The pundits are having a heyday with Hillary Clinton's sleazy McCarthyite attack on Barack Obama during the April 16 debate, trying to link him to the Weather Underground because of his having served on a charity organization board with one of the Weathermen, Bill Ayers, who is currently a distinguished professor of education at the University of Illinois, and who is married to Bernadine Dohrn, another Weather Underground veteran.
What has them in a lather is Ayer's comment, made a few years ago, that he has no regrets for the organization's having set off several bombs back in the early 1970s, and that in fact they "should have set of more." (Incidentally, as Robert Parry notes, those comments were made before 9-11, not, as Hillary Clinton charged duplicitously in the April 16 Philadelphia debate, right after 9-11.)
In fact, it's important to remember that while three members of the Weather Underground died at their own hands because of a failed bomb they were constructing, no one else died at their hands. The group scrupulously worked to make sure that their attacks were on property, not people.
It's also important to remember that they were targeting a government that was engaged in a criminal war against a peasant country half a world away, that had killed nearly two million Indochinese people, most of them civilians, and that was well on the way to pointlessly sending 58,000 American troops to their deaths.
The actions of the Weather Underground may have been misguided and quixotic, but they were not terrorists in the sense of trying to cause mass terror among the American public, in the way that Al Qaeda terrorists or other terror groups indiscriminately attack civilians. They were much more carefully targeting the levers of power, and in effect, trying to "bring the war home."
While many in the anti-war movement condemned the actions of the Weather Underground, I would argue that they, like the militant Black Panthers, performed an invaluable role by sending a loud, clear message to the nation's ruling elite that if they continued the war, things would get worse at home.
Their actions made the peaceful mass protests against the Indochina War far more potent, because they forced the ruling elite in the US to have to ponder what would happen if those masses turned to the same kind of violent measures against them.
Ayers has long since earned the nation's respect, whatever one may think of his youthful radicalism, by devoting his life to the challenge of helping educate those who have a hard time breaking the cycle of poverty and ignorance, which makes it obscene to criticize Obama for sharing a boardroom with him (Obama was 8 when Ayers was in the Weathermen back in 1970).
But Ayers and his comrades should also be honored for having been willing to go the extra mile and put their lives on the line to end a criminal war.
We could use that kind of courage and militancy today in the anti-war movement--not in the form of another underground bombing campaign, but certainly in the form of a willingness put our bodies on the line to blockade and undermine an American imperial war machine that has chewed up the lives of tens of thousands of young Americans and killed over a million innocent Iraqis.
Five years into a war with no end in Iraq, it's clear that just going about our business, and making periodic marches along the boulevards of Washington, New York or San Francisco is not enough. ________ DAVE LINDORFF is a Philadelphia-based journalist. His latest book is “The Case for Impeachment” (St. Martin’s Press, 2006, and now available in paperback edition). His work is available at www.thiscantbehappening.net
http://www.thiscantbehappening.net
Dave Lindorff, a columnist for Counterpunch, is author of several recent books ("This Can't Be Happening! Resisting the Disintegration of American Democracy" and "Killing Time: An Investigation into the Death Penalty Case of Mumia Abu-Jamal"). His latest book, coauthored with Barbara Olshanshky, is "The Case for Impeachment: The Legal Argument for Removing President George W. Bush from Office (St. Martin's Press, May 2006). His writing is available at http://www.thiscantbehappening.net
Right on! Right on! RIGHT effin' ON! (Punching my clenched fist in the air...)
Thank you for pointing this out and bringing some much needed perspective to this issue.
The last time I checked, folks who were willing to risk EVERYTHING, put their lives and their futures on the line to fight against an out- of-control tyrannical, murderous, outlaw regime were called "patriots," "freedom fighters" and "heros."
History has shown that the regime which controlled the "American" agenda in the sixties engaged in a long list of illegal activities, not only to have and continue their war in SE Asia, raking in immense profits but also to stifle dissent and civil liberties here at home. They murdered numerous leaders, politicians and public figures. They lied, dissembled and distorted the facts to cover their activities. The Pathers and Weatherman (among others) who fought against those traitors and outlaws in public office were the real Amerian heros of the era. We need that sort of altruism and motivation now more than ever. Alas.
Thank you for that perspective!
