So last night I made a partial case for the relevance of Ayers (I say just partial because I think there’s much more of a case to make). And the nonsense pouring into my email box has been a sight to behold. Here’s a typical one:
how is Obama’s relationship with Williiam Ayers more troubling than McCain’s was with Charles Keating?
Keating did more damage to more Americans than Ayers ever dreamed to.
How desperate is this? First, McCain’s Keating relationship has been very, very, very much explored and discussed by the press. You can’t say the same about Ayers. Second, McCain’s apologies were total. Indeed, McCain’s crusade for campaign finance reform was the modern equivalent of Henry in the snows of Canossa. Obama never did anything of the sort. Rather, Obama has dismissed this as a nothingburger and his campaign has lied and dissembled about the nature of the relationship.
Moreover, McCain’s penance was unwarranted. As we’ve come to learn, McCain’s implication in the Keating Five was a craven and cynical effort by Democrats to give the scandal a patina of bipartisanshp.
Last, whatever damage Keating did to America (and I suspect not one in ten of the what-about-Keating-readers have any idea what the scandal was about or what damage it caused), I daresay that Ayers “dreamed” of doing far worse damage to America than Keating did. That is unless Keating or his accomplices built nail bombs to murder military families at a dance or openly hoped and fought for the violent overthrow of the US government.
Update: This is more reasonable, from a reader:
Jonah,
I think you are grasping at straws if you think that the public will care about Ayers more than Keating. While Keating was covered by the news at the time, it has not been mentioned at all during this election cycle. If the public hears about both, Keating will certainly be more damning, as it is far more relevant to what McCain/Obama will actually do in office. And my guess is, given the economic climate, McCain will look desperate and petty for playing the “past associations” card this late in the game.