Unable to challenge the content of Barack Obama's campaign, his opponents invented a narrative about a young politician who emerged from nowhere, a man of charm, intelligence and skill, but with an exotic background and a strange name. The refrain was a question: "What do we really know about this man?"
...
I was cast in the "unrepentant terrorist" role; I felt at times like the enemy projected onto a large screen in the "Two Minutes Hate" scene from George Orwell's "1984," when the faithful gathered in a frenzy of fear and loathing.
This happened a lot during the campaign. Reverend Wright, Tony Rezko (that one never really did catch on), and towards the end, Barack Obama himself - they were yelling, "Kill him!"
And it's happened a lot in our society, both under Bush and more broadly. A government spying on its citizens. A country in constant, often meaningless war. When Osama Bin Laden's face flashes on screen, it's almost a literal Two Minutes of Hate.
How does this get changed? Ayers has his solution:
With the mainstream news media and the blogosphere caught in the pre-election excitement, I saw no viable path to a rational discussion. Rather than step clumsily into the sound-bite culture, I turned away whenever the microphones were thrust into my face. I sat it out.
Can Obama move us away from 1984-style governance? I really hope so. But as Ayers says, this stuff - suspicion, sound bites, hatred, violence - it's part of our culture. Moving away from an incurious, reactionary culture towards something else is more than one man can do in a lifetime. And besides, this change can't really be legislated - it's going to take every one of us, individually.
I'm not saying we should move backwards and use cultures of the past as our models - technology and modernity have forever closed off that route - but we should move somewhere new. And I'm not saying this process hasn't started already. The day after the election, K Street in Washington DC (where I work) just felt different.
Still, there's a long way to go and I'm not sure the Ayers solution, sitting it out, is really appropriate for everyone. We're part of this country and this culture whether we like it or not. So, what else can be done?
Bob Schieffer of CBS, a journalist I have some respect for (although his Texas-born partiality to W. emerged now and then over the years), is moderator for the third and final debate tonite. Everyone is wondering how McCain will bring his promised "Bill Ayers" attack to the floor.
I saw a T-shirt yesterday that read "Bill Ayers - Who Cares?" Apparently McCain does. However, the debate rules, unless they are violated all around, will probably work against any kind of sustained attack with no follow-up questions, etc. Both sides, but especially the Republicans, worked hard to keep these debates as non-debate-ish as possible, and McCain (and Obama) may regret it afterward.
If Schieffer spends as much time tonite as Brokaw did insisting on the rules, this could be another potentially boring event.
The tale is true. Names were changed to protect the innocent.
Last evening Mister Gregory had a chance to speak to Mister Fairbanks of the issue. "Who is Barack Obama?" Barry thought he might introduce the topic delicately. The two men were in a car together. They had traveled across the country to meet with school Principals, Superintendents, and other professional educators. The hour was late, and dinner was on the agenda.
As the gents drove to the restaurant, Barry began the conversation; "Just as Barack Obama might not have known Bill Ayers background, who would think someone in this car was a member of SDS, Students for a Democratic Society?" Sean smiled and quickly replied, "I would." He then revealed that he was in fact a member of the largest and most influential radical student organization of the 1960s. The devout Republican, a man who might represent the Corporate Class belonged to an organization, which was "initially concerned with equality, economic justice, peace, and participatory democracy." Sean recounted stories. He told tales of his participation in anti-war protests. Mister Fairbanks helped to close his college. Sean showed "determined resistance," he was a radical, a rebel. He could be considered a less visible, and less violent, Bill Ayers.
by Carl Nyberg, Fri Oct 10, 2008 at 09:27:51 AM EDT
Kevin Drum seems to worry that John McCain will take the bait and challenge Obama about Bill Ayers.
I guess the Obama folks figure there are three things that could happen. First, McCain does nothing and ends up looking like a coward. Second, their taunts get under McCain's skin so badly that he goes over the edge and does something really stupid. Third, McCain takes the bait and decides to bring up Ayers at the next debate.
The first two possibilities are obviously good for Obama. And the third? I guess they must be really sure they have a dynamite response ready in case McCain decides to unload next Wednesday.
I don't see the Ayers question as particularly difficult to answer.
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