William Ayers is not a terrorist today and was not a terrorist when he first met Obama in 1993 as a Professor of Education serving on a charity foundation board where Obama was also a member.
Ayers stopped his anti vietnam war activities in the early 1970's. The Weather Underground was a militant anti-war group that gained noteriety by targeting a few government offices and statues in the late 1960's and early 70's as protest to the vietnam war (another senseless war about religion and oil). The only people they blew up (or injured) were three of their own members during bomb making.
He has obviously made something of his life since 1980, and first met Obama in 1993. Ayers is a respected educator and citizen in Chicago. Calling him a terrorist today and trying the guilt by association for Obama is just the usual Rebublican BS smearing they are so experienced at. Palin is the perfect robot to spread the lies. Maybe someone should investigate her husband's membership in anti-government cessation groups. If anyone should be suspected of having terrorist connections in this campaign it's winking "by golly" Sarah.
Wikipedia covers most of the history right up to the present here - facts, not Republican smears.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Ayers
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Obama%E...rs_controversy
Obama and Ayers served together for three years on the board of the Woods Fund of Chicago, an anti-poverty foundation established in 1941. Obama had joined the nine-member board in 1993, and had attended a dozen of the quarterly meetings together with Ayers in the three years up to 2002, when Obama left his position on the board,[1] which Ayers chaired for two years.[11] Laura S. Washington, chairwoman of the Woods Fund, said the small board had a collegial "friendly but businesslike" atmosphere, and met four times a year for a half-day, mostly to approve grants.[2] The two also appeared together on academic panel discussions, including a 1997 University of Chicago discussion on juvenile justice. They again appeared in 2002 at an academic panel co-sponsored by the Chicago Public Library.
In 1970 he [Ayers] "went underground" with several associates after the Greenwich Village townhouse explosion, in which Weatherman member Ted Gold, Ayers' close friend Terry Robbins, and Ayers' girlfriend, Diana Oughton, were killed when a nail bomb (an anti-personnel device) they were assembling exploded. Kathy Boudin and Cathy Wilkerson survived the blast. Ayers was not facing criminal charges at the time, but the federal government later filed charges against him.[3]
Ayers participated in the bombings of New York City Police Headquarters in 1970, the United States Capitol building in 1971, and The Pentagon in 1972, as he noted in his 2001 book, Fugitive Days. Because of a water leak caused by the Pentagon bombing, aerial bombardments during the Vietnam War had to be halted for several days. Ayers writes:
Although the bomb that rocked the Pentagon was itsy-bitsy - weighing close to two pounds - it caused 'tens of thousands of dollars' of damage. The operation cost under $500, and no one was killed or even hurt. [14]
While underground, he and fellow member Bernardine Dohrn married, and the two remained fugitives together, changing identities, jobs and locations. By 1976 or 1977, with federal charges against both fugitives dropped due to prosecutorial misconduct (see COINTELPRO), Ayers was ready to turn himself in to authorities, but Dohrn remained reluctant until after she gave birth to two sons, one born in 1977, the other in 1980. "He was sweet and patient, as he always is, to let me come to my senses on my own", she later said.[3] The couple turned themselves in in 1980.
Ayers participated in the bombings of New York City Police Headquarters in 1970, the United States Capitol building in 1971, and The Pentagon in 1972, as he noted in his 2001 book, Fugitive Days. Because of a water leak caused by the Pentagon bombing, aerial bombardments during the Vietnam War had to be halted for several days. Ayers writes:
Although the bomb that rocked the Pentagon was itsy-bitsy - weighing close to two pounds - it caused 'tens of thousands of dollars' of damage. The operation cost under $500, and no one was killed or even hurt. [14]
While underground, he and fellow member Bernardine Dohrn married, and the two remained fugitives together, changing identities, jobs and locations. By 1976 or 1977, with federal charges against both fugitives dropped due to prosecutorial misconduct (see COINTELPRO), Ayers was ready to turn himself in to authorities, but Dohrn remained reluctant until after she gave birth to two sons, one born in 1977, the other in 1980. "He was sweet and patient, as he always is, to let me come to my senses on my own", she later said.[3] The couple turned themselves in in 1980.
William Charles "Bill" Ayers (born 26 December 1944)[1] is an American elementary education theorist, and former leading 1960s militant. He is known for the radical nature of his activism in the 1960s and 1970s, as well as his current work in education reform, curriculum and instruction. In 1969 he cofounded the violent radical left organization Weatherman, which was active during the 1960s and 1970s. He is now a professor in the College of Education at the University of Illinois at Chicago, holding the honor of Distinguished Professor.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Ayers
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Obama%E...rs_controversy
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