Ron Radosh

November 12th, 2008 10:18 am

The Chutzpah of Bill Ayers

I did not intend to write about Bill Ayers again. The man has already had far more than his allotted 15 minutes of fame, and he didn’t even deserve that. But Michael Moynihan of Reason magazine alerted me to his latest travesty. Today is the publication date of the new edition of his book Fugitive Days, and now that the election is over, Ayers has chosen to speak out in his own defense in the pages of a democratic socialist newsweekly, In These Times.

By choosing this vehicle, Ayers is skillfully engaging in his own sanitized rewriting of history. His effort is to paint himself as just another honest dissenter, a man whose valiant socialist principles have caused the media to unfairly demonize him as a terrorist. All he did in his memoir, he writes, is to go back to those “exhilarating and difficult years of resistance against the American war in Vietnam.”

I have already on this site linked to my review of Ayers memoir. But anyone who actually reads it knows immediately that what he is defending is not opposition to the Vietnam War, but his own and his comrade’s record of terrorism. There were thousands of patriotic Americans who opposed that war — a miniscule minority supported or endorsed the actions of the Weatherman faction of SDS and the bombing campaign they undertook when they went underground. Indeed, most of the mainstream cadre of the organization viewed Ayers and his group as a force that undermined their own credibility and helped to isolate what they hoped was a genuine peace movement.

Ayers new apologia is, as one reads it, completely amazing in his disingenuous argument. He was active, he writes, at “a time when the world was in flames, revolution was in the air, and the serial assassinations of black leaders disrupted our utopian dreams.” Let us look at the last claim. Was he alluding to Martin Luther King, Jr. as one of those black leaders? If so, all one has to do is recall that Ayers and company, who supported “black power” and not non-violent resistance to segregation, considered King an Uncle Tom, and regularly blasted him as a sell-out. As for the assassination of blacks, one of the offshoots of his own group killed a black policeman in the Brinks robbery, and another killed a black school superintendent in Oakland, California. And of course, the Weather Underground saw Huey Newton’s gang of thugs, The Black Panther Party, as the vanguard of the revolution, and declared their own support for their activities. Newton killed plenty of blacks who opposed him, as well as others in gang wars over drugs.

Now, as a would-be good plain democrat, he has the chutzpah to complain of how the media has unfairly tried to paint him as “un-American, alien, linked to radical ideas, a closet terrorist….”
You get the idea. Perhaps it had something to do with the photo he posed for tramping an American flag underfoot, his open espousal of the glories of bombing in his memoir, and his espousing revolutionary socialism as his goal in his two year old interview. The late Irving Howe once said that Tom Hayden “gave opportunism a bad name.” I would revise that estimate, and give that award to Ayers.

Now, Ayers seeks police protection against those who threaten him regularly. He’s lucky they are only threats. He and his associates went way beyond verbal harassment, and planted and planned to bomb targets that would have killed thousands of Americans. Now, like any other good citizen, he turns for protection to those he regularly used to call “pigs,” and whose supporters in Grant Park in 1968 attacked fiercely, even paralyzing one cop for life, and then bragging about it in a song written to a Dylan tune. Now, as he says, he is “pals” with one cop in particular whom he has turned to before.

And this man then has the nerve to personally attack John McCain. Most Americans, even those who did not vote for him, know of his commitment to this nation and to his honor and his bravery in defense of his country. Not Bill Ayers. In his eyes, John McCain is nothing but a war criminal. As he sees it, McCain “built his political career on being a prisoner of war in Vietnam.” As most everyone knows, McCain has regularly refused to talk about his time as a POW, making an exception for his convention speech after receiving the GOP nomination. McCain’s career is based on his record in the Senate, his willingness to cross the aisle and reach compromise with the Democrats, much to the dismay of the conservative base of his own party.

