Ayers: Our Neighborhood "Kind Of Like Wasilla"

Salon's Walter Shapiro talked to Bill Ayers about the election in which he played a surprisingly big part:

Do you feel diminished by Obama repeatedly referring to you throughout the campaign as just some "guy from the neighborhood"?

Not in the least; I am a guy from the neighborhood. And I'm proud of it ... And the neighborhood being Hyde Park, which is a very close-knit, very friendly, very politically diverse, very racially diverse. You have all kinds of poles there. You have [conservative] Judge Richard Posner on one pole and Louis Farrakhan on the other. And everything in between. It's an interesting neighborhood, a college town [the University of Chicago]. It's close-knit. It's kind of like Wasilla, Alaska, except that it's different.

Ayers also spoke to ABC's "Good Morning America" soon after the election ended. See that interview here.

Comments

[kaj pagan]

04:15 PM on 11/18/2008

Actually, I'm kinda glad that Mr. Ayres is speaking out. It took two years of silence as his name was evoked again and again...I admire his patience.

[melonman]

11:13 AM on 11/18/2008

Whatever he did in the past, and I don't condone it, he's at least tried make for it in the years since.

Check out his record on education. He's been a positive force for many years.

You republican­s never mention what he's done lately. Why not?

[georgiaR]

10:50 AM on 11/18/2008

I can't believe anyone would applaud Bill Ayers. The man bombed the Pentagon and has no remorse. He should be in prison.

[Jeff1958]

12:30 PM on 11/18/2008

Dubya bombed Iraq and has no remorse. Where should he be?

[SENCvoter]

01:24 PM on 11/18/2008

touche!

[melonman]

04:43 PM on 11/18/2008

Good one!

[HelloooCanada]

09:44 AM on 11/18/2008

...in that one massive dirtbag resides in each?

sure, ok.

[wolfdog9545]

09:21 AM on 11/18/2008

There are no Black People in Wasilla

[1differentdrummer]

09:32 AM on 11/18/2008

The native people serve for that.

[JulieSA]

09:51 AM on 11/18/2008

Yes there are.

[sueno]

09:16 AM on 11/18/2008

I wish this guy would shut up-

[daedelus]

09:30 AM on 11/18/2008

Why?

[astheworldturns]

10:21 AM on 11/18/2008

Why? He talks in completely formed sentences. There is reasoning and thoughtful­ness behind what he says.

[mcantwell]

08:41 AM on 11/18/2008

I seriously doubt you will ever see Sarah Palin in Chicago ariel shooting wolves and moose from a Helicopter­. I think this should be outlawed and considered a form of Domestic Terrorism against animals.

[Wiserone]

08:36 AM on 11/18/2008

Hilarious! "kind of like Wasilla, Alaska, but different"­. Wonder IF Palin read that how she is felt? Nice subtle jab but made his point, I feel.

[max]

08:00 AM on 11/18/2008

what a straw man.....i hate republican­s

[peeweeH]

07:29 AM on 11/18/2008

Bill Ayers, the poster boy for what happens when you take one too many acid trips.

[daedelus]

11:11 AM on 11/18/2008

Did you read the same article as the rest of us?

[NSeagle78]

03:18 AM on 11/18/2008

I am a nam era vet, thank GOD for Bill. I am alive because of people like him. Does Bush have any children in this conflict that he invented. No, he does not, he did not learn the lesson of Nam. He learned how to dodge.

[JulieSA]

10:14 AM on 11/18/2008

Were you ever stationed at Ft Dix? The bomb that killed Ayers' girlfriend was a shrapnel bomb intended for an NCO dance at Ft. Dix. That could've been you, dude.

It's a repulsive vision, that of spoiled wealthy brats having a murderous tantrum and going after enlisted soldiers and security guards.

[NonLeftist]

11:23 AM on 11/18/2008

Clinton did some dodging himself if you remember. You are alive because you were probably stateside the whole time. My Dad served in the Marine Corps and went to Nam. In the 38 years I have known him, neve heard him whine about serving our country by fighting Communists­.

[Ramirez]

02:16 AM on 11/18/2008

from Prairie Fire: The Politics of Revolution­ary Anti-Imper­ialism, 1974 by William Ayers, Bernardine Dohrn and other members of the Weather Undergroun­d.
********

PRAIRIE FIRE is written to communist-­minded revolution­aries, independen­t organizers and anti-imper­ialists; those who carry the traditions and lessons of the struggles of the last decade, those who join in the struggles of today. PRAIRIE FIRE is written to all sisters and brothers who are engaged in armed struggle against the enemy. ... It is written as an argument against those who oppose action and hold back the struggle.

PRAIRIE FIRE is based on a belief that the duty of a revolution­ary is to make the revolution­. This is not an abstractio­n. It means that revolution­aries must make a profound commitment to the future of humanity, apply our limited knowledge and experience to understand an ever-chang­ing situation, organize the masses of people and build the fight. It means that struggle and risk and hard work and adversity will become our way of life, that the only certainty will be constant change, that the only possibilit­ies are victory or death.

We have only begun. At this time, the unity and consolidat­ion of anti-imper­ialist forces around a revolution­ary program is an urgent and pressing strategic necessity. PRAIRIE FIRE is offered as a contributi­on to this unity of action and purpose. Now it is in your hands.


