Ayers Says Connection To Obama 'Exaggerated'

Former 1960s radical William Ayers says his past relationship with President-elect Barack Obama was often exaggerated during Obama's bid for the White House.

Ayers, a University of Illinois at Chicago professor, addressed students at Monmouth College in west-central Illinois Thursday.

He says references to him as a "terrorist" bothered him.

Obama was scrutinized for his ties to Ayers, who was a founder of the radical Weather Underground and once served on a school reform board with the president-elect.

Ayers says he maintained a low profile during the election. But has since appeared on ABC's "Good Morning America" and spoken in public.

Comments

[LMPE]

No matter what Yawn Hannity says about Bill Ayers, it's apparently not going to work. Whatever Ayers did, Hannity makes him look like Mother Teresa.

[demfriend]

So many things happened during and after the Vietnam War that many felt compelled to say and do. Some were shocking some were just words but too many people have family members in that war with the draft only the well off and those with connections like the goof warmongers we have in charge now go out alive and whole. There are Vietnam Vets who never came all the way home in body and spirit and MIAs and POWs who also were lost. McCain's time there and it's ending will carry question marks until the complete un redacted stories can/will be told. Too many were lost and we had a deseration that the middle east wars have not brought us due to the "volunteer" military and HBR being paid with militants making much more than our soldiers do. So Mr AYers and too many others did and said all they could to call attention to the lies and the manipulation and mostly the death tolls. Yeah I als am glad Mr Ayers waited until the election was over to speak up. But we knew the truth from Obama already it was Palin McCain and the GOP who lied.

[Kristen16]

I posted 2 comments earlier with links to very interesting Ayers-related items. Where are those comments? Is someone scrubbing comments that reflect a dislike of this man and his plans for America's children?

[ReHoover51]

and now will you sue sarah palin for slander / defamation so she can take a taste of what she spewed across america ...

[Kristen16]

Where are my comments?

[ReHoover51]

look lady just shut thef*ck up ... it took what it took to stop the vietnam war, and get nixon out of the white house ... ayers didnt kill anyone...nixon /kissenger were responsible for the last 20,000 american soldiers to die because they refused to meet with the VP of SOUTH vietnam ... 500,000 innocent humans were killed during the years they held off ... later, in a documentary, they admitted they didnt even know what the war was about ... so, shut the f*ck up - we see that you arent smart enough to understand this issue

[Kristen16]

Oh, I'm so sorry ReHoover. I didn't realize that only really, really smart ideologues are permitted to post remarks on Huff Post. Gosh. Forgive me.

Is it time to for afternoon kool-aid drink, yet?

[michyh]

A man who is one of our greatest gifts to education, let alone the courage it took to protest back then.
And showed great dignity and restraint while the bottom feeders of the country feasted as usual.
Hopefully the day will come when the bottom feeders fill their bellies and they explode into oblivion so the rest of us can live justly.

[IslandGyal]

Thank you Mr. Ayers for waiting to defend your name. The country is grateful.

[KrystynM]

We certainly are. I am so grateful that he didn't try and grab his 15 minutes of fame during the campaign, like Rev Wright did sadly. I read the entire sermons by Rev Wright and didn't find them to be offensive in any way (but hey, I'm a progressive liberal!) but when he came out and gave interviews and so on? THAT offended me.

Ayers cared more about America, Obama, and all that this election stood for than Rev Wright did.

Thank you Mr Ayers.

[DMW1]

I've always found it rather interesting that Reverend Wright, after displaying quiet dignity over the press video (which was actually several of his most controversial videos spliced together), suddenly spent a whole weekend making public appearances making more controversial statements. After being renounced by Obama, he disappeared until the end of the election.

My belief? He purposely made those statements to give Obama a legitmate reason to denounce him. I would not be surprised to learn that he threw himself under the bus to help Obama achieve the presidency. And if he did, he has my heartfelt thanks.

[Roxanna]

Ayers is an intelligent and thoughtful man. He remained silent throughout the campaign and has now come out to explain his side.

There is nothing wrong with that.

[dana94591]

I think Ayers has resurfaced!!!

[RossForChange]

Yes, we all know this. Can we stop talking about it?