And while Ayers says the 60s are over, he goes on to prove that for him, they are not. Bringing up Vietnam, he writes as if he is back in that decade, condemning the war as “an illegal invasion and occupation…conducted as a war of terror against the civilian population.” Millions were killed in air raids, he writes, “like the one conducted by McCain.” The evildoer was not the Vietnamese Communists who were seeking to create a Communist tyranny and destroy any independent civil society in South Vietnam- including the Buddhists and the organized trade union movement-but the Americans who were helping to keep the South out of Ho Chi Minh’s hands. As Ayers puts it, McCain and the other airmen were engaging in “an immoral enterprise.” Which, of course, justifies his own “enterprise” at the time with the Weather Underground as a moral response to American terror.

So for Ayers the 60s are not over; they are a guide to acting in the present. It was, he says, “a time of rejecting obedience and conformity in favor of initiative and courage.” I guess that was what he and Bernardine Dohrn were doing in those days, showing their bravery and heroism by seeking to create a revolutionary situation in Amerikka - as they spelled our nation-in order to “bring the mother…… down.”

And finally, one can only laugh at Ayers’ paean to democracy, where we should know “the importance of talking to as many people as possible in this complicated and wildly diverse society, of listening with the possibility of learning something new, and of speaking with the possibility of persuading or influencing others.” We live in a “robust and sophisticated democracy,” where “political leaders-and all of us-ought to seek ways to talk with many people who hold dissenting, or even radical, ideas.” This from a man who supports Hugo Chavez’s pathetic attempt to create a Fidelista style tyranny in Venezuela, and who loves Fidel Castro and his prison camp.

Mr. Ayers says we should “press harder for human rights.” Amen, I am all for them. Will he begin by joining me in an open letter to Fidel Castro condemning him for his torture and imprisonment of scores of political prisoners, for his failure to allow petitions for free elections to be circulated by the brave dissenters in Cuba? Will he condemn Chavez for silencing journalists and closing down opposition TV stations? Will he condemn Iran for their constant threats to eliminate Israel? I don’t think we have to spend much time waiting to hear his answers.

_________________________________________

My friend, the historian Jeffrey Herf, has just e mailed me this important correction:

In his excellent blog about Billy Ayers, Ronald Radosh refers to Ayer’s
“supporters in Grant Park in 1968″ who “attacked fiercely, even
paralyzing one cop for life, and then bragging about it in a song
written to a Dylan tune.” This is only partly correct. Actually, Ayers
and about 600 Weatherpeople engaged in the “Days of Rage” in Chicago on
October 8-10, 1969. They attacked policeman and smashed store windows.
In their book /Destructive Generation/, David Horowitz and Peter Collier
wrote the following: “One city official, Richard Elrod, was paralyzed
form the neck down when he attempted to tackle a demonstrator and struck
his head on a curb. This inspired Ted Gold [who was one of the
Weathermen killed when the bombs they were building blew up in a
townhouse on 11th Street in Greenwich Village in New York in December
1969, JH] who became the Weatherman songwriter, to write the lyrics to
be sung to Dylans ‘Lay, Lady, Lay” The lyrics were the following:

“Lay Elrod, lay
Lay in the street for a while
Stay, Elrod stay
Stay in your bed a while
You thought you could stop Weatherman
But up-front people put you on your can
Stay Elrod, stay
Stay in your iron lung
Play, Elrod, play
Play with your toes for a while…”

Few things convey the viciousness and fanaticism of the Weather
organization Ayers was leading better that Gold’s sick song lyrics.

Jeffrey Herf

37 Comments

1. Mike:

Great column … saw a link via Michelle Malkin

Just a question. I there a typo? You ask, “Was he eluding to MLK …”

Should that not be, “Was he alluding to MLK …”

Keep up the good work.

Mike

Nov 13, 2008 - 7:27 am 2. R. Harding:

The author wrote:
“Was he eluding to Martin Luther King, Jr. as one of those black leaders? ”

I believe the operative word here should be ALLUDING although eluding some black leaders is often called for.

