# So, is "Bill Ayers" supposed to scare me? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [October 22, 2008, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-is-bill-ayers-supposed-to-scare-me/469021 "2008-10-22T04:59:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2008, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-is-bill-ayers-supposed-to-scare-me/469021/21 "2008-10-22T18:25:55Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > It makes McCain look like a cranky old fool who won’t stop calling the cops on his neighbor’s dog, even when it’s not the neighbor’s dog that’s barking. And then brings up the neighbor’s dog to the cashier at Lowe’s, and to the waitress at Cracker Barrel, and when he finds out the teacher at his grandson’s 3rd grade play is the sister of a police officer he asks the brother’s name so he can ask for him personally next time he needs to call about his neighbor’s dog. And the dog’s a Chihuahua Pekingese mix, incidentally. And he’s called the cops twice when it turned out the dog was in the kennel 8 miles away and the neighbors were in Hawaii. That was rather beautiful. ---
**Author:** ![Rand\_Rover](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/db5fbb/32.png) [@Rand\_Rover](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rand_Rover)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2008, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-is-bill-ayers-supposed-to-scare-me/469021/22 "2008-10-22T20:03:22Z")
Obama’s stated policy positions are scary enough not to vote for him. The Ayers ties are just shit icing on the turd cake. ---
**Author:** ![LouisB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dfb087/32.png) [@LouisB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LouisB)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2008, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-is-bill-ayers-supposed-to-scare-me/469021/23 "2008-10-22T20:37:02Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > If Helen Keller had starred in a production of _Midsummer Night’s Dream_ without benefit of rehearsal there’s no way she could have missed as many cues as McCain’s campaign that “Nobody gives a shit about Bill Ayers!” Yes, we get it- what he did was despicable, I probably wouldn’t like him- but Obama’s in politics and I seem to remember a saying that ends “strange bedfellows” that long predates Jim McGreevey. You’ve got Keating, Liddy, a whole grove of Bushes and personal scandals in your past- I don’t care about that either other than as “tu quoque” material. Talk about something that makes a damned bit of difference. > > Now if you had evidence _Obama_ blew up some buildings or even that he tried, that’s different. You don’t. Ayers is a Flower Power sell out, a deleted radical character from RENT who traded his militant stock for provocateur attention whore at the Gore Vidal Exchange Office when he got tired of running and inherited a lot of money, big fucking deal. > > It makes McCain look like a cranky old fool who won’t stop calling the cops on his neighbor’s dog, even when it’s not the neighbor’s dog that’s barking. And then brings up the neighbor’s dog to the cashier at Lowe’s, and to the waitress at Cracker Barrel, and when he finds out the teacher at his grandson’s 3rd grade play is the sister of a police officer he asks the brother’s name so he can ask for him personally next time he needs to call about his neighbor’s dog. And the dog’s a Chihuahua Pekingese mix, incidentally. And he’s called the cops twice when it turned out the dog was in the kennel 8 miles away and the neighbors were in Hawaii. Absolutely wonderful. If I could write like you, that’s all I would ever do. You could easily surpass Faulkner, IMHO. ---
**Author:** ![Beadalin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3be4f8/32.png) [@Beadalin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beadalin)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2008, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-is-bill-ayers-supposed-to-scare-me/469021/24 "2008-10-22T20:49:18Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > Ayers needs to denounce Obama and endorse McCain. > > It’s so very simple. That would be so fucking awesome. ---
**Author:** ![Gala\_Matrix\_Fire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/4da419/32.png) [@Gala\_Matrix\_Fire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gala_Matrix_Fire)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2008, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-is-bill-ayers-supposed-to-scare-me/469021/25 "2008-10-22T22:00:27Z")
How about if we call him Willie Ayers? Isn’t he more scary that way? Makes him sound kind of dusky. Like he might also be a black, Muslim, rapist, drug-addicted, foreign-born, socialist, flamboyant, wrong-thinking man. ---
