At Volokh Conspiracy George Mason University School of Law Professor David Bernstein calls out the “anything for Obama” AP for its shamelessly biased reporting of something Gov. Sarah Palin’s did yesterday.
The Governor called attention to what should concern every American who wants our country to thrive: Sen. Barack Obama’s ties over many years to terrorist and liberal media darling Bill Ayers.
Bernstein’s post – “What Passes for Objective Reporting this Election Season” - follows in full, after which I offer a few comments below the star line.
With the first two paragraphs of the AP’s story, Bernstein begins - - -
Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin on Saturday accused Democrat Barack Obama of "palling around with terrorists" because of his association with a former 1960s radical, stepping up the campaign's effort to portray Obama as unacceptable to American voters.There is nothing blatantly false in this story, but it's about as one-sided a presentation of the controversy as one could imagine;
Palin's reference was to Bill Ayers, one of the founders of the group the Weather Underground. Its members took credit for bombings, including nonfatal explosions at the Pentagon and U.S. Capitol, during the tumultuous Vietnam War era four decades ago. Obama, who was a child when the group was active, served on a charity board with Ayers several years ago and has denounced his radical views and activities.
no mention that the Weather Underground planned a very deadly attack on Fort Dix;
the excuse that the times were "tumultuous;"
the reference to Obama being child, no reference to Obama having his inaugural political event at Ayer's house;
no mention of Ayers lack of contrition for his terrorist activities;
no mention of Ayers' fugitive years;
no mention that Obama only saw fit to denounce Ayers' only when it became an issue in his presidential campaign,
and the intentional downplaying of Ayers' and Obama's relationship to "serving on a charity board" with Ayers, as opposed to "worked closely with Ayers on a major educational reform project in Chicago."
Indeed, I'd say that the last two sentences could have been written by the Obama campaign, and, in fact, that the reporter probably repeated talking points he received from the campaign virtually verbatim.
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Comments:
After finishing the AP’s “anything for Obama” story, I thought to myself:
What if Ayers was anti-abortion and had bombed abortion clinics?
What if Ayers had recruited, encouraged and help train others to murder abortion doctors and bomb abortion clinics?
What if Ayers had never expressed any regret for any of his anti-abortion terrorist actions?
What if, instead, he'd said he regretted not doing more?!
If Ayers had been an anti-abortion terrorist instead of an anti-American terrorist, I doubt Sen. Obama would now be the Democratic nominee.
Think about that in the days to come as you read, see and hear all the excusing, minimizing, and outright distorting “news reports” Obama’s MSM Tank Corps serves up in an effort to help their candidate deal with problems caused by his associations with Ayers and failure to condemn Ayers until it became politically expedient and necessary during the primaries.
7 comments:
Why persist in this false guilt by association? You do understand, don't you, that guilt by association is the flimsiest of arguments?
What remains, and you know it, is that neither Palin nor McCain can carry forward on the strength of their own characters nor do they have concrete, explainable solutions to our country's current number of crises. Consequently, their advisors have decided to replay discredited info about Obama and Ayers. My earnest prayer is that you to look for the interconnections we, in fact, all share. I also urge you to read Mr. Ayers book, Fugitive Days, to try to grasp exactly why Mr. Ayers and millions of others in the 60s felt the way they did. You cannot re-write history. Mr. Ayer actions were an expression of how many people felt at the time. G. Gordon Liddy has himself told us, "There was a civil war going on at the time and we won." Try to think about that.
One thing you should know is that the majority of the Weatherman had their cases thrown out of court because of the illegal procedures used by the FBI and various police organizations in their attempts to obtain damning information.
Then try to remember that Ayers and Dorne turned themselves in to the authorities, fully prepared to face the consequences of their actions. You never mention these facts. We are not all stupid, sir.
I beg to differ with "helen" Obama's associations are highly indicative of the man. Is he guilty of domestic terroism like his friends? No, no one has said he is. Can we question his judgment based on the company he keeps. Yes, we can. Fortunately for JiC readers, most of us are painfully aware of the Ayers, radical academic types. Obama worked with Ayers, they directed millions of dollars in funding to their radical education initiatives.
Clinton couldn't really go after Obama on Ayers because her husband pardoned one or two of Ayer's terroist friends.
Fortunately, neither McCain nor Palin has such questionable associations.
Wright, Rezko, Johnson, Ayers, Raines (and don't tell me there's no connection), the list is way too long to ignore! Unless we are stupid.
And your defence of thw Weathermen is just sad.
To Helen via JnC -
Would you have a potential murderer as a friend? Would you have a bigot as a minister? Would you support a member of the Daly machine against a would be reformer?
Guilt by association may be flimsy, but not when the association is by choice and shows a pattern confirming one's political orientation. There are too many associations for St. Barack here and they speak volumes about his penchant for befriending anti-American types and, thus, about his political orientations.
Jack in Silver Spring
"guilt by association" is a no-win game. Obama has Ayers; Palin has her Alaska Sepratists; McCain's mob ties and the Keating 5 scandal;
Who cares really. politics is a dirty business. the election should be about issues.
Helen - I am sure that the relatives of those who were killed as a result of the activities of Ayers, Dorn, Boudin, et al are comforted by the fact that many felt the same way that they did. In fact, your assertion is false - as except for a subset of young, mostly ill-informed college students who chaffed at the restrictions they felt society imposed - the majority of peoploe in this country were horrified at the activities and many of the beliefs espoused by the compatriots of Ayers.
Yes, the majority of the cases were thrown out of court due to legal maneuverings - that does not make Ayers and company any less guilty. Finally, they turned themselves in when it was obvious that the legal system would no longer pursue them. However, Kathy Boudin did not turn herself in - she was caught.
cks
Hey Helen: You don't like guilt by association? Then tell St. Barack to shut up about McCain-Bush.
Tarheel Hawkeye
Anonymous said...
"guilt by association" is a no-win game. Obama has Ayers; Palin has her Alaska Sepratists-----”
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The Palin-Separtists, myth was debunked shortly after it appeared. It was a lie! If you are going to repeat lies, write for other liars. Associations do matter, and so does telling the truth.
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