‘Say it Ain’t So, O’: Say You Don’t Believe Your Country is Fundamentally Flawed

Monte Kuligowski

Sarah Palin is being attacked for “attacking Barack Obama’s character,” because she dares to inform millions of uninformed voters of Obama’s association with the unrepentant, anti-American terrorist, William Ayers.

Palin asserts that a man who “pals around with terrorists,” should not be a viable candidate for the office of president of the United States. Bill Ayers is a founder of the Weather Underground, a 1960s era terrorist organization that bombed several government buildings, including the U.S. Capitol and the Pentagon and was cited for the death of a San Francisco police officer.

Ayers, whom otherwise could have been serving a life term in prison for his anti-American terrorist activities, got off on a legal technicality and currently is a tenured professor living in Chicago. Obama kicked off his run for state office in the 1990s at a fundraiser hosted by the unremorseful terrorist. The venue of the “meet-the-candidate event” was the home of Bill Ayers. The Obama campaign has admitted that Obama and Ayers maintain a “friendly” relationship.

The Obama campaign and his media friends dismiss Palin’s “attacks” as mere “smears” and “distractions,” from the issues. The issue of Obama’s character is more important than the “issues,” however, because if Obama’s character disqualifies him, the remaining “issues” are sort of irrelevant.

In response to bringing up a campaign-killing-topic of which the media had assumed was successfully set aside and buried earlier in the primaries, Palin said, “I think it's fair to talk about where Barack Obama kicked off his political career, in the guy's living room.”

In an AP piece by Jim Kuhnhenn of Oct. 5, titled, “Palin defends terrorist comment against Obama,” it’s hard to determine whether the Obama campaign is speaking or if Kuhnhenn is simply editorializing, but here is how the Obama campaign/media spin the issue:

“But while Ayers and Obama are acquainted, the charge that they ‘pal around’ is a stretch of any reading of the public record. And it's simply wrong to suggest that they were associated while Ayers was committing terrorist acts. Obama was 8 years old at the time the Weather Underground claimed credit for numerous bombings and was blamed for a pipe bomb that killed a San Francisco policeman.”

The journalists who raised the Ayers topic during the primaries were absolutely excoriated by their “mainstream” peers for daring to mention facts that could sink their candidate’s campaign. Back then, Obama responded tersely with the “I was an eight-year-old when Ayers was a terrorist,” remark and the media dutifully laid the matter to rest.

The problem for the Obama campaign and the media is that their defense of Obama is misplaced and weak.

The Kuhnhenn quote above, arguing that it’s a stretch of the “public record” to assert that Obama “pals around” with Ayers, completely misses the point. I didn’t know that public records of palling around were kept. The real question, of course, is not whether they pal around, but, “Why did Obama kick off his political career in the home of an unrepentant, anti-American terrorist?” The honest answer, of course, ends the presidential hopes of The One and therefore mustn’t be discussed.

Likewise, the fact that Obama was eight when Ayers terrorized Americans is pointless. In defense of Obama, Kuhnhenn says, “it's simply wrong to suggest that they were associated while Ayers was committing terrorist acts.” Palin, however, never suggested that Obama was associated with Ayers at the time of the bombings. It’s somewhat surreal to have to point out the obvious, but, again, the relevant point is that Obama was not an eight-year-old when he befriended the unremorseful, radical leftist and attended a political fundraiser in his home.

Bill Ayers types don’t sponsor John McCain types. And John McCain types don’t accept invitations from Bill Ayers types. Only radical leftists are comfortable in radical leftist environments. Birds of a feather roost together. Obama was comfortable in Rev. Jeremiah Wright’s radical, anti-American church for 20 years and only left for political expediency. And, remember how Wright responded to Obama’s departure, noting that Obama was acting as a “politician;” which implied that though they shared the same worldview, he was free to communicate his, while Obama was not.

The common denominator with all of Obama’s radical associations is a shared political worldview. Whether considering Obama’s friendship with the Saul Alinsky disciples, Rashid Khalidi, Emil Jones, Jr., William Ayers, Jeremiah Wright, Michael Pfleger or even his own wife, Michelle, the thread of leftist ideology runs through all. Upon connecting the dots what emerges is a shared belief that America is a fundamentally flawed country.

One would expect the office of ACORN, the home of William Ayers and the church of Rev. Wright to be natural seedbeds to produce radical leftists, not future presidents.

Americans have a right to know the real Barack Hussein Obama. The media have a duty to report rather than criticizing those who dare to report. If Americans nevertheless want to elect a man with Obama’s worldview, that is one thing, to willingly hide it is quite another.

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Monte is an attorney who writes on topics of cultural, religious and legal interest

columnist@cox.net