Airing out the Ayers story

I've been writing the Marathon Pundit blog since 2005. In January of 2006, I posted my first Bill Ayers entry. So over two years ago, when Barack Obama's presidential run was, excuse me, just a hope for some, I felt him blog-worthy.

Simply put, Ayers is an unrepentant former terrorist, as is his wife, Benardine Dohrn. Illegal FBI surveillance techniques kept the couple out of prison after they turned themselves into authorities in 1980, although Dohrn spent a year in jail for contempt of court--she refused to testify about an armored car armory that left three people dead, including two New York State troopers.

Dohrn then moved on to law school, passed the bar exam, but was denied a license to practice law by the New York Bar Association because of her nefarious past--she never asked to be admitted to the bar in Illinois, but she somehow became a law professor at Northwestern University. What a country!

Ayers took a different route into academia, earning a doctorate in education in 1987. He's now a professor at the University of Illinois-Chicago.

Then the couple settled into Chicago's left-of-center social fabric, becoming at least to some people, respectable citizens.

Which is why, in 1995, State Senator Alice Palmer brought Barack Obama, her chosen successor, to the home of the ex-terrorists. Obama later served on the board of the Woods Fund with Ayers. They appeared together on a few seminars together over the years as well.

I have different standards, but I do my best to keep my distance from any unrepentant terrorist. I serve on the board of a running club--it's a terrorist free zone.

Yesterday there was a firestorm on the liberal blogs because ABC News' George Stephanopoulos had the gall to bring up Obama and his relationship to Ayers during Tuesday's Democratic presidential debate. Hey, George was just doing his job.

And Obama's ties to Ayers are fair game. The candidate is running on his judgment--that's because in his three years as a senator, he has no record of consequence (just one of his bills has been enacted into law), and his administrative experience consists only of running his state and US Senate offices.

So what about his judgment? Obama sat in the pews of Trinity United Church of Christ for twenty years listening to the bile of the Reverend Jeremiah Wright. His first political sponsor was Antoin "Tony" Rezko, who is now on trial on corruption charges. And then there is Ayers.

More: While Obama and Ayers served on the board of the Woods Fund, Allison Davis, the future senator's former boss, came to the board looking for money. Obama and the board voted to invest $1 million into a low-income housing development run by Davis, who had donated money to Obama's campaign fund. But Obama didn't recuse himself on that vote.

Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley said Obama shouldn't be tarred with guilt-by-association, and that Ayers has assisted the mayor in reforming Chicago's anemic public school system. But remember, Daley is a Democrat who came out early in support of Obama's presidential run.

But on the same day Daley came to the defense of Obama and Ayers, news broke that Robert Sorich, they mayor's former patronage chief, will begin his prison sentence on Monday.

And Obama does not help his cause by passing on sensitive questions to campaign staffers. Ben Smith in Politico wrote two months ago:

I didn't get to ask Obama about his relationship with Bill Ayers today, but did ask his chief strategist (and reigning expert on Chicago's political tribes), David Axelrod, about the two men.

Obama followed the game plan for months whenever reporters asked about his ties to Tony Rezko--handing off the query to a campaign aide. But Obama has "Hope."

Had Obama answered Smith's questions about Ayers in February, there probably would have been no need for Stephanopoulos to bring up the unrepentant ex-terrorist on Wednesday.

Barring an unforeseen reversal of fortune, Obama will be the Democratic nominee for president this fall.

Does he have good judgment?

Let the voters decide.

Technorati tags: Politics Bill Ayers terrorism Weather Underground Left Wing Extremists Obama politics Barack Obama Election Democrats history Richard Daley Stephanopoulos Tony Rezko journalism Bernardine Dohrn Northwestern University UIC