This Terrorist Thing

I really think the McCain campaign is losing it. Crazy, bonkers, off their rocker, losing it. Where is their integrity? Where is the "Straight Talk"? Over the weekend, Sarah Palin attacked Barack Obama for his association with Bill Ayers. Ayers was involved with Weather Underground, an anti-Vietnam group that bombed the Pentagon, U.S. Capitol and other government buildings in the 1960s and 1970s. He is now a professor of literature at the University of Illinois, Chicago. The Chicago Sun-Times reports on their "association:"

In the mid-1990s, Ayers and [his wife] Dohrn hosted a meet-and-greet at their house to introduce Obama to their neighbors during his first run for the Illinois Senate. In 2001, Ayers contributed $200 to Obama's campaign. Ayers also served alongside Obama between December 1999 and December 2002 on the board of the not-for-profit Woods Fund of Chicago. That board met four times a year, and members would see each other at occasional dinners the group hosted.

The Sun Times also spoke to Chicago political strategist Marilyn Katz who "noted Ayers' work with Mayor Daley to overhaul the Chicago Public Schools and likened him to Black Panther-turned-U.S. Rep. Bobby Rush."

Come on. Yes, Ayers was a 'domestic terrorist' 30-plus years ago but he has apparently rehabilitated himself as a respectable citizen. If he is a 'terrorist' now, what does that say about his employer, the University of Illinois, Chicago? What does that say about Mayor Richard Daley? What does that say about Ayers' students and colleagues at the U of I? Are all of those people 'associating' with a terrorist?

Barack Obama should not have accepted any political assistance from Bill Ayers at the beginning of his career, but he did. Chalk it up to inexperience. It was a mistake. We all make them.

Why am I willing to excuse Obama's 'association' with Ayers but not Palin's accepting reimbursement for her kids' travel expenses? He was just starting out in politics and probably didn't know anything about Bill Ayers. Hopefully, he has had time to learn from that. Palin is supposedly "experienced" and has made a bad judgment call. If she becomes President, her judgment and her ethical code will affect our lives in a very profound way. Also, Obama last worked with Ayers on the Woods Fund non-profit in 2002. Palin failed to pay taxes on those reimbursements just a few months ago.

What do you think?