New Documents Reveal Obama’s Deep Ties To Domestic Terrorist
September 29th, 2008 at 01:08pm Matt Margolis
And yet the mainstream media is curiously silent…
While Barack Obama has long downplayed his connection to Bill Ayers, a co-founder of the violent Weather Underground radical group, new documents show the two worked much more closely together in starting an educational foundation than has been previously known.
Recently released board-meeting minutes for the Chicago Annenberg Challenge show the two were present together at least six times in 1995 as the foundation’s members discussed how to organize and operate the project, which was Ayers’ brainchild.
Obama has always acknowledged he and Ayers both worked at the foundation, but has insisted they never had more than a passing acquaintance.
Peter Kirsanow, over at NRO, notes the media silence:
It’s been nearly a week since Stanley Kurtz presented evidence that Sen. Obama has seriously misrepresented his relationship with William Ayers, yet there’s no indication that news organizations are pressing the candidate for an explanation.
Among other things, Stanley shows that it’s reasonable to conclude that Ayers selected Obama, then a ” young and inexperienced lawyer”, to chair the Chicago Annenberg Challenge. There, Obama and Ayers directed substantial sums of money to radical organizations (see Stanley’s article today via the web briefing).
A few years later, Obama launched his political career at a gathering at Ayers home. The Ayers-Obama relationship certainly appears to be more like a mentor—protégé relationship than it does Obama’s description of a random acquaintance of two guys who happen to live in the same neighborhood.
Is this country going to elect someone who has a relationship with a domestic terrorist? Not a chance. Once this story gets the attention it deserves, Obama will be toast.
Entry Filed under: Campaign 2008, Corruption
40 Comments
1. hermie | September 29th, 2008 at 1:26 pm
I wish it would get the attention it deserves, but the MSM has already decided that the truth can be sacrificed as long as they get their guy in.
They think that they will be rewarded with their once prominent place in determining what is news and what isn’t. If they think that the Bush Administration was ‘oppressive’ regarding freedom of speech and the press, wait until they try to print a story that the Obamamessiah and his ‘domestic army’ will do to them.
2. CanadianObserver | September 29th, 2008 at 2:01 pm
The press should be all over this story. Why aren’t those dastardly cowards doing their job? They are in the news business, after all.
Surely, there must be someone in the MSM who is not a leftist kook. Some loyal McCain supporter, for instance, who can investigate this vital matter and have the legitimate press acknowledge its importance.
No doubt, Obama, at this very moment is having a secret meeting with Ayers to map out their evil plans for the destruction of America when Obama takes over in January.
Quick, someone do something!!!
3. Casper | September 29th, 2008 at 2:08 pm
Frankly, at this point voters are a lot more concerned about McCain’s association with George Bush than Obama’s association with Bill Ayers (who most people have never heard of).
4. The Arctic Fox | September 29th, 2008 at 2:18 pm
Once THIS story gets the attention it deserves?
What about the story about how, within 24 hours of the repulsive dvd Obsession: Radical Islam’s War Against the West was distributed by a group that backs John McCain and posts McCain supporting stories, a domestic terrorist attack takes place on American soil - aimed at MUSLIM CHILDREN.
Now I don’t know about you, with your attempts at giving the impression you and Mark are “good christians” but this should be greeted with shock and outrage ACROSS THE BOARD. McCain should be quick to issue a statement at the very least saying that this is abhorrent behaviour, and preferrably that this DVD should be withdrawn and not sent to any more households, particularly not in his name.
Think about it for a second. One day anti-Muslim DVDs that actually cut between scenes of Nazi rallies and Muslim Children being encouraged to be suicide bombers, and the next someone throws chemical irritant into a HOUSE OF GOD (doesn’t matter that it’s not the Christian God, it’s still a house of worship) and worst of all, the attack is aimed at CHILDREN.
With the exception of 9/11 I can’t think of ANY worse happening on American soil, and it’s made even worse by the fact that this attack was likely perpetrated BY Americans. So let’s see what our resident right wingers say - should this attack be condemned, or not?
5. SC | September 29th, 2008 at 3:05 pm
Arctic,
“..should this attack be condemned, or not?” - Yes, absolutely!
