The facts about Obama's "fact sheet" on Ayers

Guy Benson:

When George Stephanopoulos so rudely queried Sen. Barack Obama about his long-standing connections to unrepentant domestic terrorist William Ayers during a recent Democratic debate, many conservative newshounds cheered. At long last, Americans had been introduced to a name that only a handful of right-leaning news sources had previously explored. Obama challenged the question's relevancy, carefully avoided details, and pivoted to another topic of discussion. The damage was done, though, and his campaign was forced to issue a "fact" sheet to debunk any nasty implications the "distraction" of a question may have raised. Team Obama informed readers that a) Obama himself is far too young to have been a member of the Weather Underground, b) The mainstream media consensus is that Obama's ties to Ayers are irrelevant, c) All charges against Ayers were dropped, and d) Ayers and his wife, Bernadine Dohrn, are actually pretty "mainstream" these days. Three of these four defenses ring hollow.

First, let's stipulate the obvious: Barack Obama was a young boy when Ayers and Dohrn were blowing up federal buildings, running from authorities, and warning Americans to "guard your children." Obama is not a terrorist, and he should not be held responsible for the Weather Underground's criminal acts.

Next, let's examine Obama's claim that his connection to Ayers and Dohrn is "tenuous" and "phony." Is it phony that Obama's political coming-out party in the mid-1990s was hosted by Ayers and Dohrn? What about the panel discussions in which Ayers and Obama both took part—that were organized by Michelle Obama? Tenuous? I suppose the goodbye party for prominent Israel basher and Arafat apologist Rashid Khalidi, attended by Obama, Ayers and Dohrn, is also unworthy of discussion. That Khalidi himself hosted a fundraiser for Obama's first Congressional campaign must be completely irrelevant, too.

Then there's the pesky fact that Obama and Ayers served together on the board of the Woods Fund for three years—and continued to do so even after Ayers was quoted in the New York Times fondly recalling his days as a bomber, and despairing that he hadn't "done more." (This quote, the Obama fact sheet reminds us, comes from an interview that just happened to be published on 9/11—Ayers had made the incendiary remarks earlier. I don't know about you, but that makes me feel a lot better). The funds Obama and Ayers helped control at the Woods Foundation funneled thousands of dollars into both Khalidi's organization and the now-infamous Trinity United Church of Christ. Irrelevant, phony distractions? So what if the Obama campaign's top strategist concedes that the Senator's relationship with the terrorist is "friendly"? I apologize for even devoting this much attention to such tenuous and unimportant information.

Obama's "fact" sheet then brings us the crucial bulletin that all charges against Ayers were dropped, and that he spent no time in jail. Absolutely true. Except a minor detail was omitted: Ayers openly admits he is "guilty as sin" but "free as a bird." Charges were dropped because federal authorities overstepped their legal bounds in pursuing the Weathermen, not because the charges were unfounded. Perhaps this distinction was too nuanced for a man who found it appropriate to compare his racist pastor to his own grandmother, and an unrepentant terrorist to a respected United States Senator. The Obama campaign also curiously chose not to "fact check" Bernadine Dohrn's criminal record, which includes a seven-month stint in jail for refusing to cooperate with a murder investigation.

Finally, and maybe most preposterously, the document pronounces Ayers and Dohrn to be "respectable" members of the "mainstream" community.... Enter the audio.

... The audio linked above clearly demonstrates that the terrorist tandem is neither respectable nor mainstream by any reasonable definition.

Dohrn refers to America as "the beast" and "the monster" while rambling on about the United States' obsession with empire and our white supremacist way of life. She says she believes the US government to be the greatest purveyor of violence in the world. Ayers, not to be outdone, cheers an ongoing "spirit of rebellion…and resistance." He favorably quotes Mao Zedong's premier, Zhou Enlai. He calls contemporary America a place of "great stress, and oppression, and authoritarianism," and bemoans "a kind of rising incipient American form of fascism." (Jonah Goldberg, call your office). Does Barack Obama expect Americans to believe these deranged rantings represent anything close to mainstream commentary?

...

It is to Chicago's shame that these two are considered "respected members" of its political establishment. It is easy to see how they would be comfortable with Jeremiah Wright's rant even if they are probably not members of his flock. Guy Benson is not related to me, but he has a great future as a reporter.