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“What Could I Possibly Add?”

I dunno about Ayers, most of it’s out there already. Maybe an explanation of why he’s still on board with the terrorism, an elaboration on the extent palling around, that kind of thing. But my old Fort Dix/Kuwait buddy James Janega, in this ChiTrib doorstepping of Ayers … about time someone did that, by the way … neglected to add that the Weather Underground murdered people: 

As his name was tossed back and forth Tuesday in the fury of the presidential campaign, 1960s radical William Ayers spent the day as he often does, working quietly as a professor and trying to ignore the political tempest.

Officials at the University of Illinois at Chicago say Ayers is on a previously scheduled sabbatical, but he was on campus Tuesday, sitting on a lunch-hour doctoral dissertation panel.

The man who was a Weather Underground member and decades later had dealings with Barack Obama is being increasingly cited by John McCain’s supporters, who accuse Obama of “palling around with terrorists.” Obama’s campaign counters that McCain is using “smears” involving Ayers to distract voters from the economic crisis.

When the Tribune caught up with Ayers on Tuesday, he had no interest in joining the unpleasant conversation.

“What could I possibly add?” he asked from the door to his office. “Life happens.”

Earlier in the campaign, Obama’s controversial former pastor, Rev. Jeremiah Wright Jr., only heightened attention on his past remarks by publicly defending them. In contrast, Ayers has avoided public statements, and indeed declined to comment further to the Tribune.

McCain told a St. Louis radio station Tuesday that he is likely to bring up Ayers at Wednesday night’s debate. The Obama campaign seemed ready for that, unveiling a radio ad declaring: “When Ayers committed crimes in the ’60s, Obama was 8 years old. Obama condemned those despicable acts. Ayers has had no role in Obama’s campaign, and will have no role in his administration.”

Ayers was an anti-war activist in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and joined the Weathermen, which later became the Weather Underground. The group set off bombs at government buildings.

Several dead cops, security guards and bystanders are not so small a detail. No is the fact that Ayers is on record 30-odd years later … on Sept. 11, 2001, ironically enough … expressing no regrets for what he was a part of. Janega, an Eagle Scout who taught me the trick of leaving your boots loosely laced in sub-zero temps to keep the circulation going, did less than his boy scout duty by restricting vital information flow here. He did give us this, though:

Ayers’ office door is decorated with pictures of Mumia Abu-Jamal, Che Guevara and Malcolm X. It is also home to pictures of children, bills of rights for students and parents, and a rainbow-hued greeting card advising “How to Be Really Alive.” A place of prominence is given to a New Yorker cartoon of a man interviewing for a job. The interviewer says, “I’m trying to find a way to balance your strengths against your felonies.”

Maybe Ayers and his pal Obama have some advice for the dead and their bereaved re “how to be …”

Malkin re the above, “‘Rehabilitated’ my foot.”

Topics: media, pols

  Posted by Jules Crittenden at 1:59 pm on Wednesday, October 15, 2008

2 Responses to ““What Could I Possibly Add?””

1. Fatty Bolger Says:
   October 15th, 2008 at 2:56 pm

   They had a debunking-slash-apologetic for Ayers & Obama in the local paper a few days ago. Even used the “When Ayers committed crimes in the ’60s, Obama was 8 years old.” line from his campaign, excerpted in bold in case you might have missed it in the article itself.

   They mentioned some of the connections between Ayers and Obama, but only by way of making them sound minimal, almost coincidental, really. You’re just going about your daily business, and the next thing you know some America hating ex-terrorist is practically in your shadow, with connections to the law office that hired you, serving on the same boards you do, starting organizations that hire you to be founding President and Chairman, holding meet and greet “coffees” in their living room for your newly launched poltical career, you know, that sort of thing. Could happen to anybody.

   Strangely enough, they forgot to mention Obama’s characterization of Bill Ayers as “Just a guy from my neighborhood,” because that would make Obama sound like a liar, now wouldn’t it?

2. mpat Says:
   October 15th, 2008 at 4:34 pm

   Typical Tribune gloss on any issue that remotely pertains to Obama. The local Chicago media has sanitized Obama’s resume and background to the point where I don’t think even Obama recognizes it any longer. Here in Chicago, it is so bad that you wouldn’t even know that an election, rather than a coronation, is about to take place. Jules, he may be your buddy, but Janega is guilty of forwarding the Tribune’s philosophy of doing any thing and everything to get Obama elected.

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