“Forget it, Jake, It’s Chinatown”: The Banality of Bill Ayers
By Steve Diamond on November 14, 2008 at 5:00 PM in Ayers, Barack Obama, Bernardine Dohrn, Bill Ayers, Weather Underground, William Ayers
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Chris Cuomo gave Bill Ayers the toughest interview he has yet faced but somehow could still not pin him down on the nature of his relationship with Barack Obama.
One is reminded of the scene with Faye Dunaway and Jack Nicholson in Chinatown: “she’s my sister, she’s my daughter….” Bill Ayers says Obama is a “family friend” but at the same time only a “professional” colleague. And he was just as ambiguous about when they met. Today Ayers said it was at the same time that Obama was active on issues related to job loss and education. Well, that would mean the late 1980s when Obama was a community organizer working with laid off steel workers and also on the same school reform efforts that Ayers helped lead. |
Cuomo did not pursue the ambiguity and Ayers was content to let it sit there, unresolved.
But the larger impression made is of the utter political idiocy of Bill Ayers.
He still wants to argue that his violent tactics as a founder and leader of the 70s cult Weather Underground somehow contributed to the peace movement at the time. Instead, of course, he and his wife in arms, Bernardine Dohrn, helped destroy a generation’s efforts on behalf of peace and genuine social justice. But that has not stopped him from re-issuing his apologia for his life, Fugitive Days: Memoirs of an Anti-War Activist, as well as co-authoring with Dohrn a new book that makes race the key explanatory variable for what ails America (”Race Course Against White Supremacy.”
The right wing tried, valiantly, to portray Obama as somehow tainted by his association with this political relic. But what is, frankly, more disturbing is how or why Obama would have believed there was any value, whatsoever, to spending any time listening to this guy or his wife, at all.
Washington Wire - WSJ.com : Ayers Speaks Out on Campaign ‘08 and His Tie to Obama
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By Sarah Palin (Release date: November 17. 2009)
Ayers is like so many of those kids in the 60’s, from wealthy families who found that they could rebel against their parents under the banner of any group that had been marginalized by those same parents–that is the African Americans. Ayers is a common criminal, a nothing and he knows it. His wife was on the ten most wanted list for a long time and the only difference between them and other ex-cons is money. This is BO’s type of people, whites with a lot of cash–I don’t think he hung out with him for any other reason.
Amen. That Obama would choose to hang around someone so devoid of real character AND Rev. Wright reveals so much about Obama’s total lack of judgment, unless you conclude (as I have) that he is a card-carrying socialist/communist. I also believe that Bill Ayers wrote Obama’s “memoirs.”
Off topic, but very relevant to this “character” issue. Check out Debbie Schlussel’s latest investigative piece on Obama - is his Just-released Selective Service Registration a fake (no real COLB, so whose going to stop you when your the President-elect?) - scroll down for article:
http://www.debbieschlussel.com/
I’ve read something about comparing the narrative style of Ayers with Obama’s book, and they do read strikingly similar in tone.
Wow, I didn’t know about this site. I have been working on a project to stop BO, and rely on NQ almost exclusively for my news. This info about the draft registration is dynamite. Thanks. Cannot wait to do more research on this.
“They Owe Limbaugh an Apology: Liberal ESPN’s Racist, Bigoted Casting Call”
Liberal ESPN?
ah yeh, a great site.
well if you’re a deranged neocon I guess you’d perceive these kind comemnts that way, equating “liberal” to some kind of antichrist- always treating it like it’s some vile dirty shameful word to mankind.
Ayers is someone who talks for a living. He understands that the political point of an interview is to run out the clock on the interrogator, which he, like Obambi, does fairly well with misdirection and double-talk. The only productive way to combat these guys is with evidence shoved right in his face. Cuomo should have asked Ayers about his clearing Obama to sit on the Annenburg board to begin with. It would have established an earlier relationship to begin with. In the end, Ayers’ constant denial of a close relationship with Obambi will come back to bite him.
Could it be…….
Like that of Larry Sinclair?
SNARK SNARK!
If there is a filter for comments — PLEASE PLEASE TELL US WHAT THE RULES ARE.
trying to get anything to post is a royal pain in the a**
so this dumb remark goes through — meanwhile my eyewitness account of how Ayer’s terrorized the citizens of American didn’t go through.
