In defense of Bill Ayers

In the final presidential debate Wednesday night, McCain returned to the issue, declaring, I dont care about an old washed-up terrorist. But as Senator [Hillary] Clinton said in her debates with you, we need to know the full extent of that relationship. He went on to claim that Obama had launched his political campaign in Mr. Ayers living room and that the Illinois senator chooses to associate with a guy who in 2001 said that he wished he had bombed more, and he had a long association with him.

Ayers once hosted an event for Obama early in the latters political career and they both served on the board of an anti-poverty group, the Woods Fund. Ayers contributed $200 to an Obama campaign in 2001.

Ayers, now an elementary education theorist and author of several works on the subject, left his radicalism behind him years ago. Like many of his generation, he slid back into liberal and community politics.

A private citizen, with no official position in the Democratic campaign, the former Weatherman has become the victim of a ferocious and cowardly assault, aimed at furthering McCains electoral ambitions. Ayers is coming under attack from people who have the enormous resources of the American state and media behind them.