So, where do you stand on the matter of Radical Islam? They have made it quite clear that the West either fights or submits. There is no alternative.
The irony is that Islamists see this war as protecting their society and culture from the immoral values of the West. The same values that are the bedrock of those on the left.
6. The Arctic Fox | September 29th, 2008 at 3:42 pm
I stand the same on radical islam as I do on radical Christianity. Both believe themselves to be the “only” religion. Both say that all other religions should not exist, and both advocate the assimilation of all other religions. Granted, Islam is prosecuted with more vigour, but “suffer not a witch to live” in the bible is quite clear in instructions on what Christians are to do to heathens that won’t convert.
However, we are straying somewhat off topic here. The original post is about how Obama supposedly has links to domestic terrorism. Now it appears that McCain has equally tentitive links to domestic terrorism. I still don’t see anyone calling for McCain to renounce this group sending these hateful DVDs out in his name, only calls for Obama yet again to say what he’s already said - he renounces anyone he’s had contact with doing anything related to terrorism.
7. hermie | September 29th, 2008 at 3:51 pm
Tenative links?
Hmmm…Obama works closely with Ayers for years; is helped by Ayers with his political career, and somehow a DVD issued by a group is now ‘proof’ that McCain supports terrorists?
BTW…Ayers is unrepentant in his terrorism, yet Obama still has links with him.
8. Observer20 | September 29th, 2008 at 3:51 pm
CO,
Unfortunately, using hyperbole to mock the opposing side’s argument does not discredit that argument.
Arctic Fox,
So let me get this straight: You want to link an anonymous terrorist attack to John McCain because an independent group of his supporters released a video coincidentally on the same week of the attack? So, in other words, you are admitting that any action taken against Muslims anywhere in the United States after the release of that video are in direct relation to that independent group? I find that argument to be entirely void of logic.
Even if some sort of evidence links the two events, that doesn’t mean McCain endorsed it. We can’t choose our supporters. Now I suggest you calmly rescind your argument and acknowledge it’s feebleness before I start directly associating the Obama campaign with vandalism and death threats in a similar fashion as you just did. Hint: Less than 24 hours after a hateful message about Republicans was posted on the official Obama campaign blog, vandalism occurred at a McCain campaign office. Coincidence?
9. Pom Pom Girl | September 29th, 2008 at 4:17 pm
The bill was flawed socialist dogma but if Pelosi wanted it passed why would Pelosi use that moment to fan partisan flames. We are in a crisis. The bill was unpopular with free market politicians and by rubbing dung in their face, on a program created by FDR, and privatized by LBJ, she played the blame game when in fact the blame does lie at the feet of the Dems. Of course that didn’t help win votes.
You can call the reaction childish but so was the action.
10. The Arctic Fox | September 29th, 2008 at 4:30 pm
@Observer: I’m not saying that ANY attack is related to that video, it just seems more than co-incidence that it happened at the very same time as that particular film was being so aggressively pushed.
I’m not saying McCain endorsed it, but I AM saying he could condemn it. I am saying that he could take the public stand that anyone who distributes hateful material and at the same time openly supports him is absolutely, categorically, 100% NOT speaking for him.
This post sets out to say - yet again - that Obama and Ayers are still closely linked. Obama has said that’s not the case. Will McCain now say equally unequivocally that he has no official ties with this group that claim to be distributing this DVD in support of his running for president?
11. Observer20 | September 29th, 2008 at 4:56 pm
Arctic Fox,
Condemn the attack? Most certainly! Condemn the group because they released a video at the same time as those attacks? Certainly not. Radical Islam is at war with the west. Not Islam in general, but radicalism in all elements is dangerous, be it Christian, Jewish, or Islamic radicalism. If it is the purpose of that group to educate the public about radical Islamic threats to the West, then it is their right if it is factual. I think McCain would easily condemn the attack if he felt it was a big enough problem, but I don’t think he’s going to condemn a group of supporters just because of coincidental timing.