If you are posting a comment with a link leave off the “h t t p : / /” part. At least that works for me.
I run into that problem way too often.
It doesn’t seem to like copy /pastes at all.
If you have more than one link setup ready to copy here, it won’t go thru either..
it really interferes with some great intentions of posting information sometimes-
Northwest Rain, quite a few of my comments were being filtered, and I had no idea why. I finally wrote to NQ and received the following response:
interesting.. thanks
now if they could just get the site to load faster too
even in the middle of the night, posting, the page reloads so deadly slowly!
So this morning he repeats:
http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/Politics/story?id=6251086&page=1
Great.
Please tell me he didn’t say that. I can’t watch anything that freak says. I’m sorry but doesn’t anyone else think this guy belongs in Federal Prison and NOT being interviewed like some movie star? Ughhh…Please God let one of these anti-Obama movements succeed and rid us of these insane friends of Obama’s.
Sorry OIAF it’s in the transcript!
http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/Politics/story?id=6251086&page=1
http://blogs.suntimes.com/sweet/2008/11/bill_ayers_on_abcs_good_mornin.html
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-bill-ayers-good-morning-america,0,6403435.story
So what does this say to the antiwar groups, that they should set bombs? Can’t Obama get his thugs to shut this guy up?
And this azzhole is now on the permanent guest list at the White House. Really, come on, doesn’t everyone think it’s time to leave this country? I mean….this is just getting more bizarre and surreal every day. I’ve had it.
I say we stand and fight for OUR COUNTRY! Fight the alinskyites with anti-alinskyism.
We also need to put in place systematic anti-voter fraud organizations. The stench from this past year’s elections reeks to the other side of the solar system.
WAY past time to catch the KATY, IMO, but then, the weather is pretty bad much of the year in Canada and there aren’t many jobs in Mexico.
What gets me is that the Obama traitors are now wanting to investigate and possibly prosecute those that have kept us safe since 911.
What’s it going to take to wake these f*ckers up
Another attack?
We WILL have another attack, that’s a given. They’re sharpening their knives already because they know a) OVomit is a little girly girl fraidy cat pussy b) He doesn’t really care about America anyway. This is TOO WEIRD.
Hey Beautiful!
Some Americans just repulse me now. I can’t believe I actually watched 5 minutes of that traitor Overbite the other night. I’m still angry.
I listen to Mark Levin now. Besides NQ and the Freeper site this is the only place I can go as a patriotic American.
Hey Handsome….
Yeah the news is 100% off limits in my house. No more. OVerbite needs to be prosecuted for TREASON LOL.
What is “Freeper?” Are there as many trolls as here?
yo, lay off the “little girly girl fraidy cat pussy” because it’s sexist. A woman like Hillary would keep us safe and kick ass if necessary.
“girl” does not equal “weak,” so it’s about time those derogatory terms were put away for good.
Thank you for “calling out” this kind of sexist remark–but be careful, you may get labeled a “troll” for dissent and then the pack will turn on you….
agree; what’s wrong with pussies and girls? this kind of remark is so common, and all it is is another way of saying “women suck.”
Wrong. What the lady meant with those words, the way most people use them, was to denigrate the hetero male by calling him unmanly in the extreme. The opposite of man is girl. There’s nothing wrong with being unmanly, if you’re not a man, but to a man, it’s a major insult to be “neutered” in this way. I suppose it’s much the same as calling a hetero woman “butch,” although it doesn’t directly correlate.
Actually, I’m not defending using those words in this forum, only what those words mean to most people. But I happen to agree that BO is a wimp.
Oh my God. Come ON…You’re really going to attack someone for making a play on what Arnold Schwartzenegger said about Obama? LMFAO….I’m the last person to make a sexist comment. Lighten up.
mkm125
I’m “calling” you “out” as a troll. As have many other people who have been here way longer than I have. I’m really flattered by your constant attention, however, it doesn’t really go unnoticed by the others here. As for “sexism,” why don’t you tell us how much of a moron you keep saying Sarah Palin is? Way to GO on supporting women and not being “sexist.” LMFAO.
