Flickr: Creative Commons by bobster1985

Sarah Palin went from being unable to articulate a single source from which she receives her news, to quoting the New York Times, all in a single week. The article that allegedly drew Palin's attention was a lengthy piece in Saturday's Times which explored the connections (and lack thereof) to Barack Obama and Weather Underground leader Bill Ayers. It was on that basis that Palin claimed that Obama was "palling around with terrorists" (false), and that this issue has not been addressed before (also false).

Now I know Bill Ayers and his family, so maybe I should be recused from this blog. Oh, this is the new journalism--there are no recusals. Okay. I'll continue. While John McCain was killing Vietnamese in a country that did not attack us and posed no threat to us, Bill Ayers was engaged in the symbolic destruction of property in an effort to end the war. I know the Obama campaign won't say this--and cannot say this because America's warriors are sacrosanct, no matter how wrong the cause for which they fought or how horrific their actions in fighting for that cause. We killed a million Vietnamese during that war, Bill Ayers killed no one. Yes, Virginia, American soldiers did kill babies, too. Bill Ayers did not. Bill Ayers, and many others, threw away their chances to succeed in American politics because of the overriding need to do something, to do almost anything, to stop the war. Barack Obama was eight years old at the time. Barack Obama never expressed any sympathy for Ayers' actions, nor has he weighed in (as he could have in the first debate), as to Vietnam being a classic example of wars we should not fight (too bad).

Ayers went on to become a respected educator and lecturer on educational reform around the country. His meetings with Obama were fairly irregular and focused on educational initiatives of which both were members. I genuinely believe that as the American people look toward a dismal economic and environmental future, the question of whose acquaintances did what in the 60s is not high on anyone's list. But it is the last card that McCain has to play.

For us, as progressives, it is at least worth remembering those who fought to stop an immoral war, and to think of those who participated in one.