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mrk * (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 296 comments)
on Thursday, April 17, 2008 at 6:36:43 PM
THANK YOU, Dave, for saying what too many of us who understand what the underground was trying to accomplish, for saying what we are frightened of saying aloud in this current era.
How does Ayers compare with one singer "decider" who has the blood of one singe Iraqi child on his hands? That was my youth, and I'm calmer now, but for a moment You make me want to run to the nearest skyscraper, fly to the top, and say, "Wake Up, World!"
Leigh Saavedra
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Leigh Saavedra (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 1 comments)
on Thursday, April 17, 2008 at 8:03:20 PM
And thus I watched through the years for her to use her credit card. Somewhere I read that her dad, who owned a cartage company in Milwaukee (best I remember) gave her one as mad money. And the stories of her coming back to her own name mentioned it. The University of Chicago in those days was thought of as a thinking person's school. Obama speaks of it in this way now.
Radical chic, they called it. The kind that had Lennie Bernstein giving parties attended by some of the Panthers. I wonder if the "Others" like Hillary whose political start is well catalogued really understand what was happening at the 68 convention. Curious how Tom Hayden enjoys recognition for political understanding. Curiouser still, how Bobby Rush had to reveal the secret of Chicago politics before Barack Obama got his start. And the up there in the comfortable northern suburbs came Hillary who has zigged and zagged into political philosophy.
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Margaret Bassett (21 articles, 1354 quicklinks, 28 diaries, 812 comments)
on Thursday, April 17, 2008 at 8:45:51 PM
After law school, in 1969, she clerked for a Commie lawfirm in San Francisco that defended Angela Davis, Huey Newton, and a bunch of other Panthers, as well as many other left causes, including war resisting soldiers. So she knew what was going on. In fact, she hung with people who were at least as dangerous to the "System" as was Ayers, but she doesn't talk about it--and in fact left it out of her autiohagiography.
Those who disown their pasts are not to be trusted with the present or, especially, with the future.
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Dave Lindorff (319 articles, 0 quicklinks, 1 diaries, 152 comments)
on Thursday, April 17, 2008 at 9:23:43 PM
In the name of peace? You're out of your wannabe terrorist mind! SHAME ON YOU! How about driving the speed limit? There are so many things activists for peace CAN DO everyday, like driving the speed limit. I can't believe you;'re endorcing what the WU did. They were what ending PEACE LOVE and FLOWER POWER!
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Jeanette Doney (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 6 diaries, 304 comments)
on Thursday, April 17, 2008 at 9:31:21 PM
I said maybe we shouldn't be bombing, but we need to do something more militant than just marching every few months.
I said the Weather Underground's campaign was quixotic and opposed by most in the peace movement, but I alsoi said it was not terrorism as we know it, since it was not aimed at terrorising the people. It was aimed at government property. And I said that it empowered the peace movement, by making it seem scarier to the authorities, since they had to worry that it could move to a more violent strategy, as that being espoused by the Weatherpeople...and the Panthers.
I stand by that.
If we had such an underground today you can bet that Washington would be taking our mass marches more seriously too, instead of ignoring them, just as they'd take us more seriously if we stormed the White House gates and occupied the front lawn, or if we took over the Pentagon parking lot and made it impossible for the staff to come to work.
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Dave Lindorff (319 articles, 0 quicklinks, 1 diaries, 152 comments)
on Thursday, April 17, 2008 at 9:46:09 PM
"Ayers has earned respect... They should be honored..."
Bull puckey. Nobody I know who has a modicum of decency and common sense would give honor or respect to such people. Here's a thought: Remenber that there were a handful of anti-abortion nuts who successfully bombed clinics without actually killing anybody? Are you going to refrain from calling them terrorists? I'm not.
ELF. ALF. Abortion clinic bombers. Weather Underground. I will call them all terrorists.
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Scott (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 415 comments)
on Thursday, April 17, 2008 at 11:58:45 PM
I am not defending bombings that kill people, but I am pointing out that there is a difference between targeting people, and targeting a criminal government. The Weather Underground targeted the Pentagon and Congress, and was careful to make sure no individuals would be injured. The goal of the Weather Underground was not to terrorize people, but rather to bring the war to the government. The abortion bombers very definitely wanted to frighten people--the doctors and nurses who work in abortion clinics, and the women who need those clinics. That is classic terrorism. Even if they bomb those clinics at night, they are trying to scare people who work at those clinics. The rhetoric of the anti-abortion bombers has been that those who perform abortions are mass murderers, and they never express any concern about injuring them. So I'd say this was classic terror.