Hillary is not a “girl,” she’s a “woman.”
and a great Woman at that.
I actually think she would be a great SOS and would go along way to easing some of my fears about Obama foreign policy
I agree with you. I am just concerned. Most of my Hillary supporter friends, who know more than I do about this stuff, think that this is just Obama trying to take away the power she has as a Senator. It WOULD make me sleep a little better with her around though.
who has kept us safe since 911 exactly?
if this country had any honor, Bush and Cheney would be in prison and on trial for treason to this nation-
the stench started pre-2000 when Reps spent over $80 million in your tax dollars to prosecute Clinton over a lie about his personal sex life (and) and about White Water (of which) they did not get one single conviction for.
$80- $100 million was spent of our tax money by Reps to dethrone a Dem.. simply because he was a Dem.
Then the voter fraud in 2000… not just Florida, there were reports everywhere in Ohio of broken machines in poorer areas with many voters down to 2 machines, waiting HOURS in the rain, compared to the upper class communities that had small turnout and 4 or 5 machines vacant at any given time unused. then there was the phone banking and fraud that was outed but never seemed to be prosecuted-
This countries honor has gone down the toilet. By today’s standards, what Nixon did wouldn’t have even turned a head, much alone become such a huge scandal it got the VP then the P to resign right as they were being impeached. By today’s standards, what they did would be laughed off and ignored.
I’m not defending Obama by any means nor his campaign tactics to steal a nomination.. but comparably, they are all alike imo.
Northwest Rain…I think it’s a software thing. It happens to me all the time too. And there were posts on another thread about it today. I always copy my posts before I hit send, in case they don’t go through and I have to try again.
I copied — added more information to the top so that Wordpress software wouldn’t reject the post (as a duplicate).
Thanks for letting me know that others are having the same problems — I blame VISTA — give me back XP.
I have XP and it happens to me too
VISTA is the worst, I hate it!
I’m going to tray again.
Ayers is still a monster.
I did not realize how much Ayers had ter*orized me during that era. The fact that Obama is tied to Ayers and Obama “won” the election has re traumatized me. When Ayers & Weathermen were busy bomb*ng — we never knew what their target would be. I lived on base — and the MP (Military Police) considered all young adults as a threat — and at the same time anyone associated with the military could have been an Ayer’s target (as far as we knew — and that is the point of terrorists.)
My brother in law called to brag that “his” guy won — I went absolutely berserk. IF you fly you are subjected to id*ots — yet people elected a person with KNOWN terror*st connection (friends even). What a huge contradiction. Anyway I realize that my reaction to my BIL’s call — was a flash back to the horrible domestic terrorists.
There was a peaceful protest to the war — and there was a large involvement of Vietnam Vets — they had been there and knew that the American people were being lied to by politicians, the military brass etc. Ayers and company probably extended the war and caused the death of the college students at Kent State.
Some disreputable politicians turned ALL college students into the enemy — clearly we were NOT the enemy. Most of us just wanted to go to class and get our degrees.
Ayers is a horrible person who should be shunned and banned from from the public airwaves.
Either the glitch is fixed or the filters are for the words with the * in the above post???
He says in today’s interview “I didn’t hurt anybody.”
Thanks for sharing this. Sorry you had to go through all that and that you are retraumatized now.
So is Ayers actually claiming you get to peace by violence? Isn’t that the damnedest?
We hear war craven leaders make that argument and yet Ayers is claiming he was opposed to the war. Yet, he considers himself Communist and Anarchist.
Me thinks he has much more in common with Barry Obama…OPPORTUNIST!
Funnny isn’t it, that his goal was for Commuism and the end to White Supremacy, Capitalism. He wan’t to lead a new group of “activists” and “organizers” to put forth this agenda…nothing about war. But it fit with the time of his bombings and terrorist attacks. Funny that he still is proud of his actions.
And the media wanted to help prop up this loser, to try to make Obama’s friendship really not that bad. tsss
Hey since ABC has no problem interviewing William Ayers, can they go into the caves of Afghanistan, find Bin Laden, and let him talk too, I bet he has a lot to say, since the media thinks all is forgiven now right. If Ayers can talk, so can Bid Laden, I don’t see any difference between the two
yep, but quite clearly the process is beginning to “normalize” all of BO’s america-hating associates. who knows, maybe bin laden will be next.
did ABC interveiew Sarah Palin???
