Past Opponents, Associates of Ayers Agree: Stop Targeting Obama over Ayers Connection

In this letter to The New York Times, former federal prosecutor William C. Ibershof, who lead the team of federal prosecutors who attempted to convict members of the Weathermen, including William Ayers, on conspiracy, weapons and bombing-related charges in the 1970s, states:

I am amazed and outraged that Senator Barack Obama is being linked to William Ayers’s terrorist activities 40 years ago when Mr. Obama was, as he has noted, just a child.

Although I dearly wanted to obtain convictions against all the Weathermen, including Bill Ayers, I am very pleased to learn that he has become a responsible citizen.

Because Senator Obama recently served on a board of a charitable organization with Mr. Ayers cannot possibly link the senator to acts perpetrated by Mr. Ayers so many years ago.

History professor and author David S. Tanenhaus, who spent his graduate years in the '90s studying the legal history of the Chicago's juvenile-justice system, tells the story in Slate of a professor of education at the University of Illinois, whom he met during his studies - a man who volunteered to teach poetry classes to troubled youth in the Chicago juvenile justice system, and whose wife was the director of the Children and Family Justice Center at Northwestern University.

It was only after some time that Tanenhaus, who was too young to be familiar with the story of the Weathermen, discovered that this mild-mannered education expert named William Ayers was actually a former anti-war radical who had once faced criminal charges.

Tanenhaus points out that in 1997, the city of Chicago named William Ayers its "Citizen of the Year" for his work helping educators reach disadvantaged and at-risk youth.

Back in April, Chicago Mayor Richard Daley, who considers Ayers an informal adviser on education matters, said regarding the Obama-Ayers connection:

There are a lot of reasons that Americans are angry about Washington politics. And one more example is the way Senator Obama’s opponents are playing guilt-by-association, tarring him because he happens to know Bill Ayers.

I also know Bill Ayers. He worked with me in shaping our now nationally-renowned school reform program. He is a nationally-recognized distinguished professor of education at the University of Illinois/Chicago and a valued member of the Chicago community.

I don’t condone what he did 40 years ago but I remember that period well. It was a difficult time, but those days are long over. I believe we have too many challenges in Chicago and our country to keep re-fighting 40 year old battles.

In fact, Professor William Ayers, who has written 15 books, has been a respected fixture on the Chicago education scene for decades. It's little wonder, then, that when William Ayers and two associates (Anne Hallett and Warren Chapman) applied to the prestigious charitable Annenberg Foundation to request that the city of Chicago be granted education funding through the national Annenberg Challenge, the funds were granted.

The Annenberg Foundation, created by billionaire businessman, former ambassador, avowed Republican, and close friend of Ronald Reagan, Walter Annenberg, apparently did not consider Ayers' past criminal record to be a reason to deny the children of Chicago access to education funds.

And, apparently, neither did some of the most prominent citizens of Chicago. Aside from an up-and-coming civil rights lawyer named Barack Obama, members of the Chicago Annenburg Challenge Board of Directors included such local luminaries as:

• Stanley O. Ikenberry, President of the University of Illinois
• Edward Bottum, managing director of the Chase Franklin Corporation
• Susan Blankenbaker Noyes, lawyer,  daughter of Republican former Indiana state senator Virginia Murphy Blankenbaker
• John W. McCarter, Jr., president and CEO of the Field Museum
• Scott C. Smith, president, CEO and publisher of the Chicago Tribune
• Arnold R. Weber, president of the Civic Committee of the Commercial Club of Chicago, former president of Northwestern University

Not exactly the sort of rogues' gallery one might envision "palling around with terrorists," is it?

Factcheck.org agrees: the McCain campaign's attacks attempting to portray Barack Obama's past association with William Ayers as some sort of scandalous skeleton in his closet are "false and misleading."

Jaelithe also writes at The State of Discontent.

Comments

[Stefania/CityMama]

Everyone trying to link Obama to Ayers needs to watch Academy-Award nominated The Weatherman documentary put out in 2002. I will not excuse anything they did, but contextually, I understand why they did it. I feel some of their same frustration. I think it also needs to be noted that they never hurt anyone (except themselves) with their bombings, though I know the emotional costs and physical damage was great. (Again, not excusing their actions.) When you watch the video and see the deep regret that most of those members have over their selfish, reckless behavior, it's easy to see why members like Ayers and Dohrn have chosen to do so much good with their lives now. You don't waste second chances.