Tuesday, October 14, 2008

Words fail

A remarkable post by Paul Soglin over at his blog. Paul wants us to give Bill Ayers and Barack Obama a chance. Sometimes, he says, you have to work with people that you don't agree with to get things done. Paul notes that he himself was forced to work with a minister who opposed pornograpy, a businessman who was, in Paul's words. "homophobic" and even someone who supported Newt Gingrich's Contract with America.

So let's not be so critical of Obama for choosing to accept the support of, work with and praise the writing of someone who wanted to bomb buildings and kill people. If Paul Soglin had to work with a Republican businessman, then we can certainly see how Barack Obama had to work with an unrepentant terrorist.

The post inadvertently illustrates just why Ayers and Wright matter. It takes a special political perspective to think that a critique of America that is so harsh that it prompts one to blow things and people to bits is the moral equivalent of the Contract for America or even retrograde views on pornography or homosexuality.

It requires one to stand well on the port side. What Obama praised about Ayers (his book) and what he did with Ayers (funnel funds to radical and politicized educational initiatives)confirms this.

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

If Ayers is such a dangerous man, how come Dubya hasn't done anything to arrest him under the Patriot Act or his other claimed powers as CIC? A Terrorist is a Terrorist, right?

sean s.

Anonymous said...

Dying gasps of a losing campaign. Voters don't care about this, only conservatives who are voting McCain anyways. Moot point.

But by all means keep wasting your breath

Anonymous said...

anons

When Obama becomes our president, watch your rights get chipped away bit by bit by bit.
And your money.

Anonymous said...

Dear Anonymous at 11:15;

Which rights do you think Obama will "chip away at"? Or is this just a vague, unfounded accusation?

Do you have specific rights in mind; like how Dubya chipped away at our habeas corpus rights?, or chipped away at our right to a fair trial? or chipped away at our right to not be tortured? or chipped away at our privacy rights? or chipped away at the Rule of Law?

sean s.

Anonymous said...

Birds of a feather flock together...

This is a legitimate issue and as Soglin post makes obvious is indefensible.

Obama was not trying to change Wright or Ayers but willing participated with them.

If you go to a Klan meeting, you must be interested in the Klan. Moreover, if you’re invited to a Klan meeting they must be interested in you.

Obama wants to empower those who desire to undermine society with inordinate and perhaps dangerous ways. Bully boys using government power is not the change we need.

Anonymous said...

Re. "Birds of a feather flock together..."

By this logic McCain must be a screaming liberal because he's sat and worked in the Senate with Ted Kennedy, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama.

sean s.

Anonymous said...

sean s -

"McCain must be a screaming liberal because he's sat and worked in the Senate with Ted Kennedy, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama."

Some people think that McCain is but you're using fussy logic to make your point. McCain had to work with many people in the Senate whereas Obama did not have to work with Ayers and Wright. Moreover, McCain does not have personal associations, as does Obama with Ayers and Wright.

Obama voluntarily associates with people of questionable motives, which makes his motives questionable. I personally think Obama deep inside is a very bitter man seeking to use power for the wrong reasons.

Anonymous said...

"Fussy logic"? "Fussy" must be a term you use for "inconvenient".

McCain has "no personal relationships"? Really? 'Cause he has publicly referred to Ted Kennedy as a friend.

McCain had to work with other Senators? No, he could have refused. No one coerced him.

McCain freely chose to be in the Senate, and has freely chosen to work with Obama, Clinton, Kennedy, Feingold, and others; heck: he brags about his working with them! At least whenever he wants people to think he's a Maverick.

McCain voluntarily associates with people of "questionable motives"; it must mean his motives are questionable too.

Oh rats! There's that fussy logic again!

sean s.

Pete Gruett said...

It's amazing to me how normally sensible people are willing to tow such an absurd line in the cause of a doomed presidential campaign.

The Chicago Annenberg Challenge was an attempt to "funnel funds to radical and politicized education initiatives?"

What were they trying to do, fund comprehensive sex education and the teaching of evolution? Oh wait, McCain's already lied about Obama's policies toward the former.

Pull yourself together. The assertion that Barrack Obama is some sort of closet radical is absurd.

I think the right half of political spectrum would be better off in the long run if you kept your heads but what do I know? I bought a sandwich from Karl Armstrong.

Anonymous said...

Peter

The right should keep their heads? Look at what the left did when Palin was picked as VP.

Ooooo...That baby with Down Syndrome isn't hers - it's her daughters.
Gasp...her daughter is pregnant.
NOW (how ironic)...How can she leave her baby to take this job? She should just stay home.
She isn't a real woman.
She's a witch.

Look at your side. The above accusations are the stuff of trashy tabloids.

Anonymous said...

Why do you idiots think that "the baby is Bristol's" talk got started? Because the Governor didn't disclose her pregnancy until the 8th month! The failure to disclose set up the goofy speculation.

Here's another question: McCain heaps praise on Watergate felon G. Gordon Liddy. Isn't McCain "cozying up" to a known terrorist when he does this?

What about the Governor sleeping with a former member of the Alaska Independence Party (the "First Dude")? Or recording a cheery greeting for the group's 2008 convention? What important contributions does this nut group make to political discourse? Remember that its goal is the destruction of the Union!

tom paine said...

quote about Gov. Palin..."She's a witch."

Actually this cannot be true. There is an easily accessable video that shows the Rev. Thomas Muthee (a well known witch cast out expert) both laying hands on Gov. Palin and praying for her.

Not sure if this was prior to or after Gov. Sarah decided that evolution was bogus and that humans and dinosaurs lived at the same time.

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