ABC did interview bin Laden….John Miller was the guy.
Now he is some terrorism expert.
Here is some text of it.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/binladen/who/interview.html#video
You were on the right track.
ayers uses the same logic bin laden uses:
MR. AYERS: …
Let’s remember that what you call a violent past, that was at a time when thousands of people were being murdered by our government every month and those of us who fought to end that war were actually on the right side.
http://www.swamppolitics.com/news/politics/blog/
2008/11/obama_pal_ayers_fights_back.html
ayers terrorist ways were justified.
And once again that fucking putrid piece of shit ayers says:
MR. AYERS: …
I was a militant. I was part of the militant faction of opposing the war and I’ve been quoted again and again as saying I don’t regret it, and frankly, I don’t think we did enough and I don’t think we did enough, just as today, I don’t think we’ve done enough to stop these wars and I think we must all recognize the injustice of it and do more…
ayers terrorist ways were justified.
Today, after 911, ayers would be in jail so fast his head would be spinning around his pencil neck. Don’t even want to think about what the other inmates would to do somebody like ayers.
The best part is…his kill all the rich white people nonsense? If his daddy, Tom Ayers, wasn’t a “rich, white man” he couldn’t have bought the lawyer that got Ayers off on a technicality and spared jail time. Ayers and Dorhn are not intellectuals, activists, whatever. They are angry, bitter, lying, violent, rage-filled nuts who are now using their friendship (part of the “family”) with Obama to promote their terrorist careers again. I feel sick.
I’d like to put my foot up the backside of Ayers and Dorn. They are repellant. I can’t even stand to look at him.
I get tired of people thinking Ayers was just another peacenik. That is definitely not the case according to FBI informants and Prairie Fire.
I believe about FBI. But, then, why FBI is till OK with Obama’s background check? Am I missing something here? Or is it just me….
I believe about FBI. But, then, why FBI is still OK with Obama’s background check? Am I missing something here? Or is it just me….
I don’t think anyone checks POTUS background. I KNOW during the Primaries when I asked the DNC HOW Obama could pass a background check, they told me they did NOT do them, because (you’ll like this)by the time your running everyone knows about you and you couldn’t be a Senator with bad associates (umm he was) so he must be fine. .. I said my neighbor I only know to wave Hello to was up for a low level gov job that required clearence and someone came and interviewed ME for about and hour about him, so why isn;t it a problem he was friends with Ayers and Dorhn ( who was even worse) and Rezko, Auchi, Odingo ect.
I asked 3 different people at the DNC when I would waste my time calling there.
Why does he have a job teaching? Honestly- who put him into a responsible position of shaping young minds? WTF!
That is a little nugget that many of us learned recently — meanwhile Obama KNEW all along — and Obama worked with Ayers on that “education” project that turned out to be a dud.
Money seems to make anyone and anything “clean again”?
His unrepentant wife teaches at Northwestern! At least the bar wouldn’t let her practice until she expressed remorse (which she never has!)
that’s chicago for you. aren’t you glad our next president is from there?
Steve Diamond:
Have you heard or know what these two said on the radio show “Democracy Now”?
It seems Ayers and Bernadine Dohrn were interviewed for an hour by them with a second part coming on Monday… (gosh..)
I haven’t heard it but this is the link in case anyone brave here can stomach listening to this to report us back on it…?
http://www.democracynow.org/2008/11/14/exclusive_in_first_joint_broadcast_interview
Steve-
I heard that interview.
Quite frankly, I was very surprised that neither Amy Goodman or Juan Gonzalez didnt call Ayers or Dohrn out on their lies when they swept the violent aspects of the groups they were involved with and the fact that YES…bombs were placed in areas to cause harm and destruction.
I was quite surprised and saddened that Democracy Now let them get away with this revisionist history.
Both Goodman and Gonzalez do their research so I dont know how/why they allowed this to happen.
it’s trying to normalize and excuse violence when it is done by (or on behalf of) non-white america-haters.
