William Ayers chats with reporters

While waiting for the Grant Park rally to begin, reporters knock on William Ayers’ door. The truth?

When he said he wished he’d “done more,” he didn’t mean “bombed more.” He wishes he’d been more unifying, more principled in his opposition to the Vietnam war. He barely knows Barack Obama.

clipped from www.newyorker.com He said that he laughed when he listened to Sarah Palin’s descriptions of Obama “palling around with terrorists.” In fact, Ayers said that he knew Obama only slightly: “I think my relationship with Obama was probably like that of thousands of others in Chicago and, like millions and millions of others, I wished I knew him better.” […] Ayers said that he had never meant to imply, in an interview with the Times, published coincidentally on 9/11, that he somehow wished he and the Weathermen had committed further acts of violence […] Instead, he said, “I wish I had done more, but it doesn’t mean I wish we’d bombed more[…] “While we did claim several extreme acts, they were acts of extreme radicalism against property,” he said. “We killed no one and hurt no one. Three of our people killed themselves.” And yet he was not without regrets […] “I wish I had been wiser,” Ayers said. “I wish I had been more effective, I wish I’d been more unifying, I wish I’d been more principled […]

In other words, the whole “palling around with terrorists” scare was Rove-style Politics 101.  Here’s hoping that those so ethically challenged awaken to the fact that most Americans declined to believe them.

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Tags: McCain, Palin, Ayers, GOP, Republican+smears, smears, William+Ayers, terrorists, palling, ethics, campaign, Monte Asbury

Obama family moves into house built by black slaves

From Eduardo Galeano of Uruguay, one of Latin America’s most celebrated writers.

clipped from www.democracynow.org EDUARDO GALEANO: Yes, yes. I’m worried about the repetition of this dangerous, toxic word, “leadership.” Eduardo Galeano [I]t’s usual to say, “We should recover our leadership in Latin America.” We don’t need any foreign leadership. Let it be. Let reality be as it wants to be, with no ruling state deciding the destiny of other countries. Please, no more. Stop with this tradition of the messianic mission of, you know, saving the world. No, it has been terrible during so many years, even centuries. No. Perhaps this crisis, this present crisis, so strong and terrible, may give something like a violent shower of realism and humility to this new government What I would most like to see? I would like that Obama, who has now tremendous, historic opportunity, that he never forgets that he’s now going inside the White House. The White House will be his house in the time coming, but this White House was built by black slaves. And I’d like, I hope, that he never, never forgets this.

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Tags: Galeano, Obama, White+House, slavery, race, racism, Latin+America, foreign+policy, USA+Latin+America, Obama+family, Obama+children, Monte Asbury

Spurned by Bush, Iran again offers talks

A sign of hope:  In Iran’s first congratulatory letter to an American president since 1979, Iranian President Ahmadinejad suggests the offer of talks made to President Bush (and spurned by him) might still be on the table for the president-elect.

clipped from www.democracynow.org Iranian President Congratulates Obama on Election Win Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has written Obama a congratulatory letter following his election win. It’s the first time since the 1979 Iranian revolution that an Iranian leader has congratulated the winner of an American presidential election. Obama has pledged to meet with Iranian leaders without preconditions. In his letter, Ahmadinejad suggests Iran would be open to talks with the United States in accordance with previous overtures that the Bush administration ignored. Ahmadinejad also writes that he hopes “the unjust actions of the past 60 years will give way to a policy encouraging full rights for all nations, especially the oppressed nations of Palestine, Iraq and Afghanistan.”

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Tags: Ahmadinejad, Iran, negotiations, Obama, Iraq, Afghanistan, Monte Asbury