Ysobelle
10-10-2008, 04:36 PM
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/fact-checker/2008/10/did_obama_lie_about_ayers.html
Obama and Ayers Friends?
ABOUT THE FACT CHECKER
"Comment is free, but facts are sacred." -- C.P. Scott, editor Manchester Guardian, 1921
Our goal is to shed as much light as possible on controversial claims and counter-claims involving important national issues and the records of the various presidential candidates.
CANDIDATE WATCH
Did Obama "lie" about Ayers?
"Obama's blind ambition. When convenient, he worked with terrorist Bill Ayers. When discovered, he lied. Obama. Blind ambition. Bad judgment."
McCain campaign video, October 10, 2008
A McCain campaign video released today hits the "guilt by association" theme that has become a prominent part of GOP attacks on Barack Obama during the final weeks of an increasingly vituperative presidential election campaign. It baldly accuses the Illinois senator of "lying" about his connection with Ayers, a former Weather Underground leader turned education professor. True or false?
The Facts
Bill Ayers has acknowledged that he was one of the leaders of a group known as the Weather Underground, which carried out a series of small-scale bombings at the Capitol and the Pentagon in 1970 and 1971 as a protest against the Vietnam War. He was charged with conspiracy to bomb, but the charges were dropped in 1974 because of prosecutorial misconduct. Over the last two decades, he has been better known in Chicago as an education expert, and it was in that role that he became acquainted with Obama in 1995. The two men served together on the board of an anti-poverty group, and Ayers contributed $200 to Obama's re-election campaign for the Illinois State Senate in 2001.
The McCain video--it does not appear to have aired anywhere as a commercial ad yet--says that Obama "worked with the terrorist Bill Ayers." A casual viewer might easily conclude that the connection between the two men dates back to the time when Ayers was involved in terrorist activities, which is not the case. As Obama frequently points out, he was eight years old when Ayers helped found the Weather Underground. The Illinois senator has repeatedly condemned the terrorist actions committed by Ayers and his fellow Weathermen.
Up until now, McCain has left the work of slamming Obama's "terrorist connection" to surrogates, particularly his running mate, Sarah Palin. Addressing a Florida campaign rally earlier this week, Palin depicted Obama as "someone who sees America as imperfect enough to pal around with terrorists who target their own country." McCain, by contrast, has preferred to raise questions about Obama's honesty and trustworthiness. Interviewed by Sean Hannity on Fox News on Thursday night, he said the following:
I think [Americans] should care about Senator Obama's truthfulness. I don't care much about an old terrorist and his wife who are still unrepentant...But the point is, it's not about them. It's about Senator Obama being candid and straightforward with the American people about their relationship. He has dismissed it by saying he was just a guy in the neighborhood. You know it's much more than that.
The claim that Obama "lied" about his relationship with Ayers rests on his response to a question from George Stephanopoulos of ABC News in a Democratic primary debate in Philadelphia on April 16. Invited to describe his relationship with Ayers, Obama played down its significance:
This is a guy who lives in my neighborhood, who's a professor of English in Chicago, who I know and who I have not received some official endorsement from. He's not somebody who I exchange ideas with on a regular basis. And the notion that somehow as a consequence of me knowing somebody who engaged in detestable acts 40 years ago when I was 8 years old, somehow reflects on me and my values, doesn't make much sense, George.
That statement can certainly be read as an attempt by Obama to minimize his dealings with a controversial figure. But it is hard to qualify it as a "lie," despite the inaccurate statement about Ayers being a professor of English. (He is a professor of education at the University of Illinois.) The New York Times got it right last week when it noted that the Illinois senator had "played down his contacts with Mr. Ayers, 63. But the two men do not appear to have been close. Nor has Mr. Obama ever expressed sympathy for the radical views and actions of Mr. Ayers."
The Pinocchio Test
The McCain campaign is distorting the Obama-Ayers relationship, and exaggerating their closeness. There is no evidence that Obama has "lied" about his dealings with Ayers. It would be more accurate to say that he "told the truth slowly," a regrettable but commonplace practice among politicians seeking to avoid embarrassing questions.