Still, I don't support bombing. I'm just saying that what the Weather Underground did at the time that they did it, actually strengthened the impact of the peaceful anti-war movement, even as the movement condemned the bombing campaign.
That's simply a fact.
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Dave Lindorff (319 articles, 0 quicklinks, 1 diaries, 152 comments)
on Friday, April 18, 2008 at 9:33:39 AM
Re: In Praise of Bill Ayers and the Weather Underground
Scott:
This respect and decency which you speak, does that also apply to Senator John McCain? Americans should be giving praise to a man for flying an A-4 Skyhawk dropping laser-guided missiles on the Indochinese people, killing and maiming untold innocent men, woman and children!
So let us not praise this man. Heck no! Why, we'll simply let him run for president of the United States. Makes sense, doesn't it Scott?
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Munich (0 articles, 53 quicklinks, 12 diaries, 736 comments)
on Friday, April 18, 2008 at 2:12:35 AM
I write some pretty heavy articles at times, and I have attempted, on numerous occasions to organize people and the Progressive/Liberal sites to band together in solidarity. Guess what I receive from the "government" for my efforts?
I live in Northern Georgia, and obviously, if you do a visual trace on my IP address, naturally it should indicate that I'm posting from Georgia.
NOT!
For reasons that BellSouth/AT&T refuse to answer or resolve, my personal traffic has been routed through a special data center in Miami, Florida. Yes, I have evidence that is easy for all to see. I use three (3) tracking program on my site, and one of them is Statcounter.com. If I allow it to log my own visits, as I did accidentally when I cleaned out all of the cookies in my system, this is what I found - months ago, and it still persists until today:
adsl-074-166-050-087.sip.asm.bellsouth.net (Bellsouth.net Inc) [Label IP Address]
Yes, that is my IP address, as I have DSL 6.0, the fastest available so I can work fast and have the ability to keep as many as twelve to fifteen sites open at once while I'm doing research on articles that I'm writing. I have had friends log into my site, and they show-up in the towns that they are located in, even those that use BellSouth. We have tested it and then called BellSouth support and no one will explain why all of my Internet traffic is routed through Miami. In other words, every keystroke that I make is logged by the government, and I suspect that I am a "marked man" because I have dared to try and organize people on a mass scale. What's wrong with this picture? I have never written anything that proposes violence, but I have been out front in my criticism and efforts to organize other people - and I have raised some eyebrows that I am sure I will pay for some time in the near future.
This is a vicious, terrible government, not of the people, but an establishment that "marks" all of those that are too vocal and have the ability to reach large numbers of people. Our traffic has been increasing and this month we are likely to hit over 25,000 unique visitors - and that's just from Statcounter, which only logs those who have their cookies turned on.
AWSTATS, an internal Program offered my BlueHost states that so far this month, we have received 17,043 unique visits, and WEBALIZER, another internal tracking program indicates we have to far received 27,775 visits who read 49,003 pages and a total of 811,131 total "hits" so far this month, and that does not include commercial or search bots. They are reported under a different part of the program.
The point I'm attempting to make is that if you reach too many people and your message makes sense, the government will target you and watch for anything that they can use against you at a later date. The question I ask myself, almost on a daily basis, is if I am endangering the rest of my family by attempting to organize and disseminate the truth as I see it? I care for a mother who has terminal cancer, my sister and her children live with me, and now my twins are moving in with us in a larger house so we can pool our limited resources and attempt to keep a roof over our heads as the economy keeps getting worse on a daily basis.
I also believe that this is stark evidence that the government is watching those of us who dare to disagree - however, I am unsure of what the consequences will be for being a "freedom fighter" as so many of us are that write in an effort to bring our country back to sanity, our constitutional values, and the rule of law. My message is always one of non-violence, but based on the government watching every move I make - it makes me believe that they view me as a dissident and possibly even as "an enemy combatant."
To those right-wing Rethuglicans that scoff at us when we state that we are being "watched", I assert that this is undeniable evidence that we are right and they are wrong, and to make matters worse, they know it - but still attempt to continue their lies and propaganda. The Bush administration is not targeting terrorists as they say they are, but anyone who dares to exercise their constitutional rights of free speech.
