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The Right's illogical Ayers obsession

As Election Day gets closer and John McCain struggles to close the gap with Barack Obama, expect McCain and his surrogates to lean even more heavily on the William Ayers argument--wherein Obama's association with Ayers renders him unfit for the presidency.

Here's why this line of reasoning is nonsensical. Obama and Ayers met while working together on the Annenberg Challenge , an initiative funded by the Annenberg Institute for School Reform, which was funded by the Annenberg Foundation, which was created by Walter H. Annenberg.

If Obama deserves condemnation for working with Ayers in Chicago, then certainly Annenberg--the Philadelphia communications magnate, former ambassador to Great Britain, Republican stalwart, and recipient (via Ronald Reagan) of the Presidential Medal of Freedom--should have been criticized for using Ayers to advance his educational vision. But I can't find a single example of a conservative making such a complaint.

Here, FYI, is what Colin Powell said when Annenberg* died in 2002:

In Walter Annenberg, I have lost a dear friend and our country has lost one of its greatest civic leaders. In all that he did, the good of our nation always came first to Walter. Whether it was serving brilliantly as our envoy to Great Britain, leading innumerable charitable and public causes, promoting education, or pioneering high quality programming on television, Walter worked passionately to advance the most fundamental values and interests of the American people. He did it with charm. He did it with skill. He did it with kindness. He did it with endless generosity and devotion.

It is no exaggeration to say that Walter's contributions have touched the life of every American for the better in one way or another. We at the Department of State are no exception. For decades, Walter and his wonderful partner in life Lee have led the effort to ensure that our diplomatic reception rooms here and in our embassies all around the world display to the world the very best of American fine and decorative arts. These extraordinary collections are national treasures and stand as an enduring testament to his deep love of our country.

Alma and I will miss Walter's great warmth and wisdom, and our hearts and prayers go out to Lee and the entire Annenberg family. 

Note that there's no mention of Annenberg palling around with terrorists. Of course, maybe if Sarah Palin had weighed in....

*NOTE: Not Ayers, obviously, as I originally wrote.

  • Aaron Read said:

    No one seems to mention that Donald Rumsfeld "palled around with terrorists" when he was shaking Saddam Hussein's hand back in the 80's.

    To be honest, Adam - I'm very disappointed in your take on this.  As you just blogged about: logic has nothing to do with the right-wing smear campaign against Obama, it has to do with lying as much as you can possibly get away with (and then some) in a desperate, pathetic attempt to win at all costs with no honor.

    If the right is going to break logic and lie out their ass to exaggerate things beyond comprehension, then dammit your responsibility as a journalist is to call B.S.!

    And since I'm not a journalist, I'll take a page out their playbook: don't call it illogical, call it treasonous.   Why not?  Why shouldn't we call Dick Fuld, just to name one, a traitor to his country?  After all, if Osama Bin Laden had somehow committed a terrorist act that caused as much damage to our country as Fuld and his ilk have done, we'd nuke half of the globe to take him out.

    See?  Once you toss out logic, it all starts to make sense, eh?

    October 8, 2008 5:56 PM
  • Adam said:

    Aaron--I'm confused. In my post, I call the Right's fascination with Obama and Ayers "nonsensical." How is that not calling BS?

    As for fighting untruths with untruths, I remain hopeful that there's a substantial portion of the electorate for whom facts matter. Color me optimistic.

    October 8, 2008 6:23 PM
  • Lou said:

    Or should we call this article:

    "The Left's obsession with Obama"

    October 8, 2008 8:27 PM
  • Adam said:

    Lou: any thoughts on whether Annenberg was tainted by his association with Ayers?

    October 8, 2008 9:11 PM
  • Aaron Read said:

    Aaron--I'm confused. In my post, I call the Right's fascination with Obama and Ayers "nonsensical." How is that not calling BS?

    ------------

    Simple, because people are dumb, panicky animals and you know it!  (bonus points if you know who said that)

    It's not enough to point to something and say "that doesn't make sense".  You're telling people what it *isn't*, not what it *is*.  

    Sadly, there are an awful lot of people out there who say "It looks like bullshit, and it smells like bullshit, and it even tastes like bullshit...but since this guy on my right says it's ice cream, it must be ice cream!"   Thanks to Fox News, it's not enough to report the facts and let people decide; you actually have to come right out and say that it's complete and utter bullshit.

    And you're optimistic?  I'm not.  59 *million* Americans voted for Bush in 2004.  That means there's an awful lot of people calling it ice cream out there.

    www.roadrat.com/Bush_americans_dumb.jpg

    October 9, 2008 12:50 AM

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