They have become such shameless partisan hacks. I have lost all respect for Amy Goodman and I told her so. The one thing this election has taught me is that even though the right lies, the left lies just as much.
Indeed!! The two meet at the same despicable and dishonest point.
BTW: wasn’t Amy Goodman (mistakely?) arrested recently while filming some some demonstration or sth? Was it at the Rep. Convention?
so now we can see, that homegrown terrorist have more attention, than good and patriotiv americans. How i the hell Ayers got off the hook. Must be some inside job, to let Him and His wife go free. !!! It is no other way.
How anyone can be quiet about Ayers book witch was dedicate to guy who assasinated Bob Kennedy. Did ABC ask about???
It is another play by Media , how there they give this man any time on TV. How ??? He should be in prison for life with no parole and so His wife.
First. Ayers and his group blew up office buildings in New York City, at night, but forgot about the fact that cleaning crews work at night. Fortunately, none of them died in the blasts that covered the NYC streets with shattered glass. But, that was more a function of luck than of planning. Should he have said, in his interview, “Either I was really lucky I never killed anybody or I was just a really bad terrorist.”
Second. The blast that killed his at-the-time girlfriend and two others in NYC in the Village took place in Dustin Hoffman’s apartment building. He was not home at the time but he was seen, after the fact, picking through the wreckage. If Hoffman had been home and had died in the blast that claimed the others, would Hollywood still be as puckered up at the anal cavity of this warmed over wanna be revolutionary?
Bill Ayers is a tired old joke. Unfortunately, he’s the kind of joke to which young, impressionable neophytes, like Barack Obama, are attracted. Anything to “stick it” to the establishment and bring down the capitalist pigs (Note: It’s difficult to have capitalism without capitalists or capital but that point seems lost on them).
If only “they” could run the country, they’d change everything. Okay, now they have their chance.
So far, all their front man, Obama, has done is call Daddy (Joe Biden and the flood of Washington (mostly Clinton) insiders filling the new prez’s boat to cross the Potomac and “rule” the capitol).
Call it a breath of
freshfoul air.This article, which I am sure is a great read, would be easier to read if there wasn’t a huge amazon add over the top of it.
Yes, I get this to. Amazon is interefing with this blog, but why???
Not sure why that is there….I used the image of Chinatown the movie on the original on my blog but had no intention of linking to Amazon.
Susan?
Amazon is helping to support this blog. Every time you click on an ad, a tiny fee goes to NQ. So click daily!
I don’t think anyone should bother to even listen to them on radio or TV. The MSM should be ashamed to even put them on a talk show. They are profiting from books because of their terrorist activity and as far as I am concerned should be treated like the criminals they are and not given the time of day.
People in their movement were killed by a bomb they were planning to set (with nails in it) at a military dance - what does he mean no one got hurt - and innocent lives would have been lost if that plot and succeeded.
He and his wife should be behind bars or kicked out of the country they showed absolutely no respect for.
I have no respect for Obama because of his associations with people like them and the rest of the America haters he has surrounded himself with.
It will be interesting how much influence Ayers has in the Obama administration over the next several years. Someone posted on a blog here sometime back that it was reported that Ayers kept in contact with Obama or Mechelle weekly. I can’t believe America elected someone with these type of associations for president. We have really lowered the bar.
I wouldn’t want to sit next to him let alone speak with him… I do not understand this!!!
I would be outta the door as fast as I could.. WTH?
I wouldn’t be surprised if Bill Ayers ends up with considerable influence on the education issue in an Obama administration. Possible Secretary of Education? Why not? We elected Obama President, and no one can say that anyone who cared to look didn’t know about Bill Ayers.
That’s a really scary thought. I would hope it would bring on massive protests.
My theory is that Obama will have a shadow government and these are the people who will be making the real decisions and policy. Ayers will probably have an enormous influence on educational politic.
Two failures and narcissists controlling US education — we are so scr*wed.
Do journalists do their homework anymore, or does Ayers limit question topics like Michelle O did on the View? Why doesn’t someone ask Ayers about that little trip to visit Hugo Chavez and Ayers’ comments in Venezuala to the “dear” leader?