Nov 13, 2008 - 7:43 am 3. Fausta’s Blog » Blog Archive » Fugitive Days - time for Ayers to cash in:

[...] Radosh writes about The Chutzpah of Bill Ayers (emphasis added): I have already on this site linked to my review of Ayers memoir. But anyone who [...]

Nov 13, 2008 - 7:47 am 4. Scott:

Interesting Article.

Nov 13, 2008 - 8:01 am 5. Rosemarie Young:

If Bill Ayers is a terrorist as depicted in many blogs, why is he living freely in the US? Why and by whom is he being protected The whole relationship with Obama has been really strange and that more than anything, as well as the reaction of the democrat candidate now president-elect, made me more suspicious of Ayers than anything else written.
Our country has not yet after so many years, accepted the outcome in Vietnam. Let us face it, we lost and the Vietnamese have now their own country. Ayers has to live with his own conscience.

Nov 13, 2008 - 8:37 am 6. Dan D:

Why do you speak ill of a respected education reformer? Don’t you want to fit in with the community leaders (and organizers) in Chicago?

Nov 13, 2008 - 9:10 am 7. thomgre:

“Was he eluding to Martin Luther King, Jr. as one of those black leaders?”

Uh, “professor” Radosh, I knew (as best I can remember) the difference between “allude” and “elude” when I was in the eighth grade. I must say I am just a little suspicious of your claims of educational accomplishment. Maybe we can find a way around your literacy problem by suggesting that you weren’t one of those academic “elites” who would know something as recondite as that distinction, more of a “people’s” professor perhaps.

Nov 13, 2008 - 9:46 am 8. Matthew Avitabile:

One of the questions I have is if Ayers and Khalidi had a relationship. I explored this a little bit:
http://jumpinginpools.blogspot.com/2008/11/did-khalidi-and-ayers-have-relationship.html

Nov 13, 2008 - 11:02 am 9. AgingWonder:

Excellent — couldn’t agree more. Picky minor point: “alluding” not “eluding” . . . Ayers has proven to be adept at the latter. I am surprised that he is comfortable enough (security-wise) to do book-signings etc. — there are unbalanced people out there that would make ME nervous if I were he. Just sayin’ . . .

Nov 13, 2008 - 11:53 am 10. Luke:

The police officers protecting Ayers must feel like the soldiers that will soon be commanded by BHO.

Nov 13, 2008 - 5:13 pm 11. Ralph:

Well said.

-R

P.S. Typo needs correction: alluding not eluding to MLK…

Nov 13, 2008 - 5:15 pm 12. dragonfly:

Thank you for continuing to call attention to Bill Ayers and he scale of his commitment to Marxism. His relationship to Obama deserves as much exposure as possible, which is why the Democrats are so eager to dismiss it, “put it all behind, pass him off as an obscure liberal education professor.

Ayers is an iconic figure,a hero, in the radical socialist camp. Here is one Marxist who lived up to his cause: he carried armed revolution into the heart of the most powerful capitalist nation, risked his life and sacrificed others, He did not just talk - he acted. What greater demonstration of dedication to the noble cause of true socialism?

And he survived - not just to live, but to avoid punishment, and then enter the academic establishment, gain tenure and recognition as a “scholar” in the field of education while advancing the cause through indoctrinating the young in the true faith. And now, effectively, following Saul AAlinsky’s “Rules for Radicals” , conning the American electorate into making his protege President of the nited States. When the annals of Socialism are written, William Ayers’ name will be be at the top of the list of Achievers

I have always been a skeptic of conspiracy theories, but the strategy here is transparent, and straight out of the text book. Don’t try to overturn a tranquil society by violence. Gain cover in a field perceived as heneficial where you can indoctrinate the young. Insinuate yourselves into governmental power. Take advantage of the flabbiness of free-enterprise politics. And when you gain power, secure it quickly and aggressively. When the tolerant passivists wake up, it will be too late to undo it.

