I'm writing this diary in response to the McCain camp's attempts to link Barack Obama with William Ayers. Everything that follows is true. I am intentionally leaving out any information that would identify the people in question.
In the late '80s, a very well respected couple (HIM and HER) came to the home of myself and my then-wife for dinner. It was a social occasion. We invited them because we liked them. Not only were they both world renowned researchers in a challenging and important medical field, but they were also gifted writers who were very interested in the visual and performing arts. We had a lovely evening filled with stimulating conversation. Later, we were guests in their home (but never invited for dinner).
A few years later the couple left our town for a better research opportunity with their own lab and greater resources. My ex-wife remained in touch with them; I did not. When my ex-wife learned that HER was dying of cancer, she made the trek to the opposite coast to see HER one last time. We didn't talk of her trip.
When HER died several months later, my ex called me and said that we had to meet for a drink (most unusual) because she had something to tell me. While visiting HER, my ex learned several things:
- HER did not believe that the holocaust had taken place
- HER was most proud of her name, because of the family member for whom she was named
- The family member for whom HER had been named was a Nazi war criminal who was executed for crimes against humanity
- HER had asked her husband to give the bulk of her estate to anti-Zionist terrorist organizations (which he did not do).
Based on HER's first name, I researched Nazi war criminals with that name who were executed and learned that the source of HER's name was considered one of the most brutal guards in Aushwitz, was closely associated with Josef Mengele, and was hanged shortly after turning 22 years old for crimes against humanity.
I realized that HER was not a neo-Nazi who picked up the cause because it suited her; she was a second generation Nazi, raised by Nazis to be a Nazi.
As a Jew, the fact that I entertained a Nazi in my home has never stopped sickening me, whenever I have thought about it.
When I read about Obama being smeared for knowing William Ayers, I am reminded of that dinner. I also think about the hundreds of scientists who attend the annual conference held in HER's name, started by HER's widower with the money she wanted to be used to kill Zionists.
It's an important conference for a good cause named for a brilliant, cultivated woman with a twisted and hateful view of the world. It's the reason I'm hiding the names. None of the attendees know that the conference is named for a Nazi. Had it not been for my ex-wife's visit to a dying friend, I never would have known that I had entertained a Nazi.
Barack Obama once taught at the same school as William Ayers, where they became acquainted. Both were highly regarded in their fields. Maybe they liked and respected each other. Maybe they had dinner together.
I don't really have a nice, neat way to tie this up, except to say that I don't think we ever really know anyone else; it's hard enough to know ourselves. Are the demons that torment others any greater or lesser than those we face every morning when we look in the mirror?
I'll leave it to Tom Waits, and this verse from Please Call Me Baby
And I admit that I ain't no angel
I admit that I ain't no saint
I'm selfish and I'm cruel but you're blind
If I exorcise my devils
Well my angels may leave too
When they leave they're so hard to find