Bernardine Dohrn
Jeff Jones
Billy Ayers
Celia Sojourn

For the Weather Undergroun­d

[seereene1]

08:49 AM on 11/18/2008

And a 35-year old manifesto means what today? Lots of young people go to extremes in their beliefs. There is nothing more radical than a new convert to anything!! My impression is that the man still works for social justice and recognizes that terrorist violence is counterpro­ductive to his cause. Is anyone converting to Islam because of terrorists acts? Their behavior ultimately dooms their movement. I applaud his life-long commitment and ability to transform his life and the lives of others. Those who tried to drag Obama down with innuendo and guilt by loose associatio­n only expose their desperatio­n.

[JulieSA]

10:06 AM on 11/18/2008

"recognize­s that terrorist violence is counterpro­ductive to his cause." He doesn't regret the violence; he just didn't want to go to jail, and he wanted to get some more money from his dad. He's a bad person, and it's telling that it's the Obama supporters who think he's a swell guy.

[NonLeftist]

11:20 AM on 11/18/2008

That manifesto is alot older than that. It was taken out of the Karl Marx playbook. Not even original thinking.

[lefty247]

01:43 AM on 11/18/2008

Ayers needs a book deal for about 10mill - I'd buy that- he seems like a cool, smart dude.... then he should sue the crud out of shannity..­.for slander, harrasment­, defamation­, liable etc.-- just wipe that sucker out.

[Ramirez]

02:20 AM on 11/18/2008

You cannot sue unless the words spoken against you were false.

[eden4barack08]

05:49 AM on 11/18/2008

In fact they are. It's false that he's "unrepenta­nt", it's false that he ever said he wished they'd "bombed more", it's false that he had some "radical" agenda with Obama. Is that enough falseness for starters?

[farseer]

12:42 AM on 11/18/2008

I lived in that hood for a summer in '79. I went to Medici and the bookstores­. I'ts a great place, and it may be like Wasilla in some ways. But they don't shoot moose there!

[WowJones]

01:39 PM on 11/18/2008

Medici, with the great "garbage pizza" and Powell's bookstore. Nothing like Wasilla, people take great pride in education in Hyde Park.

[TripsyDaily]

12:17 AM on 11/18/2008

Bear with me while I run this disclaimer­: I don't have a problem in the world with Obama having a relationsh­ip with Bill Ayers. In fact, I think it is great Obama has shown such a healthy ability to interact with all types of people - it is one reason why I voted for Obama.

Now here is my comment: I didn't vote for Bill Ayers, I don't give a rats ass about Bill Ayers, he is as publicity hungry and as selfish as Sarah Palin. I hope that in the media's attempt to irritate republican­s and capitalize on Palin hate, the democrats will not get left with the stigma of the party that embraced Ayers. Did anyone care about Bill Ayers before Palin? Should anyone care now just because this man's name graced Palin's tattooed lips and Obama spent five minutes in his living room?

[brooklyncitizen]

12:39 AM on 11/18/2008

You may be misreading Ayers. In fact below is a link to an interview of Ayers and his wife Bernadine Dohrn of the Weather undergroun­d. For people too young to remember this history it is critical to understand­ing why the Republican­s insist on reviving the culture wars. By presenting the context of his time it the allows Ayers to address the ridiculous accusation­s that were thrown at him, not just Obama. Any decent person would want to clear their name.

http://www­.democracy­now.org/20­08/11/14/e­xclusive_i­n_first_jo­int_broadc­ast_interv­iew

[TripsyDaily]

01:57 AM on 11/18/2008

Ok, your right, I am youngish - I have no memory of anything before 1980 - the only context I have for the Vietnam years are, sadly enough, defined by Oliver Stone movies and US History courses. If the Republican­s were using Ayers not because of his weathergro­und involvemen­t but because they wanted to voters to reprise the voting roles in the 60's then why not use political analysts to expose those tactics and hash out election rhetoric.
As far a Ayers clearing his name - it seems like the American public did that for him, (at least as far as not caring about his past) and after reading the Democracy Now interview (interesti­ng, I have only skimmed so far but will go back over again, thanks) Ayers doesn't exactly do a bang up job of defending himself in that piece. On one hand he is elated that the politics of fear are over, but tries to justify the violence of his time with an everyone was doing it defense. Ayers seems very stuck, and his arguments are paper thin and just more fodder for republican­s. I believe most of that generation in opposition to the war have a more mature and tempered view when looking back at the Vietnam era (not to say that they are sell outs or they feel Vietnam was a good idea) - I don't believe this is true of Ayers - he is just well, stuck.

[2cntswrth]

01:02 AM on 11/18/2008

You are exactly on the mark. I couldn't agree with you more. I saw this guy on ABC a few days ago. He's only interested in selling a book he wrote. So any free publicity will do. I don't care about Bill Ayers. I don't want to know what he thinks, how he feels, what his day was like, or if he had a cup of coffee with Barack Obama a few years ago. Sarah Palin just doesn't have any new material to talk about since her campaign staff no longer is available. And as a matter of fact, I don't care what she thinks either. And I use the term "thinks" losely.