Journalism is dead. The morons on tv in the infotainment industry look like Goebbels hacks.
hmmm, my posts are getting lost…what gives NQ?
That’s been my problem also — and my posts have no links — doesn’t matter — just poof — gone.
In the post above that finally posted after 6 tries — I put * in possible trigger words which might get posts ejected. That post went though.
There is a serious glitch in the software.
Anne & Northwest, please look for my comment towards the top at this thread for an explanation of why posts are “getting lost.”
This is another nail in the ABC coffin for me. When my dad leaves next week, I am putting blocks on certain channels and taking them off my TiVo line-up since I am sure someone is tracking that stuff somewhere… if anyone taped this interview, can you tell us what advertisers were involved?
Passing this along:
Please help raise money to put an ad demanding BO’s BC on USAToday:
http://www.wethepeoplefoundation.org/Update/Update2008-11-12.htm
We can’t have the birth certificate issue die down, please spread the word and make this viral:
http://mylifeontheglist.com/2008/11/14/be-involved-make-this-viral/
And please join efforts here:
http://www.democratic-disaster.com/
This is a serious matter, guys. We can’t let Barry appoint himself God of this nation. This is dangerous.
And, if you donate money, I would demand that BO provide proof that his recently produced Selective Service Registration is not a fraudulent document:
http://www.debbieschlussel.com/archives/2008/11/exclusive_did_n.html#comments
just like that:give US Your money” support and give, give give, how sure we can be, that You will spend on what You are telling You will do . Come on, we are not that naive!!! First prove that You are for real, and then give US all info. about You, and then we will investigate…
to; educatewoman, why dont You go to other blogs,.By by by!!!
Thanks Steve Diamond.
So Much for Good Morning America.
So, hanging around someone that was on the FBI’s 10 most wanted, (which in of itself, is quite a distinction), BO is of the mental disposition of thinking it as “cool” as having McPeek introduce you as he’s McPunkin’ you. BO doesn’t have a clue it’s happening, nor the basis of the context it is happening in.
Why is it cool? Because you BO, are not aware of the station or past of the people you seek out? Or is it more that you do?
Obama’s whole “Obama on the Couch” ? is SO tone deaf.
And this country elected him. As in “China Town”, Prof. Diamond, we keep asking…
“Who’s child is he?”
PS, I would love to read your views on global labor trends as it relates to the mid to long term effects of the current economic FUBAR. A mirror piece to LD’s recent articles perhaps?
At best, he has a very childlike, or maybe angry adolescent mentality. At best.
Hi Steve!
Interesting piece. I think you caught the gist in your headline: The Banality of Bill Ayers. Don’t we all remember the stories of the Nazi Commandants: the banality of evil.
I had a friend send something my way this morning. I’d written a short piece about Charles-Henri Sanson, the official executioner during the French Revolution, who I painted with a human brush. In a chilling way, I hope. I think the note applies here:
“When the felon’s not engaged in his employment,
Or maturing his felonious little plans,
His capacity for innocent enjoyment
Is just as great as any honest man’s.”
[W.S. Gilbert]
I didn’t watch the Ayers interview. I refused to give the station any points. But I saw snippets later, how Ayers [with an expression of sincerity] said his activites were never meant to hurt or kill people, even though the bomb that exploded prematurely killed three of his own membership [loaded with roofing nails] and the plans were on the books to attack the NCO club at Fort Dix [not far from where I grew up]. And oh yes, he and Obama were family friends but he really didn’t know him.
Gag! Makes my skin crawl.
Peggy Sue, there is nothing worse than baracking while you have the heebie jeebies.
ok, i’m trying to figure out why there is an amazon ad that runs over the text at the top of this post
In case you can’t see what the ad is: The ad is a context based ad based on the topic. So that makes sense. The admin must have added the ad.
I don’t see it running over the text, so its probably a browser specific bug of some sort. Try viewing in another browser.
Yes I get it too BJ highlight the words and u can read it.
I was trying to ask below but fingers and brain did not come together…
why is there aIs the book supposed to be over the writing?
Cannot read the top opart here? Anyone else get that ??
Never mind I am drunk LOL NOT…. maybe in an hr or 2 I will…
KILL EM ALL AND LET GOD SORT EM OUT