I have never seen such hypocrisy as that being demonstrated by Republican vice presidential candidate Governor Sarah Palin in her obviously coached attempts to link Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama with former Weather Underground fugitive William Ayers.
Not only was the Obama-Ayers connection a very loose and tenuous one, but neither was it a long-standing friendship or affiliation. Governor Palin would have us believe that Senator Obama was standing shoulder-to-shoulder with Ayers and other Weathermen during their violent acts in the 1960s and 1970s. Nothing could be further from the truth.The reality of the situation is two-fold.
First, Ayers was never convicted of any terrorist acts though he definitely espoused domestic terrorist views and slogans more than 40 years ago, and admitted participating in several bombings of government buildings back then. Lest we forget, Obama was just eight years old when Ayers was opposing the U.S. government’s role in the Vietnam War. Today, Ayers is a distinguished professor at the University of Illinois in Chicago, as well as a renowned national leader in fostering educational and social reform and in developing new techniques for teaching inner-city children.
Most importantly, and what neither Governor Palin nor Republican presidential candidate John McCain have ever pointed out, in 2001 Ayers published articles which renounced and condemned terrorism in all forms, but he again repeated such condemnations in 2004. Senator Obama has himself strongly denounced Ayers’s actions of 40 years ago.
The second reality, and where the true hypocrisy arises, is in the recent revelations that Governor Palin effusively praised the radical Alaskan Independence Party (AIP) and provided a welcoming video for its 2008 convention in Fairbanks, Alaska. In that tape, she emphasized the fact that she fully agreed with their political beliefs and activities and wished them luck in their political endeavors. In 1994, she attended the party’s convention, and in 2006, she delivered the keynote address at the AIP state convention while serving as mayor of her hometown, Wasilla. Her husband, Alaska’s “First Dude,” Todd Palin, was a member of AIP for more than seven years and only very recently resigned that membership. Governor Palin’s affiliations with the AIP were praised back then by its leaders, and even again today in a statement released by an AIP spokesperson in Alaska.
The Alaska Independence Party’s basic mantra calls for the state’s ultimate independence from the “colonial bureaucracy in Washington,” and declares the 1959 Alaska statehood illegal and in violation of the United Nation’s charter and international law. In other words, AIP is a secessionist organization advocating treason against our country, and Governor Palin seemingly supports its tenets and goals.
AIP founder and longtime leader Joe Vogler was an ardent anti-Americanist who renounced his allegiance to the United States in 1992, stating, “I’ve got no use for America or her damned institutions! The fires of Hell are frozen glaciers compared to my hatred for the American government.”
Interestingly, Vogler was killed in 1993 during an illegal buy of plastic explosives. Barely one year later, Sarah Palin attended the AIP convention! This was not something that happened while she was only eight years old.
But nothing has changed. Even current AIP chairperson Lynette Clark recently declared that Alaska should be independent from the United States. And, to date, Palin has never renounced the goals of AIP nor her close ties to it and its secessionist leaders, many of whom live in her hometown of Wasilla.
Isn’t it time that Governor Palin and her mentor, Senator McCain, be asked to explain this interesting conundrum? It would seem to me that Palin deserves to be held accountable for her own more obvious terroristic affiliations and told to stop trying to create phantom links between Obama and Ayers.
There’s been a lot of talk that putting lipstick on a pig does not change the fact that it is still a pig. But, I think the possibility of the American people buying a pig in a poke is an even more troubling analogy. Who is she, really?
Tom Parker retired from the Federal Bureau of Investigation as the assistant special agent in charge of the Los Angeles FBI office. Since that time, Parker has traveled the globe consulting on political asylum matters, internal corporate investigations, and human rights issues. He recently moved to
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For the record, I have no plans to vote for Obama or McCain.
Judging this article on face value, it makes a good case for acquitting Obama in the first part but them uses the same tactics it complains about in the second part.
Does the author bother to ask themselves *why* there is anti-Federal government feelings that run rife in Alaska? The history of the Feds is a two-edged sword in the fact that in the case of enforcing civil rights they had to do the right thing and step on those who felt equal rights only applied to White people. Since then however the Feds have used any excuse to come into people lives. I'm not saying whether Palin is right or wrong, but I'm saying that until people understand the underlying causes of the distrust people have for the Federal Government, and (God forbid!) actually allow these people to come into the media mainstream and debate their views, then we will only have one-sided hit pieces such as this presenting information, which as we all know, can be lies of omission.
billclausen (anonymous profile)
November 1, 2008 at 2:26 p.m. (Suggest removal)
B.C. ,surely you must acknowledge the difference between Mr. Parkers' personal observations of this hypocritical campaign centerpiece argument and presenting a known distortion to millions of gullible voters who wont take the time to educate themselves .
geeber (anonymous profile)
November 2, 2008 at 2:56 a.m. (Suggest removal)
First of all the only hypocrites here have been the democrats. Why is it that whenever Barack Bin Laden says something and he gets called on it his only response is "my words were taken out of context." I dont care what anyone says he is a dirty rotten politician. I cant believe that people are supporting this guy. He has friendships with bad people and that makes him just as bad. And what about this Khalidi guy. Why wont the LA times release that tape. It incriminates him thats why. Barack Bin Laden (and yes thats what i call him) is a terrorist. hes a communist and if he wins we so screwed.
muskette69 (anonymous profile)
November 3, 2008 at 11:34 a.m. (Suggest removal)
muskette69,
You need professional help. Clearly you don't have the mental capacity to make sound and reasoned choices in life my poor little demented friend.
