Jonah Goldberg: Left wing terrorists never have to say "sorry"

Sorry seems to be the hardest word. Elton John, 1976.

Of course, since former Weather Underground terrorists Bill "Bomber" Ayers and his wife, Bernardine Dohrn, are unrepentant regarding their terror days, the word "sorry" may not have a place in their thoughts about that part of their lives.

From Johah Goldberg in the Manchester Union-Leader:

Everything was absolutely ideal on the day I bombed the Pentagon."

This excerpt from William Ayers' memoir appeared in the New York Times on Sept. 11, 2001 -- the day al-Qaida terrorists crashed hijacked planes into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. Ayers, once a leader in the Weather Underground -- the group that declared "war" on the U.S. government in 1970 -- told the Times, "I don't regret setting bombs," and, "I feel we didn't do enough."

Ayers recently reappeared in the news because Politico.com reported Friday that Barack Obama has loose ties to him. Ayers, now a professor of education at the University of Illinois at Chicago, is apparently a left-wing institution in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood, and Obama visited Ayers' home as a rite of passage when launching his political career in the mid-1990s. The two also served on the board of the charitable Woods Fund of Chicago, which gave money to Northwestern University Law School's Children and Family Justice Center, where Ayers' wife (and former Weather Underground compatriot who glorified violence) Bernardine Dohrn is the director.

Obama has left it to his campaign lackeys to answer questions about Ayers and Dohrn.

The Audacity!

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What fascinates me is how light the baggage is when one travels from violent radicalism to liberalism. Chicago activist Sam Ackerman told Politico's reporter that Ayers "is one of my heroes in life." Cass Sunstein, a first-rank liberal intellectual, said, "I feel very uncomfortable with their past, but neither of them is thought of as horrible types now -- so far as most of us know, they are legitimate members of the community."

Why, exactly, can Ayers and Dohrn be seen as "legitimate members of the community"? How is it that they get prestigious university jobs when even the whisper of neocon tendencies is toxic in academia?

I live in the Chicago area, and I don't view Ayers and Dohrn as "legitimate members of the community." And while we may have more nuts living here, particularly in the Hyde Park neighborhood, there are fewer crazies in such swing states as Ohio and Missouri.

Obama, who by the way is supposed to be so smart, once again leaves unanswered questions about his judgement--and also, just how left-wing is the junior senator of Illinois?

Finally, Bernardine Dohrn has gotten a pass from the few media outlets that have covered this story. Here are excerpts from a Dorhn Weather Underground statement:

June 1970: At 7:30 a.m., radio station KPFK (Los Angeles) receives a call from a woman identifying herself as a member of the Weather Underground (Bernadine Dohrn): "Hello. I am going to read a declaration of a state of war. This is the first communication from the Weathermen Underground. The lines are drawn...revolution is touching all of our lives. ...Freaks are revolutionaries, and revolutionaries are freaks. If you want to find us, this is where we are. In every tribe, commune, dormitory, farmhouse, barracks and town house where kids are making love, smoking dope and loading guns. Fugitives from American justice are free to go. ...Within the next 14 days we will attack a symbol or institution of American injustice."

There's an audio of the statement within the link, where you can hear a monotonal Dorhn claim "revolutionary violence is the only way" and learn about Richard Nixon's "attempted genocide against black people."

Technorati tags: democrats Barack Obama Obama Politics Illinois Bernardine Dohrn Bill Ayers terrorism crime history left wing extremists Chicago illinois Weather Underground history