**Author:** ![Carol\_the\_Impaler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Carol\_the\_Impaler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carol_the_Impaler)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2008, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-is-bill-ayers-supposed-to-scare-me/469021/26 "2008-10-22T22:12:11Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > If Helen Keller had starred in a production of _Midsummer Night’s Dream_ without benefit of rehearsal there’s no way she could have missed as many cues as McCain’s campaign that “Nobody gives a shit about Bill Ayers!” Don’t tell that to the pussies at [The University of Nebraska - Lincoln](http://omaha.com/index.php?u_page=1000&u_sid=10464990). They SWEAR they didn’t cancel his upcoming visit there due to political pressure. It’s because of security concerns. They _swear_. Read the letters to the editor on this, and you’d think that no one in this god-forsaken state seems to understand the irony of making terroristic threats against a terrorist. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2008, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-is-bill-ayers-supposed-to-scare-me/469021/27 "2008-10-22T22:13:45Z")
> [@Gala\_Matrix\_Fire](#): > > How about if we call him Willie Ayers? Isn’t he more scary that way? Makes him sound kind of dusky. Like he might also be a black, Muslim, rapist, drug-addicted, foreign-born, socialist, flamboyant, wrong-thinking man. Oooh, and can we find a way to work in the word “furlough” into our description of him? That’ll make a _good_ selling point. ---
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2008, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-is-bill-ayers-supposed-to-scare-me/469021/28 "2008-10-23T05:07:12Z")
> [@Tuckerfan](#): > > Oooh, and can we find a way to work in the word “furlough” into our description of him? That’ll make a _good_ selling point. Hell, yeah! Anybody got a photo of him in a revolving door? ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2008, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-is-bill-ayers-supposed-to-scare-me/469021/29 "2008-10-23T05:37:06Z")
Wait-no one was killed in the blast? So, basically, how was this guy any worse than Keating or Liddy? ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2008, 6:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-is-bill-ayers-supposed-to-scare-me/469021/30 "2008-10-23T06:00:41Z")
[http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Thousands\_of\_academics\_sign\_on\_to\_1022.html](http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Thousands_of_academics_sign_on_to_1022.html) It seems that academics find him a dedicated public servant and a scholar on education. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2008, 6:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-is-bill-ayers-supposed-to-scare-me/469021/31 "2008-10-23T06:16:03Z")
> [@Rand\_Rover](#): > > Obama’s stated policy positions are scary enough not to vote for him. The Ayers ties are just shit icing on the turd cake. You’re a double decker turd cake with triple chocolate icing. Your point? ---
**Author:** ![Aquila\_Be](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a698b9/32.png) [@Aquila\_Be](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aquila_Be)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2008, 6:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-is-bill-ayers-supposed-to-scare-me/469021/32 "2008-10-23T06:41:42Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > Your point? I suspect it was to get up your nose.🙂 ---
**Author:** ![LouisB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dfb087/32.png) [@LouisB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LouisB)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2008, 9:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-is-bill-ayers-supposed-to-scare-me/469021/33 "2008-10-23T09:41:54Z")
> [@Mollie\_Magill](#): > > Thought so. It’s about time _someone_ has admitted it. I didn’t admit a damn thing and if I did I didn’t mean it and wouldn’t have said it if the damned republican cops hadn’t beaten me until I wasn’t in my right mind. I’m not saying another word without my ACLU lawyer. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2008, 10:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-is-bill-ayers-supposed-to-scare-me/469021/34 "2008-10-23T10:42:13Z")
> [@LouisB](#): > > …If fact, if I hadn’t observed, I wouldn’t believe it. I’m quite certain there are many more hidden things you haven’t observed, which is good because they would have made your head assplode. ---
