Briefly, "How to Respond to Ayers." Or, "Aren't Americans really sick of fighting the Vietnam War?"
- Points: There are now Hiltons (McCain donors) in Vietnam
- Vietnam is the past. If we elect another President on Vietnam, we're a nation fighting the last battle.
Obama should answer:
When I met William Ayers years ago, he had served his prison sentence for conspiring to bomb American institutions. He was a former criminal, a former radical anti-Vietnam protester who a generation earlier espoused violence to end the Vietnam war.
I did not agree with the person he was or the violence he espoused in the Vietnam era. Peace cannot be achieved through a violent ideology. But I met this former criminal, this former radical, after he reformed himself. He had served his time, reformed himself, and chose to devote himself to reforming education. If every person who entered the criminal justice system, choose to devote themselves to public service after serving time, we would have a much better society.
The problems of Chicago's educational system at that time were not Vietnam. Today, the problem we face are not Vietnam, and we should not attempt to invoke the same cultural divide that tore our nation apart then. Vietnam is over--there are actual Hiltons in Vietnam--we must move on.