Obama's unsavory ties

by Warren H. Williams

It was generous of The Bee to turn over a four-column swath of opinion page space to allow Bill Ayers of Illinois, co-founder of the Weather Underground, to lament how unfairly the press had treated him during the recent presidential campaign, seemingly because of his friendship with the winner, Barack Obama (" 'Domestic terrorist' tells his story," Dec. 9, Page A-11).

Yes, he conceded, some Weathermen had planted bombs in the U.S. Capitol and the Pentagon among various empty offices during the Vietnam War, but it was all peace-loving and of good intent, and he would have been glad to rationally discuss it during the recent campaign except for the "frenzy of fear" generated by the press.

By embarrassing coincidence, on the same day, another Illinois politician, Gov. Rod R. Blagojevich, was making national headlines after allegedly demanding, in a phone conservation taped by federal crime probers, a payoff for the appointment of Obama's successor as U.S. senator. As background, the Wall Street Journal cited a list of other top Illinois politicos charged over the years with a variety of crimes including bribery, conspiracy, fraud and perjury. The headline read "Obama ties in the spotlight." ....