Does anyone else see through the political lies and realize what's going on here? The media is focused on the weak "connection" between Ayers and Obama, and they're completely overlooking the fact that the GOP is smearing Ayers as a "domestic terrorist". Timothy McVeigh was a domestic terrorist. The Weather Underground were radical activists. What's the difference between a radical activist and a terrorist? Propaganda.
When I learned about the Weather Underground in school (because it was that long ago), they were "radical activists". In my textbook, they were in the same chapter as many peaceful civil rights activists of the 1960's, such as Martin Luther King Jr, with the exception being they were frustrated by the lack of results from peaceful demonstrations and unfortunately turned to violence. People seem to have forgotten, but there was a lot more violence in those days, and it was usually in the form of a very unpopular war in Vietnam, riot police beating protestors and the KKK burning down churches. So when a handful of college kids try to bomb empty buildings for attention, it's not the same as the cowards that planned 9/11!
It is true, people were hurt in those bombings, and I am NOT in any way justifying the violent acts committed by the Weather Underground (which Obama also condemned). Regardless of your opinion about radical activists, Bill Ayers never set any bombs, he turned himself in and was never convicted of anything. He was basically a confused kid, and forty years later, is now a respected professor with ties to many people in his community, including many respected Democrats AND Republicans. To call him a "domestic terrorist" is really a stretch, and to try to link him to Obama is a further stretch.
In the post 9/11 world, shameless politicians try to scare up votes by exploiting the word "terror". They are just trying to link Obama to terrorism, and it's a shady way of playing the race card. The smear attacks against Obama imply that he has "un-American" and "anti-Christian" (code: radical Muslim) ties, his heritage is "shady", his background is "unknown", and he is practically the 21st hijacker! It's NONSENSE, it's OUTRAGEOUS, and it's a BLATANT attempt to scare voters into thinking Obama is "un-American". They can't convince you to vote for them based on policies, so they try to scare you into voting for them out of fear. The Republicans have exploited the events of 9/11 in every election, and this year is no different!
Everything we have seen about Barack Obama shows us that his life is a true story version of the American Dream. He comes from a humble background, a patriotic family, and he is a proud Christian (although ideally, his religion shouldn't matter). He has worked hard to achieve his success, and he has helped families, communities, his state and his country in ways only a true patriot could. The idea of exploiting the fact that Americans just don't know enough about him is a basic political smear strategy. It's "How to Scare Up Votes 101" by Karl Rove!
And if anyone doesn't know enough about Obama by now, it's partially their own fault. This election season has been the longest in history - long enough for every man, woman and child to watch the many TV programs about him, read any of his multiple online biographies, read any of his bestselling books, research his background, policies and positions on his website, or ask anyone with an internet connection to check the facts about him. There are many independent, unbiased, objective sources - like http://www.snopes.com or http://www.factcheck.org or http://www.politifact.com - that debunk all the rumors, including the "Ayers connection" nonsense. The fact that Republicans believe people are stupid enough to fall for these tacitcs is insulting. But many good Americans fell for the same tactics and re-elected Bush, so history has proven this works.
THOSE WHO FAIL TO LEARN FROM HISTORY ARE DOOMED TO REPEAT IT!