The difference between these two situations, Arctic Fox, McCain actually doesn’t have any ties with that group. I don’t think he knows anyone that heads it, and he wasn’t on any committees with those people or anything. Obama personally knew Ayers, he was on committees with him, and helped propagate programs such as this Annenburg Challenge. That’s called involvement.
If McCain actively worked with this group to distribute the video and propagate their message then you may have a leg to stand on. But he didn’t, and you don’t.
I would deeply appreciate it if any of you could at least acknowledge the suspicious nature of his associations without following it up with “Well McCain’s supporters did yada yada…!”
12. phnx | September 29th, 2008 at 5:01 pm
If the relationship between Ayers and Obama is not such a big deal, why won’t Obama insist that the files of the Chicago Annenburg Challenge be released???
If Obama is proud of his record, why doesn’t he release the files from his years in the Illinois Senate?
13. Joe Bananas..in Pajamas | September 29th, 2008 at 5:16 pm
Artic:
With all due respect, can you not see the pathetic reasoning you are trying to use here?
Please tell me you are joking….some how I don’t think so.
And that flimsy bible quote you made?
Please…..don’t, not only do you not have any idea or clue about the old testament and Christianity, but your flawed reasoning show you to be the typical ignorant shallow liberal of today.
You try to compare a dvd on Radical Islam and McCain not condemning it to Obamas real and actual meetings with a known leftist American hating ideological terrorist who would have killed innocent people if he had succeeded.
You deserve Obama.
14. Dennis | September 29th, 2008 at 5:35 pm
Stanley Kurtz twisted himself in knots trying to wring something nefarious out of Obama’s relation to Ayers, and failed. More significant is Sarah Palin’s recent assocation with Pastor Thomas Muthee, who preaches:
“People that have spiritual backbones are the ones that are going to advance. They are the ones that will move forward.
I thank God for what I see happening in this place. I thank God for the vision, the passion that I can see here. And my word is this: The more violent you become, the more committed you become, the quicker you will see things happen in this region.
This isn’t someone who practiced violence in the 70s - it is someone preaching violence by church members in the present day.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CsnrIVj9IbM&feature=related
15. Observer20 | September 29th, 2008 at 5:41 pm
Dennis,
Does he regularly preach that or is that just one quote that could be taken out of context by stigmatizing the word “violence” to mean physical harm? Can the same be said about Wright’s taking it out of context? Can the same be said about Ayers’s goals?
And how is it more significant?
16. Cheryl W. | September 29th, 2008 at 5:52 pm
Can some one please tell me how we can remove madam “Speaker of the House”.
Does it take a petition, an act of Congress [lol] or what?
I really serious on this matter. She’s ineffective and has no clue what the People want or need.
17. Some Assembly Required | September 29th, 2008 at 5:54 pm
Observer,
With all due respect, but I cannot possibly see how
I thank God for what I see happening in this place. I thank God for the vision, the passion that I can see here. And my word is this: The more violent you become, the more committed you become, the quicker you will see things happen in this region.
could be put into any form of context that could be justified when spoken by a minister in a service.
If this statement was coming from a professor at a university during a lecture it could be passed off as teaching what is done through religion. But this is advocating terrorism sure as the sun will rise tomorrow.
Wright’s speech was shocking to say the least. However, some of his speech was based in fact and it’s not hard to see how he jumped to some of the conclusions that he did. The difference as I see it is that Wright was not preaching that his congregation get violent. He was not telling people the way to further the cause was to pick up arms. As I understand it he saw this as part of the problem that his race is dealing with.
Just to be clear, I’m not excusing what Wright said.
Ayers has been pardoned and teaches courses at a university. He is no more a terrorist today than Gandhi is.
18. Some Assembly Required | September 29th, 2008 at 5:57 pm
Forgot to add in my previous posted that Palin was blessed by a minister that expelled a witch in Africa too.
All of this of course fails in comparison to the fact that she believes the world is only 7000 years old. Anyone who may have access to America’s military and nuke codes and believes this scares me.
19. Observer20 | September 29th, 2008 at 6:05 pm
SAR,
Kindly report to me the context of his entire speech and how his statement meshes with it. I truly do not know right now, but it doesn’t seem very logical to me, based on the other things he said in the provided link, for him to say that.