**Author:** ![Mollie\_Magill](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mollie_magill/32/20882_2.png) [@Mollie\_Magill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mollie_Magill)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2008, 12:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-is-bill-ayers-supposed-to-scare-me/469021/35 "2008-10-23T12:29:54Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > Wait-no one was killed in the blast? So, basically, how was this guy any worse than Keating or Liddy? The Weather Underground was setting bombs in order to frighten people to further a political agenda. That is the classic definition of Terrorist. In that sense, he was just as bad as Eric Rudolph. He was just lucky that no one got hurt. Now stop making it look like I’m defending G. Gordon Liddy. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2008, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-is-bill-ayers-supposed-to-scare-me/469021/36 "2008-10-23T17:07:56Z")
> [@Mollie\_Magill](#): > > The Weather Underground was setting bombs in order to frighten people to further a political agenda. That is the classic definition of Terrorist. > > In that sense, he was just as bad as Eric Rudolph. He was just lucky that no one got hurt. > > Now stop making it look like I’m defending G. Gordon Liddy. I didn’t say he wasn’t a terrorist. I just want to know why he’s so much worse than Liddy, or some of the other associates of any political candidate-Republican OR Democrat? Especially as Obama wasn’t nearly as closely involved with Ayers as McCain was with Keating. ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2008, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-is-bill-ayers-supposed-to-scare-me/469021/37 "2008-10-23T17:13:05Z")
> [@Long\_Time\_First\_Time](#): > > The best thing I heard this election came from a Red State Update (?) video - it’s two good 'ole boys opining about life and politics. One of the episodes was about why the Ayers scare thing wasn’t working. > > “Don’t you care that Obama began his political career in Ayers’ living room?” > “What the hell kind of terrorist has a living room?” Seems harmless .but I guess it is hard for people to understand how dangerous that was. Thank to Shodan for pointing out how scary that was and how it threatens us all. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2008, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-is-bill-ayers-supposed-to-scare-me/469021/38 "2008-10-23T17:19:14Z")
I’d also like to clarify that I’m not defending anything Ayers did-just trying to point out that: 1.) There seems to be a huge double standard-it’s not like politicians haven’t had some really shady associates in the past-hello, let’s not forget the Contras? 2.) People are acting like this guy is the second coming of Osama Bin Laden 3.) I don’t believe he and Obama are all that close friends, NOR were they even involved in the cause for which Ayers was sent to prison-when Obama was eight fucking years old? Wasn’t it local school board stuff? If Liddy can pay his debt to society, as McCain said, why not Ayers? Why is one okay and not the other? Double standard, again. That pisses me off. They don’t give a shit about Ayers-they’re just using him as an excuse to fling mud. And you’ll notice Obama hasn’t said one single word about Keating in reply-in which a HELL of a lot more people were harmed, if not physically, financially. ---
**Author:** ![Fish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/bc8723/32.png) [@Fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fish)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2008, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-is-bill-ayers-supposed-to-scare-me/469021/39 "2008-10-23T17:26:12Z")
Terrorist actually, terrorist, John McCain said he wasn’t terrorist concerned about some terrorist washed-up old terrorist terrorist, what he really terrorist wants is to make terrorist Obama terrorist admit to the full terrorist extent of their terrorist relationship terrorist terrorist terrorist. Did you know John McCain was a POW? ---
**Author:** ![Jenaroph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e8c25b/32.png) [@Jenaroph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jenaroph)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2008, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-is-bill-ayers-supposed-to-scare-me/469021/40 "2008-10-23T17:35:15Z")
> [@don\_t\_ask](#): > > [Here](http://www.wsws.org/articles/2008/oct2008/ayer-o17.shtml) is a view of Bill Ayers from someone with no time for Obama or McCain. Oooo, socialists! Now THAT’s scary. Poor McCain. Why in his day, if a politician had a cousin who had a coworker who shared a beer with a guy who once read a copy of _News & Letters_, why, that scoundrel would see his numbers drop like a rock as soon as the story broke. These days you can shout “COMMUNIST!” from the rooftops and nobody bats an eye. Kids these days, they’re not properly scared of the Red Menace anymore. What this country is coming to, I just don’t know. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-is-bill-ayers-supposed-to-scare-me/469021.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-is-bill-ayers-supposed-to-scare-me/469021.md?page=3)