What a Long, Strange Trip It’s Been-By Bill Ayers

[kpete]

Features > November 7, 2008
What a Long, Strange Trip It’s Been
Looking back on a surreal campaign season
By Bill Ayers

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On the campaign trail, McCain immediately got on message. I became a prop, a cartoon character created to be pummeled.

When Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin got hold of it, the attack went viral. At a now-famous Oct. 4 rally, she said Obama was “pallin’ around with terrorists.” (I pictured us sharing a milkshake with two straws.)

The crowd began chanting, “Kill him!” “Kill him!” It was downhill from there.

My voicemail filled up with hate messages. They were mostly from men, all venting and sweating and breathing heavily. A few threats: “Watch out!” and “You deserve to be shot.” And some e-mails, like this one I got from [e-mail]: “I’m coming to get you and when I do, I’ll water-board you.”

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more:
http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/4028/what_a_long_strange_trip_its_been

[ClayZ]

1. Mr. ClayZ sent this article to me earlier today!

What a long strange trip it has been..... for us all!

Ayres ( a long ago hero of mine )

Rev Wright, http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=TRINITYCHGO&view=videos seems to be "RIGHT ON" to me about most things.

I sometimes feel caught in a Conundrum, in the middle of a Paradox.

I like it!

"Patience young grasshopper", I remind myself, even though I am old!

K and R

[malaise]

2. Nice read

K & R

[AnnieBW]

3. Three Words:

Defamation of Character. Or maybe two - reckless endangerment.

If I were Bill Ayers, I'd be visiting a lawyer and suing John McCain, Sarah Palin, and the RNC to within an inch of their lives. He didn't ask to be brought into the campaign.

[Matariki]

4. Fantastic article.

And I applaud his political wisdom for waiting until after the election. What he has to say about the 60's is profound.

<snip>
The ’60s—as myth and symbol—is much abused: the downfall of civilization in one account, a time of defeat and humiliation in a second, and a perfect moment of righteous opposition, peace and love in a third.

The idea that the 2008 election may be the last time in American political life that the ’60s plays any role whatsoever is a mixed blessing. On the one hand, let’s get over the nostalgia and move on. On the other, the lessons we might have learned from the black freedom movement and from the resistance against the Vietnam War have never been learned. To achieve this would require that we face history fully and honestly, something this nation has never done.

[ipfilter]

7. Sounds like a smart guy to me.

[Sheets of Easter]

5. And what stuns me is that he acknowledged that he barely knew Obama,

yet that was not enough for these dicks.

[amber_86]

6. Thank you Mr. Ayers

Sorry that Nebraska wouldn't let you come and talk at UNL.