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Originally Posted by khronik
Well, Bill Ayers didn't kill or injure anyone, which is why he's a professor and not an inmate today.
He directly may not have participated but he was involved which makes him an accomplice. Why do you defend this man so adamantly?
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It's possible for people to change, you know.
It is possible for people to change, but Bill Ayers has been quoted as saying that he does not regret what he did.
No Regrets for a Love Of Explosives; In a Memoir of Sorts, a War Protester Talks of Life With the Weathermen - New York Times
From that article:
'I don't regret setting bombs,'' Bill Ayers said. ''I feel we didn't do enough.''
I believe the following is from his book, I also pulled it out of the article above:
''Everything was absolutely ideal on the day I bombed the Pentagon,'' he writes. But then comes a disclaimer: ''Even though I didn't actually bomb the Pentagon -- we bombed it, in the sense that Weathermen organized it and claimed it.'' He goes on to provide details about the manufacture of the bomb and how a woman he calls Anna placed the bomb in a restroom. No one was killed or injured, though damage was extensive.
You see here he acknowledges that he did have some role in this.. directly or indirectly he bares responsibility just for simply being a part of that organization.
Why do you defend him so adamantly?
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Tony Rezko - donated to a lot of political campaigns. Obama was a state senator at that time and needed all the help he could get, plus there weren't any corruption charges surrounding him at the time. Even during the corruption charges, Obama was never suspected of any wrongdoing.
Let's make some excuses for Obama. Tony Rezko may not have had any corruption charges but his name wasn't exactly unknown. He has had a history of owning housing that is below code. Why would any up and coming politician want to recruit someone like this. It would just come back to haunt him. This is a perfect example of "whatever to do to get elected.". Once elected into office Obama helped Tony Rezko get government money to build more sub par housing.
So we have Bill Ayers... sure let's give the man 1 free pass. Everyone has a unsavory person in their life but here we have two people that Obama welcomed into his life.
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Jim Johnson - was picked because he had experience on John Kerry's VP vetting team. This guy didn't do anything wrong. He got a good deal on a loan and that's it. Supposedly, loans like that are very common among people who have a lot of income and are virtually guaranteed of not defaulting. And even still, Obama made him leave the team when he found out.
So there is nothing wrong with getting preferential treatment DIRECTLY from the CEO of Countrywide? You don't see anything fishy with that? It's not like he just got a good rate. Furthermore Jim Johnson used to be the head of Fannie Mae.
Also they say that Jim Johnson did not take just 1 loan, but 5 real estate loans totalling about 7 million. Now I don't care how many mortgages you get, but it's fairly obvious due to his old position, and the fact that he's getting preferential treatment that something is up.
Legally nothing wrong may have been done but there is a Moral problem here.
So again we see the type of people Obama surrounds himself with.
That's 3 shady people that have emerged out of his life that he has current ties to.
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William Wright - the only one of these "connections" that Obama actually did have a close connection to. But Wright isn't corrupt, just a little crazy. The guy is actually pretty admirable when you look at some of his accomplishments. He was a Marine surgeon during Vietnam, and was part of a team that operated on Lyndon Johnson. He became a preacher and activist after the war. The reason Obama joined his congregation was mostly because of his church's history of activism. Oh yeah, and it's the same church that Oprah went to. Wright was part of the old-guard civil rights movement, which probably made him a little racist, but that doesn't necessarily transfer to Obama. My mom and grandparents are a little racist, having lived in Cleveland, Ohio during the race riots. But it's not the core of who they are, and I imagine the same holds true for Wright.
You're right.. it doesn't transfer to Obama and I completely agree. I do not think Obama is a racist, but I question when someone says "GOD DAMN AMERICA" and constantly bashes the country that we live in... why would you stay there? Why would you stay in a church that maintains such hostility for the nation it lives in?
That just seems like a deal breaker. Church should be about worship and prayer etc etc. Since when was Church a venue for semi-quasi political rallies daming your own home country?
Personally me.. especially if I was a politician.. I would've darted out that door. But then again I don't believe in his particular form of brain washing.... also I won't stand for someone to bash my country. I admit we have our problems, but to paint us as the enemy of the world. I won't stand for it. I imagine if you're a politician your constituents probably wouldn't stand for it either.
So that's 4 people he surrounded himself with.
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Couldn't the fact that he comes from a city that is known for being corrupt, be the reason that he has associated with several shady people? I mean, trying to be a politician in Chicago without associating wish shady characters is kind of like trying to shovel manure without getting any on your clothes. Ok, bad metaphor, but still, despite where he came from, Obama has never even been a suspect in any corruption charges. You have to admit, he's done a pretty good job of keeping his hands clean.
Indeed it could be, but you would think a person who preaches a sermon to America of Hope and change would be above the corruption. You would think they would seek to put down these corrupters whose deeds only hurt the American citizens. For someone who says "Change you can believe in" you would think that he would exemplify that through action. I am really baffled how you can use Chicago's own corruption as a means to Defend Obama.
And you know it's very easy to keep your hands clean when you don't do anything. Show me how many pieces of major legislation this man has written. Show me how many bills he's supported and advocated for. It's nothing against him, he honestly just hasn't done much and it's not like I fault him for it. He's been in office only a short time.