The McCain campaign, lead by the airhead from Alaska, Governor Sarah Palin, has been chomping at the bit to inject Barack Obama’s relationship with former Weatherman and Weather Underground founder, William Ayers, into the election cycle discourse. I think the best way to handle this is to meet this challenge head on and shove this inane game of "guilt by association" down Caribou Barbie’s throat. Not only does Governor Palin have more skeletons in her closet than Obama, or Ayers for that matter, she has a major social cross to bear that could lead to her very figurative crucifixion.
More after the break...
I won’t bother rehashing all of the details that have been covered in other diaries by other diarists. There is more than enough data out there that should appeal to the pragmatic. Two diaries, from one of my favorite diarists, provide a good summary of the shenanigans and associations.
BarbinMD does an outstanding job hammering both Republican candidates for their shady connections.
BarbinMD also does an effective job running over Palin for her association to an actual terrorist organization of which her husband was a card-carrying member.
What I want to bring to everyone’s attention is a different angle on this issue. A perspective that should be discussed and thrown in the face of the highly hypocritical Governor from Alaska, one that could challenge her base to reconsider their position on the subject altogether.
Sarah Palin loves her some Jesus. She claims to be a Christian who stakes the high moral ground as her own. She believes the Bible is the word or God and beyond question. It is this devotion that appeals to her base. It is this very same devotion, this very same belief in Bible truth, which can be used to bring her down and kill the Ayers storyline once and for all.
In the Bible there is a story of a man who finds salvation after seeing the error in his ways. This story is about a terrorist named Saul of Tarsus. Acts 8 & 9 speaks of the wickedness of the man, and conversion he undergoes to find his own personal redemption. Through this liberation, and a name change to Paul, the terrorist would go on to write the majority of the New Testament, the foundation for all Christian belief. The Bible clearly shows that even the most wicked of terrorists may alter their ways and may do good. If one of the most despicable terrorists from biblical times can redeem himself, and his writings become the basis for the Christian faith, why is it not possible for someone to do the same in modern times?
The fact of the matter is that William Ayers has followed the path of Saul of Tarsus and has found his personal redemption after realizing the wickedness of his ways. William Ayers has become a respected professor at the University of Chicago and has worked the majority of his life to improve the lot of the poor. He has worked to improve our education systems and has been an important part of the Chicago community. His efforts have not gone unnoticed, as indicated when the City of Chicago awarded him their Citizen of the Year award in 1997.
William Ayers has redeemed himself and has grown into an upstanding member of his community. This is not a man to belittle, but a man to admire. No, he has not written a tome that will become the foundation of a religion, nor has he been canonized by the Church. What he has done is followed the example of St. Paul and has turned his life around to become an important part of his community. Just as St. Paul can no longer be thought of Saul of Tarsus, William Ayers of the University of Chicago should no longer be associated with the William Ayers of the Weather Underground. His dedication to community service and work within our education systems should be more than enough to redeem him in the public eye, especially with those Christians who believe their Bible to infallible.
So I say to Governor Sarah Palin, keep flapping your gums about William Ayers and putting the man down. Each time you kick William Ayers in the teeth, you knock another tooth out of that religion you claim to know so much about and what credibility you have remaining with your hypocritical base.