DarNel (anonymous profile)
November 3, 2008 at 5:25 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Nice work Mr. Parker.
Herschel_Greenspan (anonymous profile)
November 3, 2008 at 6:46 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Nice work? I would say nice try. This is supposed to be equivalent to:
Ayers participated in the bombings of New York City Police Headquarters in 1970, the United States Capitol building in 1971, and The Pentagon in 1972, as he noted in his 2001 book, Fugitive Days. Ayers writes:
Although the bomb that rocked the Pentagon was itsy-bitsy - weighing close to two pounds - it caused 'tens of thousands of dollars' of damage. The operation cost under $500, and no one was killed or even hurt.[15]
Later in 1969, Ayers participated in planting a bomb at a statue dedicated to riot police casualties in the 1886 Haymarket Riot confrontation between labor supporters and the police.[11] The blast broke almost 100 windows and blew pieces of the statue onto the nearby Kennedy Expressway.[12] (The statue was rebuilt and unveiled on May 4, 1970, and blown up again by other Weathermen on October 6, 1970.[13][12] Rebuilding it yet again, the city posted a 24-hour police guard to prevent another blast.[12]) Ayers participated in the Days of Rage riot in Chicago in October 1969, and in December was at the "War Council" meeting in Flint, Michigan. Larry Grathwohl, an FBI informant in the Weatherman group from the fall of 1969 to the spring of 1970, stated that "Ayers, along with Bernardine Dohrn, probably had the most authority within the Weatherman".[14]
In 1973, the federal government requested the dismissal of the charges against the couple in the interest of national security following accusations of government misconduct,"
Much of the controversy about Ayers during the decade since 2000 stems from an interview he gave to The New York Times on the occasion of the memoir's publication.[23] The reporter quoted him as saying "I don't regret setting bombs" and "I feel we didn't do enough", and, when asked if he would "do it all again," as saying "I don't want to discount the possibility."
AShaw (anonymous profile)
November 4, 2008 at 9 a.m. (Suggest removal)
That was from one of the "voters who wont take the time to educate themselves", geeber.
AShaw (anonymous profile)
November 4, 2008 at 9:03 a.m. (Suggest removal)
We're screwed either way. It's all about imperialism abroad and more restrictions on rights at home and the masses play right into it by giving into their fears election after election.
Bush was a disaster and the "anybody but Bush" crowd got what they wanted in Obama. I wonder who they will elect next.
Like the classic song by The Who says "Meet the new boss, same as the old boss". Remember people: Imperialism and infringment on rights.
billclausen (anonymous profile)
November 4, 2008 at 11:45 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Thank God we will not have to hear any more about Ms. Palin and her crazy idealogy. It was like a bad tabloid story gone amok. Witchdoctors, exorcisms, Alaskan Independance Party, teen mothers .... The election proved that the American voters were able to make an adult choice for President.
Herschel_Greenspan (anonymous profile)
November 5, 2008 at 12:34 p.m. (Suggest removal)
ASHAW , I'm developing a respect for your willingness to back your opinions with logic although we most likely will always arrive at differing conclusions . Your storyline above details Mr. Ayers misdeeds( which Obama has denounced) however avoids any explanation of why Palins' ties to the A.I.P. should not bear equal scrutiny . That was my point - McCain / Palin with Fox News as their lapdog made Obamas' " terrorist ties " a campaign centerpiece while not addressing Palins' connection to the America hating A.I.P. . You can see where this leads by reading muskette69"s misguided diatribe above . Once again Ashaw , I compliment you while asking for all to come to center for the good of our Country .
geeber (anonymous profile)
November 5, 2008 at 4:02 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Why thank you geeb - guess it's all irrelevant now.
AShaw (anonymous profile)
November 6, 2008 at 3:25 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Some more for you All to think on.. WE Americans have now done it.. with Pen and the Price of (?) Dollars We sold out even more of our Freedoms..Not 100 years from the biggest Socialist election that got us here.1912-2008 With way too many laws that pad the wrong and hurt, not help the life of All Americans. From a Republic to Socialist and Now from Socialist to Commumist style AmeriKa..wait and see. And before you write, check out not what you heard only or read in the pass few months, but look thru Old history books and papers.Turn your eyes not to the movies but to the very old written papers. These 232 years not all as free as some would say, but better than what is now at our door. Check it out.
bsgraves (anonymous profile)
November 6, 2008 at 7:02 p.m. (Suggest removal)
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