The backstory is that during the height of the Viet Nam war in the 1960's and 70's, Bill Ayers, born into wealth and privilege, joined the ranks of the tens of thousands of Americans who opposed the war. Ayers went way beyond the protest marches and sit-ins and became part of the extreme radical left that resorted to acts of violence to get their message across. He was a co-founder of the notorious Weatherman organization that coordinated and executed a series of bombings and arsons across the country.
In 1970, with the federal authorities on his trail, he went underground and disappeared from sight. In 1977, the federal charges that had been brought against him were dropped due to "prosecutorial misconduct". And in 1980, he emerged from hiding and re-entered society as himself. He was never indicted or prosecuted for any of his anti-war activities. He went on to have a very successful career in education and is currently a Distinguished Professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago School of Education.
At the very same time that Ayers was busy blowing up buildings, John McCain was languishing in a cell in the so-called Hanoi Hilton having been shot down and captured by the North Vietnamese in 1967. We know that during the course of his imprisonment, he, along with his fellow POW's, were kept informed of all the anti-war activities and protests that were taking place back in the United States. It was used to demoralize their captives and further encourage them to reveal any military intelligence they might have known.
McCain's years in captivity, not surprisingly, became a pivotal moment in his life and in his worldview. It should be evident to most people who have been paying even the slightest attention to this year's political campaign, that almost every issue that McCain talks about has the central themes of war and conflict running through them. Every speech is peppered with military terms and images of great battles that we have to win, etc, etc.
And this worldview is the prism through which he sees every aspect of life in America and the world. When he talks about the economy he references the "surge" strategy in Iraq as a solution. When he talks about health care, its the battle against the Democrats who he says want socialized medicine. When he talks about education, it's the battle against those who want the government to provide some form of universal education opportunities. It's this battle, and that battle, this war and that war, this fight and that fight. The real problem is what's buried deep within his own soul. He's never gotten over "losing" in Viet Nam.
Beneath it all boils McCain's lingering anger and resentment over what he perceives as the "betrayal" of him by his fellow Americans whom he thinks rejected and denounced his loyalty to his country before, during, and after his time in Viet Nam.
And now that McCain sees his life-long ambition to be president of the United States slowly slipping away, this anger and resentment are reinforced and condensed into the peripheral presence of the anti-war icon, Bill Ayers. In his own mind, McCain has made the irrational and non-existent connection with the radical ideology of the Bill Ayers of 40 years ago and the "liberal" ideology of Barack Obama. In painting Obama with the broad brush strokes of radical anti-Americanism, McCain not only hopes to defeat Obama but perhaps finally exorcise the ghosts of Viet Nam. There's only one problem with this strategy.
In 1967, Barack Obama was six years old.
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