Ayers admits to palling around with Obama

Chicago Tribune:

In a new afterword to his memoir, 1960s radical William Ayers describes himself as a "family friend" of President-elect Barack Obama and writes that the campaign controversy over their relationship was an effort by Obama's political enemies to "deepen a dishonest narrative" about the candidate.

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During the campaign, Ayers' friendship with Obama was a favorite subject of conservative bloggers and talk show hosts who insisted the two were closer than the candidate was admitting. Ayers' new description of the relationship seems to contradict Obama's statements.

Obama had dismissed Ayers as "a guy who lives in my neighborhood" and "somebody who worked on education issues in Chicago that I know."

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He'll appear Friday on "Good Morning America" to promote the re-issue of his book this week. The Tribune obtained a copy of the updated material.

In it, Ayers -- who did not respond to requests for comment -- summarized his relationship with Obama: "[W]e had served together on the board of a foundation, knew one another as neighbors and family friends, held an initial fund-raiser at my house, where I'd made a small donation to his earliest political campaign."

Ayers lamented that his relationship with Obama became an issue.

"The more serious point is that Obama was asked once more to defend something that ought to be at the very heart of democracy: the importance of talking to many people in this complicated and wildly diverse society, of listening with the possibility of learning something new, of speaking with the possibility of persuading or influencing others. ... In a robust and sophisticated democracy, political leaders, indeed, all of us, would seek out ways to talk with many people who hold dissenting, even radical, ideas."

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That is the liberal double standard at work. It "at the heart of democracy" to talk to unrepentant terrorist, but talking with conservatives is not permitted on many campuses. Shouting down conservatives is considered a patriotic act by the left.

The important part of this piece is not Ayers' pretensions of being a victim of intolerance, but his refuting of Obama's pre election claims. He is basically admitting that Sarah Palin was right.

Jules Crittenden has a delightful twist on Ayers' attempts to twist his previous statements.

Update: On Good Morning America Ayers continues his spin. The story includes a video.