If I preached non-violent peace for two hours, and in one sentence said, “I will violently defend these beliefs” would you automatically assume I meant through physical violence? That’s why context is important.
You have your beliefs about Palin, and I have mine about Obama. I guess one of us is willing to believe Palin will not think irrationally just because she is religious, and the other of us is willing to believe Obama is not corrupt just because of his association with radicals, terrorists, corruption, and a shady background. Trying to tell you directly why I believe this, I realize, will not change your mind, as I don’t believe you come here with a possibility of changing your opinions, but I can still point out your errant hypocrisy.
20. Dennis | September 29th, 2008 at 6:20 pm
My post was to illustrate how hollow is the attempt to tar Obama with the brush of Ayers. Same thing was true with Rev. Wright. If you want to play that kind of game you quickly end up indicting your own people.
I have no idea what Pastor Muthee meant by “violence.” I do know he once chased a woman he believed was a witch out of her home and her town. Perhaps this is the kind of violence he advocates. Youtube is full of stuff about him - I suppose you could Google him as well.
Frankly I don’t care that much about Muthee, unless Palin were elected and used him for an advisor. It is just as foolish to worry about Ayers’ influence over Obama, or to pretend his views matter at all in this race.
21. js | September 29th, 2008 at 7:30 pm
we have the same thing going on with obama that went on with clinton…they omitted telling the people that billy boys toy was doing illegal things…just like obama’s boys are hiding things about obama and his past…
honest men dont have to hide anything…only crooks and liars need to do that…
so what is it…is obama a crook…a liar…or both?
22. Pam | September 29th, 2008 at 7:33 pm
Dennis,
Please look up Matthew 11:12:
“And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force.”
In Christian theology, this is known as spiritual warfare through prayer, supplication, and fasting. This is not referring to literal, physical violence, and I’m sure this is what Sarah’s pastor was referring to.
23. Joe Bananas..in Pajamas | September 29th, 2008 at 7:36 pm
Deniss:
It always amazes me what liberals pass of as a threat and how they try and rationalize the real threats.
You just proved me right again.
Liberals have not got a clue.
24. Pam | September 29th, 2008 at 7:38 pm
Some Assembly Required,
Why would it matter how old Sarah Palin believes the earth is? What does this have to do with anything? So, because she believes this, then she is going to be reckless with our weapons? That is just ridiculous.
Frankly, I would be more concerned about electing someone who does not believe that God created the world. I do not understand what people have against people who believe there is a God and that He created the earth…I don’t really care how long it took to create…7 days….a billion years, who cares? The point is, obviously this world has a Creator…otherwise, where would we have gotten the word “creature”? I would not want someone leading this country who has no connection with our Creator, and therefore, no moral compass or authority with which they are accoutable to.
25. A Mom for McCain | September 29th, 2008 at 7:53 pm
Thank you for bringing these things to our attention. We cannot stop speaking about these ties! God bless,
26. Dennis | September 29th, 2008 at 8:41 pm
Pam, you are correct about Matthew 11, this is how Muthee prefaced his sermon. Although he took liberties with the concept of violence when it came to chasing down presumed witches. Such things happened here a long time ago, and it’s not one of America’s proudest chapters.
Joe Banana, I’m sorry you’re so scared of Ayers, who for decades has been a professor of education. You’re right, he’s no threat to me. I thought you guys regarded academics as wimps, but I’ve noted that irrational fear is a defining attribute of today’s right-wing conservatives. And where irrational fear is, irrational fear-mongering follows.
27. CanadianObserver | September 29th, 2008 at 8:46 pm
24. Pam | September 29th, 2008 at 7:38 pm
Some Assembly Required,
Why would it matter how old Sarah Palin believes the earth is? What does this have to do with anything?
————————————-
Well it just might show her tenuous grasp on reality.
Do you really want to have a Vice-President or, perhaps one day, a President and Leader of the Free World to be someone who chooses fiction over fact?
28. Dennis | September 29th, 2008 at 8:56 pm
“Recently released board-meeting minutes for the Chicago Annenberg Challenge show the two were present together at least six times in 1995″
Holy whoop! Six whole times?