Obama is no intellectual; he is great mouthpiece. Ayers is very smart, totally obsessed with his destiny as an instrument for bringing Socialism to power, his ruthlessness long since demonstrated. There should be little doubt that he orchestrated Obama’s career and his campaign from the outset. Behind Obama’s cabinet there will be a shadow cabinet, Bill Ayers hand is now in the Oval Office. There will be no more than token moves to the right. And you couldn’t be further to the left than this President is.

But we are just a couple of conservative nut cases.

Nov 13, 2008 - 5:28 pm 13. mack:

I am sick to my stomach after reading the repulsive dirty deeds done by Ayers. How do we deal with this punk? Anyone who has this punk on his phone contacts need to be treated like a lepper. I watched as this punk called the cops on a reporter, who had the audacity to ask a couple of questions. Anywhere this punk goes, he should receive the same treatment as any other traitor. He needs a new can of whip ass opened on his bald head everyday for the rest of his life. He should be stripped of his ability to teach. He is a spoiled little punk that is a disgrace. He will get what he has coming and his end will be violent. You live by the sword and you die by the sword. Someone will have him for lunch one day and I can’t wait to read about it.

Nov 13, 2008 - 5:52 pm 14. TiAnn:

Where were all of you over analytical, personal relationship diggers eight years ago? No one was interested in Bush’s personal dealings which has lead us to the bloody oil war that we are fighting today. It was the American justice system that exonerated Ayers. He is a university professor and has been for the last “umpteen” years. Is is expected that we should perform criminal background checks on all our fellow colleagues since we don’t really know anyone’s past. Get over it. Move on. We have much more to worry about as a nation. Even if Obama was a terrorist; the majority voted him our President-elect; just as they voted for an idiot for the last eight years.

Nov 13, 2008 - 7:04 pm 15. Rubicon:

Ayers evaded the legal system because some FBI Agents either obtained info illegally (meaning they stumbled on it but did not have a warrant so it caused a judge to dismiss all charges, or because there were technicalities with the charges.
As for his “utopia,” that alone should tell you how empty his ideas are. Utopia is unattainable in human form. It is a parallel universe type thing. Its a fantasy dream state.
If Ayers & company wanted utopia, it was because drug addled minds had been clouded with visions that only a drug addled mind could envision.
If Ayers is unrepentant for the bombings he did or worked with those who did, then you can bet he will use any means at all to force others to submit to “his view” of the world. This is simply socialism. Lets all forget, the “real” fascists the world ever knew were the Nazi’s. And lest one forget them, they were the “National SOCIALISTS” & they established the Brown Shirts, who set up national service requirements for youth that lead to “Krystalnacht (sp).”
Socialism is a disease that leads to totalitarianism. Look at Kim Jong Ill, at Castro (now Raul), and who can forget our pudgy buddy, Hugo Chavez. Freedoms lost to despots, just as all socialists are or turn out to be once in power!

Nov 13, 2008 - 8:22 pm 16. Unreal!… Terrorist & Obama Pal Bill Ayers on Good Morning America « Conservative Thoughts and Profundity:

[...] Ron Radosh corrects Bill Ayers’ many lies at Pajamas Media today. [...]

Nov 13, 2008 - 8:35 pm 17. David Thomson:

“I did not intend to write about Bill Ayers again.”

I’m sorry but we will be obligated to repeatedly write about Bill Ayers as long as Barack Obama remains in office. This issue tells us a lot about the character and mindset of the newly elected president. There is a major reason why Obama won the election: the middle of the road voters were confused about his relationship with the Chicago area terrorist. John McCain unfortunately ran an awful campaign and failed to clearly explain the meaning and intensity of the friendship between the two men. Buyer’s remorse, however, is starting to set in. There is a very good chance that Obama will prove to be very unpopular—even before his inauguration.

Nov 13, 2008 - 11:35 pm 18. Jose:

I can’t even muster much rage about Ayers and Dohrn. Not to say I wouldn’t laugh hysterically if they were eaten alive by rabid wolverines but I am much more appalled by the deep cultural sickness of the left that enables these cretins to lead lives in polite society and hold teaching positions at universities.

