorates the worst of whatever it is that results from the charges. No, really. I mean it. I’m familiar with your qualms on this score, but if it saves the life of just one morbidly anal , self-loathing, moral relativist right wing collectivist crackpot, it will be worth it (with a few caveats, possibly).

As you and and the good senator submit, try not to think of it as acquiescing to the bad faith pettifoggery of the sanctimonious yuppie jacquerie. Think of it instead as a great big delicious pastry, filled with real lamb’s blood, dusted with depleted uranium and chilled to perfection. Better living through euphemisms? Eh? Ha! I know you’re tempted!

PS: I got tenure, at last.

Seems like there are easy answers to some of these problems.

“Obama is palling around with terrorists.”

Strawman: “Bill Ayres is a terrorist” OK. Would that make him a criminal? Well… he’s not a practicing terrorist. He’s actually a professor at the University of Chicago.

Red Herring: “Obama servered on a board witj Bill Aryes”

Classic politics of “guilt by association”.

Can I play?

John McCain was held and brain washed by communists for 6 years to hate America and eventually they deemed the job finished and released him to work for them here in America (see “The Manchurian Candidate”).

How will McCain respond when tested to confront America’s enemies?
Perhaps only the communists who trained him know for sure.

Ugh… politics by paranoia is a nasty, nasty business. Connect dots of negative emotion and stir with e twist. It leaves the voters shaken if not stirred.

Let’s put our faith in the inherent goodness of people and the wisdom of crowds. Otherwise, democracy is doomed. It does help to have strong advocates for truth consistently crying foul.

There are other connections that can also be made… Bill Ayres linked to redemption, for example. Over 40 years a person can change. I’d be wary of someone that didn’t.

I’m sure John McCain has changed too… unfortunately, he has changed by embracing the politics of Karl Rove: repeat the most damning lies possible because they wear down the opponent, the voter and the media until even the truth seems suspect.