There were clients and creative reps I met with back in the 90s dozens of times, if not scores. We did great work together, but I never knew them well outside the confines of projects we worked on. And some I would not know today if we met on the street.
That anyone would characterize this as “deep ties to a domestic terrorist” is downright laughable. But more to the point and more seriously, it is dishonest.
If Matt ‘n’ Mark eliminated all the dishonest and baseless charges against their opponents from this site, it would be a whole lot smaller but it would be pithier and probably pack a lot more punch.
29. Some Assembly Required | September 29th, 2008 at 9:09 pm
19. Observer20 | September 29th, 2008 at 6:05 pm
Point taken. I myself have not seen the whole sermon. Where I am not a religious person I find it extremely hard to sit through one. I’ve been playing it through my head the possible context his statement could be referring to and non come remotely close to rational. I understand where your coming from with the violence to defend ones beliefs, but what he is saying here is that violence is how we spread our religion. I can understand some people agreeing with this as they also get in line with bringing democracy to people one smart bomb at a time but you seem like a rational person so I assumed you’d understand.
Pam,
I normally could care less what religion a candidate follows, but Palin follows a fundamentalist religion. It’s plain and simple. It’s beyond proven that the world is much older then 7000 years so to hold such a believe is irrational and cause to question someones grasp of reality. Most here would have a problem with a Muslim running for any office let alone an extremist one. Again, I have no problem with anyone’s religion they may worship as they wish. I problem comes in when they take a fundamentalist approach to something which is supposed to inspire and bring peace. The fact that your not even questioning that she believes the world is only 7000 years old scares me as well.
30. Joe Bananas..in Pajamas | September 29th, 2008 at 9:37 pm
Dennis:
>>>I’m sorry you’re so scared of Ayers, who for decades has been a professor of education. You’re right, he’s no threat to me. I thought you guys regarded academics as wimps, but I’ve noted that irrational fear is a defining attribute of today’s right-wing conservatives. And where irrational fear is, irrational fear-mongering follows.>>>
You miss the point, Conservatives are not scared of Ayers, what they are scared of is a Presidential candidate who has not been forthright about his true involvement with the likes of Ayers.
What they are more afraid of is how much was Obama influenced by Ayers during his formative political years and how much of this forms part of Obamas political psyche today?
Obama has not been forthright about his association with Ayers, quite simply he lies when he tell people that he was just some one he casually knows of.
Obama has to hide this and because he hides it he is not fit to be trusted with the top office.
Ayers professorship is no sign of his good character, heck, there are so many hard left leaning communist spreading professors on campus these days it’s hard to know if you are in Uni or some Stalinist indoctrination camp.
During the O’Reilly interview Obama said that he had conservative friends in politics, when Bill asked him to name one, Obama could not name any.
You see he has to revert to lying in order to try and win over the conservative voter.
And because he lies he will not win over the conservative vote simple.
31. FactCheck | September 29th, 2008 at 9:45 pm
That anyone would characterize this as “deep ties to a domestic terrorist” is downright laughable. But more to the point and more seriously, it is dishonest.
Well, what do you expect these wingnuts to do? Make reasonable, rational criticisms? Please, that’s not how to play to their audience.
32. phnx | September 29th, 2008 at 9:47 pm
Since you leftists see no problem with Obama’s rlationship with Ayers then you will no doubt be writing to Obama tonight to ask him to release the records of the Chicago Annenburg Challenge won’t you?
33. Joe Bananas..in Pajamas | September 29th, 2008 at 9:55 pm
SA:
>>>It’s plain and simple. It’s beyond proven that the world is much older then 7000 years so to hold such a believe is irrational and cause to question someones grasp of reality.>>>
Sorry, but what a load of croc this is, take a look at her record, where do you see this preached in Alaskan schools?
And by the are you confusing the Earths age with mankinds appearance on the Earth?
