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"He Lied" About Bill Ayers?

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McCain: I'm John McCain and I approve this message.

Groundless, False, Dubious
We find McCain's accusation that Obama "lied" to be groundless. It is true that recently released records show half a dozen or so more meetings between the two men than were previously known, but Obama never denied working with Ayers.

Other claims are seriously misleading. The education project described in the Web ad, far from being "radical," had the support of the Republican governor and was run by a board that included prominent local leaders, including one Republican who has donated $1,500 to McCain's campaign this year. The project is described by Education Week as reflecting "mainstream thinking" about school reform.

Despite the newly released records, there's still no evidence of a deep or strong "friendship" with Ayers, a former radical anti-war protester whose actions in the 1960s and '70s Obama has called "detestable" and "despicable."

Even the description of Ayers as a "terrorist" is a matter of interpretation. Setting off bombs can fairly be described as terrorism even when they are intended to cause only property damage, which is what Ayers has admitted doing in his youth. But for nearly three decades since, Ayers has lived the relatively quiet life of an educator. It would be correct to call him a "former terrorist," and an "unapologetic" one at that. But if McCain means the word "terrorist" to invoke images of 9/11, he's being misleading; Ayers is no Osama bin Laden now, and never was.

McCain-Palin Web Ad: "Ayers"

Announcer: Barack Obama and domestic terrorist Bill Ayers. Friends. They've worked together for years.

But Obama tries to hide it. Why?
Obama launched his political career in Ayers' living room. Ayers and Obama ran a radical "education" foundation, together.

They wrote the foundation's by-laws, together. Obama was the foundation's first chairman. Reports say they "distributed more than $100 million to ideological allies with no discernible improvement in education."

When their relationship became an issue, Obama just responded, "This is a guy who lives in my neighborhood."

That's it?

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Member Comments

Posted By: margee @ 11/01/2008 5:22:43 PM

It is absurd for factcheck.org to take up for Obama at this point. I do not have to listen to McCain's ads either. The story has played out for the American people for quite some time now if you have been paying attention. I heard Wright's hate spewing from his mouth. I've heard the same hate from Ayers. I heard Obama say Wright was like one of his own family. Etc., Etc. on and on...the puzzle pieces all fit closely together and it is frightening. I am voting for McCain.
Posted By: FloridaGirlinJax @ 10/31/2008 4:08:02 PM

McCain and Palin should be charged with inciting possible riots and hate crimes. The hateful descriptive language Palin continuously uses to mislead the American Voters should be considered criminal. The misleading and false statements made by Palin in relation to Obama's association with the Annenberg Challenge and therefore with Bill Ayers, such as "Radical" and "Pals" around with ???Domestic Terrorists??? in concert with also using Obama???s middle name, is specifically intended to lead the public to a ill-logical conclusion that Obama then too must be a Domestic Terrorist. McCain and Palin better pray that their irresponsible language does not motivate some truly imbalanced conservative follower to do something truly Radical which the World shall forever regret. Obama is truly an inspiring man. McCain should be ashamed, very ashamed. McCain and Palin should be charged with Hate Crimes! AND TO JUST GAIN POWER. And they profess to be Christians! Obama is the true Christian, after all of there false accusation and name calling, he is the one who follows the teachings of Jesus Christ, who taught us to turn our cheek.
Posted By: VoterinPA @ 10/29/2008 4:34:21 PM

I just spoke with an Obama supporter. She was obviously unaware of the Florida journalist's question to Joe Biden because I asked if she agreed with the motto "From each according to his abilities, to each according to his needs". The Obama supporter said that she felt that this was "fair". Wake up America - the "shining city upon a hill whose beacon light guides freedom-loving people everywhere" is about to have a power outage.