It seems pretty clear by now that, although Obama has no intention of blowing up any building, he’s a staunch, naive disciple of the Radical Chic that I thought was dead a long time ago. Obama still refuses to explain his past relationship with longtime Employer/Mentor Bill Ayers other than to say that Bill won’t be a part of his Administration. I’d say that this is cold comfort for the average voter. People keep talking about how Obama appeals to young voters, but I’m not buying it. Obama’s main appeal seems to be more to the older Baby Boomers who are re-living their teenage years, still pretending to be fighting “the man.”
Obviously Obama is still enthralled with Ayers and even makes light of his Mentorship with Bill. While he still won’t explain why he had deep ties to Ayers, he felt free to make jokes about it at the Alfred Smith dinner. Obama seems to underestimate the signficance of the issue to the general public, because he is surrounded by a coterie of media admirers who don’t think it’s a big deal.
It was and still is much easier for people to hate Timothy McVeigh as unsociable, conspiracy loving, former military redneck (have I mentioned all in his rap sheet?) than pleasant, engaging, smart, well connected Ayers. If you don’t know who he is and you end up in the same company, its easy to fall for his charms. But what is the difference between their deeds? Only that McVeigh was more successful in implementing his plans than Ayers.
The only positive quality I find in Ayers is that he is honest enough about his radical views. As in so many other situations, its a willful blindness that stops people from seeing the truth.