Obama and Ayers Friends?
ABOUT THE FACT CHECKER
"Comment is free, but facts are sacred." -- C.P. Scott, editor Manchester Guardian, 1921
Our goal is to shed as much light as possible on controversial claims and counter-claims involving important national issues and the records of the various presidential candidates.
CANDIDATE WATCH
Did Obama "lie" about Ayers?
"Obama's blind ambition. When convenient, he worked with terrorist Bill Ayers. When discovered, he lied. Obama. Blind ambition. Bad judgment."
McCain campaign video, October 10, 2008
A McCain campaign video released today hits the "guilt by association" theme that has become a prominent part of GOP attacks on Barack Obama during the final weeks of an increasingly vituperative presidential election campaign. It baldly accuses the Illinois senator of "lying" about his connection with Ayers, a former Weather Underground leader turned education professor. True or false?
The Facts
Bill Ayers has acknowledged that he was one of the leaders of a group known as the Weather Underground, which carried out a series of small-scale bombings at the Capitol and the Pentagon in 1970 and 1971 as a protest against the Vietnam War. He was charged with conspiracy to bomb, but the charges were dropped in 1974 because of prosecutorial misconduct. Over the last two decades, he has been better known in Chicago as an education expert, and it was in that role that he became acquainted with Obama in 1995. The two men served together on the board of an anti-poverty group, and Ayers contributed $200 to Obama's re-election campaign for the Illinois State Senate in 2001.
The McCain video--it does not appear to have aired anywhere as a commercial ad yet--says that Obama "worked with the terrorist Bill Ayers." A casual viewer might easily conclude that the connection between the two men dates back to the time when Ayers was involved in terrorist activities, which is not the case. As Obama frequently points out, he was eight years old when Ayers helped found the Weather Underground. The Illinois senator has repeatedly condemned the terrorist actions committed by Ayers and his fellow Weathermen.
Up until now, McCain has left the work of slamming Obama's "terrorist connection" to surrogates, particularly his running mate, Sarah Palin. Addressing a Florida campaign rally earlier this week, Palin depicted Obama as "someone who sees America as imperfect enough to pal around with terrorists who target their own country." McCain, by contrast, has preferred to raise questions about Obama's honesty and trustworthiness. Interviewed by Sean Hannity on Fox News on Thursday night, he said the following:
I think [Americans] should care about Senator Obama's truthfulness. I don't care much about an old terrorist and his wife who are still unrepentant...But the point is, it's not about them. It's about Senator Obama being candid and straightforward with the American people about their relationship. He has dismissed it by saying he was just a guy in the neighborhood. You know it's much more than that.
The claim that Obama "lied" about his relationship with Ayers rests on his response to a question from George Stephanopoulos of ABC News in a Democratic primary debate in Philadelphia on April 16. Invited to describe his relationship with Ayers, Obama played down its significance:
This is a guy who lives in my neighborhood, who's a professor of English in Chicago, who I know and who I have not received some official endorsement from. He's not somebody who I exchange ideas with on a regular basis. And the notion that somehow as a consequence of me knowing somebody who engaged in detestable acts 40 years ago when I was 8 years old, somehow reflects on me and my values, doesn't make much sense, George.
That statement can certainly be read as an attempt by Obama to minimize his dealings with a controversial figure. But it is hard to qualify it as a "lie," despite the inaccurate statement about Ayers being a professor of English. (He is a professor of education at the University of Illinois.) The New York Times got it right last week when it noted that the Illinois senator had "played down his contacts with Mr. Ayers, 63. But the two men do not appear to have been close. Nor has Mr. Obama ever expressed sympathy for the radical views and actions of Mr. Ayers."
The Pinocchio Test
The McCain campaign is distorting the Obama-Ayers relationship, and exaggerating their closeness. There is no evidence that Obama has "lied" about his dealings with Ayers. It would be more accurate to say that he "told the truth slowly," a regrettable but commonplace practice among politicians seeking to avoid embarrassing questions.