The frightening thing isn’t that Obama’s friendship with them suggests that he’s a closet marxist. More disturbing to me is that the value systems of even most run-of-the-mill liberals are so fucked up that consorting with scum like this is no big deal, save for when it proves inconvenient during an election campaign.

Nov 14, 2008 - 2:46 am 19. Lilith:

I remember “The Weatherman” very well. Even those of us who were actively protesting the Viet Nam war thought they were a bunch of f***ing idiots. “Great way to protest a war, a-holes”, we used to say, “go out and blow up buildings and kill people for peace…what a bunch of morons!” - they were jerks then and the survivors are still jerks — sorry, doesn’t say much for Obama that he found Ayers to be a fun playmate.

Nov 14, 2008 - 9:00 am 20. Papa Mike’s Blog » Blog Archive » THE MEDIA FINALLY GETS AROUND TO TALKING TO TERRORIST BILL AYERS–:

[...] Radosh corrected Bill Ayers’ many lies at Pajamas Media yesterday. Obama associate and family friend Bill Ayers is still unapologetic for his domestic acts [...]

Nov 14, 2008 - 9:07 am 21. Friday morning drive-by « DPGI - the aftermath:

[...] Moving on to domestic terrorists who are unfortunately still above room temperature, file this one under, “Just STFU, you piece of excrement.” Someone should have paid you a midnight visit a long time ago and repaid you for your actions against our country. The fact you still have the ability to spew your idiocy proves what a better country this is than you claim. (related article) [...]

Nov 14, 2008 - 10:50 am 22. James:

“Elude” vs “allude?” Its a red herring. Who cares when Radosh exposes the truth about this reprobate low-life!

Nov 14, 2008 - 1:38 pm 23. Obama “Family Friend” Ayers Still Unapologetic For Terrorist Acts « Conservative Thoughts and Profundity:

[...] Ron Radosh corrected Bill Ayers’ many lies at Pajamas Media yesterday. [...]

Nov 14, 2008 - 3:15 pm 24. nick:

“planted and planned to bomb targets that would have killed thousands of Americans”

Gee I must have missed the court trial!

that sent so many to prison!

Nov 14, 2008 - 5:24 pm 25. bcd:

So when can we start pieing this guy. Shaving cream … don’t waste the good stuff!

Later

Nov 14, 2008 - 6:38 pm 26. Obama Big Oops; Amateurs should not play with nuclear weapons! « Riggword Weblog:

[...] Ron Radosh at PJM gives Ayers a proper roasting: [...]

Nov 14, 2008 - 7:49 pm 27. Alex Bensky:

I suppose there is at least one group of people who are not likely to honor Ayers for his opposition to the war in Vietnam: Cambodians. But who cares about them?

Nov 15, 2008 - 8:34 am 28. kevin c:

“AYERS HAS TO LIVE WITH HIS OWN CONSCIENCE”. COMMUNISTS DONT HAVE CONSCIENCES. MARX TAUGHT THAT EVERYTHING, EVEN YOUR IMMEDIATE FAMILY , WAS SUBORDINATE TO THE POWER OF THE STATE. AND ONE THING ID LIKE TO POINT OUT TO RON RADOSH OR ANY OTHER CONSERVATIVE WRITER. START DOING SOME RESEARCH ON AYERS WIFE. BERNADETTE DOHRN WAS INVOLVED IN FAR MORE TERRORIST ACTS AND MURDERS THAN AYERS WAS. DOHRN ALSO SPENT TIME IF IM RIGHT ON THE FBIS 10 MOST WANTED LIST. CONECENTRATE ON AYERS ROLE AS A RADICAL PROFESSOR, HOW HES NOW A BIGWIG IN SETTING UP COLLEGE CURRICULUM TODAY THANKS TO THE IDIOT FORMER PRESIDENT OF INDIANA U, MYLES BRAND( THE SAME GUY WHO FIRED BOBBY KNIGHT AS HEAD BASKETBALL COACH THERE). MAYBE SOMEONE LIKE A DAVID HOROWITZ CAN GO FURTHER IN EXPOSING THIS PIG. IM MORE WORRIED ABOUT WHAT AYERS THE MARXISTCOMMIE EDUCATOR IS DOING THAN AYERS THE TWIT TERRORIST. AND HIS SO CALLED “WIFE” WHO I BELEIVE IS ON THE FACULTY AT NORTHWESTERN U IN EVANSTON,ILL. LETS MAKE THE RIGHT STEPS, APPLY PRESSURE AS NEEDED. THE PAST IS DONE. TIME TO STOP WHAT THE COMMIE NUTJOBS AYERS,DOHRN,OBAMA, AND NASTY PIGLOSI WILL TRY TO INFLICT IN THE NEAR FUTURE.