34. Dennis | September 29th, 2008 at 10:44 pm
phnx, the records (which were not Obama’s to hold or release) are available at the University of Illinois at Chicago where Kurtz waded through them for days to come up with this non-story. http://librarian.lishost.org/?p=1253
Banana, if this constitutes a lie to you then you must be flummoxed for anybody to cast a vote for in the coming election. Obama has covered up nothing. Because this keeps being a non-story you insist he must be covering something up. Apparently you’re mistaking him for the Bush admin.
35. Joe Bananas..in Pajamas | September 29th, 2008 at 11:36 pm
Here is a good piece how can you argue with this, and more importantly there are no lines to read between.
>>> Barack Obama appears to sit on a nexus between Marxist revolutionary activists, unrepentant former terrorists, Black Power racists, Chicago mobsters ? oh, and a Saudi who is trying to buy up America.
If you were to turn up at US immigration control with a background of such associates, it?s a fair bet they wouldn?t let you off the air-bridge.
Yet this man may well become President of the US! If any other candidate had had merely a fleeting relationship with William Ayers, his candidacy would have been terminated before it was even articulated ? let alone what we now know about Obama?s key role in Ayers?s CAC and its funding of radical groups; let alone the fact that Obama had been mentored during his formative years by a Communist Party plant; let alone his work for organisations modelled on the seditious philosophy of Saul Alinsky; let alone his two-decade membership of a Black Power church; let alone his relationship with fraudster Tony Rezko.
And yet despite all of this, virtually no-one in the mainstream media is asking any questions. Has there ever been a more staggering, surreal and scary race to the White House?>>>
http://www.spectator.co.uk/melaniephillips/2178136/subversives-for-obama.thtml
36. Joe Bananas..in Pajamas | September 29th, 2008 at 11:40 pm
Deniss:
>>>Obama has covered up nothing. Because this keeps being a non-story you insist he must be covering something up. Apparently you’re mistaking him for the Bush admin.>>>
No, wrong, liberals just don’t think this is a real issue that is the problem and why they cannot be trusted with the top job.
37. Some Assembly Required | September 30th, 2008 at 10:06 am
Joe Banana,
I’m not sure if the church she went to preaches the 7000 year old meme, but Sarah certainly believes it.
“I pushed her on the earth’s creation, whether it was really less than 7,000 years old and whether dinosaurs and humans walked the earth at the same time. And she said yes, she’d seen images somewhere of dinosaur fossils with human footprints in them.”
Munger also asked Palin if she truly believed in the End of Days, the doomsday scenario when the Messiah will return. “She looked in my eyes and said, ‘Yes, I think I will see Jesus come back to earth in my lifetime.’”
http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2008/09/15/bess/index1.html
I never once stated they teached this in schools. My issue is the fact that she could be the VP and believes this. She thinks jesus will return in her life time and it will be the end of days. Do you really want someone with those believes to control any WMD’s in America or anywhere around the world? We don’t want muslim fundamentalists to have them but it’s ok if a Christian one does?
38. js | September 30th, 2008 at 10:15 am
honest christians are supposed to live life as if Jesus were coming…in thier life times…yup…its another twist and spin….yet…such a huge leap of logic that believing that Jesus will come in ones lifetime to radical fundamentalism…
thats why i can get a way with calling you a mental midget SAR…because you are…
39. Some Assembly Required | September 30th, 2008 at 10:57 am
js, let me get this straight, your trying to defend Palin by stating that all Christians believe that jesus will in fact return in their life time. That this is the norm. That they will see the end of days?
40. Alley Hole | October 1st, 2008 at 8:19 am
Election Riots
If Obama loses in an upset, given Al Gores shameful failure to accept defeat, the conspiracy theorists will run amok and the rioting in the inner cities will begin. What is Barack Obama, Al Gore, Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton and others doing to prepare for this possibility? At the same time, if he wins the same regrettable preparations need to be made, as riots could still be highly possible during the celebrations in inner cities.
The Democrat machine has posited this theory of stolen elections, so they need to begin to publicly address the issue now, pleading for calm in advance of either eventuality. If they do nothing, the blood and the shame are on their hands but the chaos is in my backyard.
What lengths will Ayers go to if his guy loses? Someone needs to ready his muzzle and that is Obama’s job.