I'm seriously considering placing Justanothercoverup.com and ,net on Ebay and writing as an independent – as I believe that if someone else owned this site and knew what they were doing, it is a valuable site and does have good advertising potential, however, I don't know how or what to advertise - but I am now becoming worried that owning my site is endangering my entire family.
To those that state we are paranoid, I offer this as evidnce that it's not paranoia - but fact, one that affects all of us who are attempting to save our nation. I agree with the author of the above aticle. In the 60's, those that fought for fredom and transparency in government were viewed by the public as patriots, and now, we are viewed as "enemys of the state" - or, at least that's that way I see it.
William Cormier
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William Cormier (117 articles, 5 quicklinks, 17 diaries, 292 comments)
on Friday, April 18, 2008 at 4:04:56 AM
I agree, the panthers WERE SCARY AND WONDERFUL. therefore blown up by the federales. They had roots in the community. They ran a breakfast program. They chalenged the police brutality in their communities. They had a newspaper. the weather underground were underground. Historically they were out of touch with the PEOPLE.. The PEACE MARCHES ARE VERY SEDATE. i LOOK AT THE KIDS WHO ARE ANARCHISTS BREAKING OFF FROM THE MARCH TO ENGAGE IN CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE. i LOVE THEM.I'm sure Hillary has long ago shed AnY semblance of revolutionary gusto. hER AND oBAMA ARE AT BEST DOOFIS'S . i AM STILL PISSED OFF ABOUT THE SAME THINGS. sAME JERKS NEW WAR. yES, WE NEED TO DRIVE THE SPEED LIMIT BUT IN TANKS. pEOPLE ARE ONLY GONNA GET ANGRY WHEN THERE IS A DRAFT. nARCISISM AND COMPLACENCY HAS WON OUT FOR THE MOMENT. tHINGS ARE GETTING BAD SO RAPIDLY THAT THINGS ARE GONNA CHANGE. yOU DON'T NEED A WEATHERMAN TO TELL WHICH WAY THE WIND BLOWS OR DO YOU?
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robert braunstein (21 articles, 0 quicklinks, 12 diaries, 82 comments)
on Friday, April 18, 2008 at 6:39:46 AM
One should pause and go back and read one of Tom Robbin's most controversial books: Still Life With Woodpecker
Civil disobedience can take many forms, the tactics employed by WU can very well be placed in the extreme of that form of descent. The fact that there are those that will only be moved when challenged with either real or perceived threats to their position and power makes the tactics employed by WU a tool that in times of extreme necessity may very well have to be used. It is an attention getter and as long as no living person is targeted for harm passes any moral indignation one may feel.
It is an extreme tactic and one that can be turned against those that use it as we are witnessing now by those who would equate what WU employed with violent terrorists who have no regard for humane life. But one should be aware of insidious methods employed by those powers who would twist the intentions of what WU was trying to achieve and put it all in context and not be so quick to condemn WU for their actions.
Which one of us haven't thought of pouring sugar down gas tanks of SUV's? A milder form of what WU was attempting to do but no less destructive a message to the owner of the SUV. Extreme times call for extreme measures and when all other forms of descent all ignored by powers-that-be, sometimes it's advantageous to throw a Cherry-Bomb in the punchbowl of the powerful.
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Mr M (4 articles, 0 quicklinks, 9 diaries, 1254 comments)
on Friday, April 18, 2008 at 9:39:34 AM
During Wednesday's debate, Hillary had absolutely no compunctions against suggesting by conflation that the Weather Underground had killed bystanders and that Bill Ayers' comment about "should have done more" was expressed as a reaction to the events of 9/11. Both statements, or twisted interrelationships, are false.
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John Sanchez Jr. (4 articles, 0 quicklinks, 8 diaries, 1049 comments)
on Friday, April 18, 2008 at 11:30:21 AM
It is fuzzy in my memory as I was not politially engaged back then. but didn't someone die in a bombing in Wisconsin? Innocent they were. Targeting of civilian noncombatants is propelling much outrage for indicting Americans for war crimes, collateral damage is no defense.
Why are domestic terrorists not held to same rules of engagement? What is the mystique or romantic hype conveyed by violent protest as opposed to nonviolent protest? It was the violent murder of MLK which turned the country's eyes to demand civil rights for all. But it was his peaceful marches and inclusive words that paved the way--the long journey to justice. No one said it would be easy.