Nov 15, 2008 - 1:16 pm 29. Lurch:

I wonder if Obama invites Ayers or hie wife to the White house, if the Secret Service would allow him in the same room with the president? Even though BA was never convicted, he has a permanent record as a known terrorist.

Just a thought….

Nov 15, 2008 - 3:45 pm 30. I am one of the 25 million:

As a college professor, the scary part is how many of my colleagues embrace Ayers’ hatred of America. No less vehement.

Nov 15, 2008 - 8:12 pm 31. thegr8_1:

52% of the people ruined it for the rest of us. Brainwashed by Overbite, Madcow, Brokejaw, New York Slimes, etc and don’t have a clue what change these citizens have in mind for us and the world.

Nov 15, 2008 - 8:39 pm 32. Palling Around With Terrorists-Take Two « The American Catholic: Politics and Culture from a Catholic perspective:

[...] what do you know? Now that the election is over with unrepentant terrorist William Ayers admits to the New Yorker that his contacts with the “Obama circle”, his words, [...]

Nov 17, 2008 - 4:26 am 33. nick:

Dohrn and Ayers were at least on the right side
of democracy while you idiots were for killing a million civilians.

Nov 17, 2008 - 1:05 pm 34. Democracy » Vietnam to grow genetically modified crops: reports « Tin Quê Hương:

[...] Ron Radosh » The Chutzpah of Bill AyersAnd finally, one can only laugh at Ayers’ paean to democracy, where we should know “the importance of talking to as many people as possible in this complicated and wildly diverse society, of listening with the possibility of learning … [...]

Nov 20, 2008 - 10:20 pm 35. Democracy » [Europe Solidaire Sans Frontières] Democracy Threatened at Bangkok ...:

[...] Ron Radosh » The Chutzpah of Bill AyersDemocracy » Vietnam to grow genetically modified crops: reports « Tin Quê Hương:. […] Ron Radosh » The Chutzpah of Bill AyersAnd finally, one can only laugh at Ayers’ paean to democracy, where we should know “the importance of talking … [...]

Dec 3, 2008 - 10:19 pm 36. Jon Burack:

As a former worker at the Progressive magazine, and as I live in the Madison, WI area still, I consider it one of my onerous duties to keep up with its ravings (it has gone WAY down hill since Erwin Knoll’s day.) I suggest readers take a look at its pathetic effort to drum up sympathy for poor Billy Ayers.

http://www.progressive.org/mc040409#comment-331

I alerted readers there to Ron Radosh’s excellent piece here and Jeffrey Herf’s addendum, two former Madisonians from days when the level of discourse on the left was somewhat more sophisticated, I can assure you.

Apr 4, 2009 - 3:46 pm 37. TED:

What is up with all of the vitriol against this man? Whatever acts of terrorism he may have committed (if they can really be called that) pales comparison to that which our military rained down on Vietnam (and from which the Vietnamese continue to suffer from today). Ayers and the others in the WU could have simply been careerists who went for themselves and who could have achieved a greater status in life if they had gone the conventional route (in the manner of Bill and Hillary). Instead they were the true patriots who tried to stop an illegal and immoral war and continue to suffer from those actions even today.

Apr 12, 2009 - 12:27 pm