I think he would be appalled at the way his image has been co-opted for political purposes by the Barack Obama campaign. I will research the WU movement to check, but I do think one or two men were killed in one of their forays for "peace." What groupthink and doublespeak is going on here?
Using the most flimsy of premises to bash Hillary Clinton has become a national pastime, right up there with American Idol and just as shallow, a veritable pastiche cobbled together for our viewing entertainment. When a topic lacks substance, it becomes little more than recreation.
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Marilyn Frith (6 articles, 0 quicklinks, 4 diaries, 191 comments)
on Friday, April 18, 2008 at 1:51:56 PM
While many in the anti-war movement condemned the actions of the Weather Underground, I would argue that they, like the militant Black Panthers, performed an invaluable role by sending a loud, clear message to the nation's ruling elite that if they continued the war, things would get worse at home.
Their actions made the peaceful mass protests against the Indochina War far more potent, because they forced the ruling elite in the US to have to ponder what would happen if those masses turned to the same kind of violent measures against them.
And I'll throw another name up in support. John Brown the abolitionist. Many abolitionists were peaceful folk who talked a lot. John Brown got tired of the talking.
Abraham Lincoln would not have gone to war to abolish slavery only to preserve the Union. But John Browns decisive action though widely regarded as wrongheaded at the time and renounced by Lincoln, from the standpoint of history, seems to have been a catalyst for the American Civil War which, once undertaken, became about abolition.
Peaceniks are praised because praising them is politically correct and the safe thing to do but when Martin Luther King spoke his was not the only voice of opposition the establishment heard. So too with Gandhi. There was always the implied threat of violence.
Does not the Bible talk of the second coming in which God returns as a King with 12 armies of angels? So, what's with the army imagery in that old story?
Its never politically correct to say so but it is bedrock reality. The threat of violence works. Cheney and Bush obviously respect torture and they obviously fear it. When was the last time Cheney or Bush gave a peace activist anything that even looked like respect?
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Brett Paatsch (0 articles, 2 quicklinks, 21 diaries, 961 comments)
on Friday, April 18, 2008 at 11:47:47 AM
In 1970 during a Weatherman bombing at the Army Research Center in Sterling Hall, University of Wisconsin, Madison Campus, a young researcher, Robert Fassnacht was killed and millions of dollars worth of damage was caused. http://www.madison.com/wsj/home/column282063
Ayers went underground for eleven years and then turned himself in; he was never convicted. The case was dropped due to what was deemed FBI's lack of legal process. Ayers has since been lauded and apparently received much support for his heroics. How heroic is it to plant a bomb and run? Ayers enjoys the good life...
Robert Fassnacht remains dead, his life snuffed out for no good reason. Please explain why Ayers life is more precious than Fassnacht's life. I don't think the WU shortened the Vietnam War by one day; it simply played out, losing momentum due to lack of purpose, which is usually the case with all human activities, good and bad.
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Marilyn Frith (6 articles, 0 quicklinks, 4 diaries, 191 comments)
on Friday, April 18, 2008 at 2:57:39 PM
The Minnesota Historical Society has a film on the WU
as part of a current exhibit "The Enemy Within: Terror in America - 1776 to Today."
It's a well done mini-documentary and rather sympathetic to the Weather Underground. Bernadine Dohrn, one of the leaders, signed the group's "Declaration of war against the U.S." Dohrn is now an associate professor of law at Northwestern University School of Law and the director of Northwestern's Children and Family Justice Center. In the film, which was made fairly recently, she remains committed to the ideals of the group and says she has no regrets about those years, (except about the two deaths of their members).
WU was also infiltrated by COINTELPRO so there is reason to question government accounts about the group.
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Kathlyn Stone (39 articles, 213 quicklinks, 23 diaries, 593 comments)
on Friday, April 18, 2008 at 4:14:57 PM
Marilyn let us agree one life is not worth more than another. You weren't politicallyactive then. I might remind you of the 55.000 American boys who died and 300,000 wounded. It was in that context that someone may have been killed by accident. It was pretty regular for Vietnamese innocents and American boys (drafted) into the army to die. I still haven't heard any appologies from the bums who engineered that action. Why would you focu
