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August 20, 2008

Obama's Annenberg Problem Isn't Going Away (Updated)

Topics: Political News and commentaries

Potentially damning secrets about Obama's Annenberg problem are being withheld by the University of Illinois at Chicago.

Four folders, containing auditor's reports, where clearly marked, in bold type, "THESE FOLDERS ARE RESTRICTED VIA ANNENBERG CHALLENGE until further notice." A fifth folder, containing records of eight CAC Board of Directors meetings in 1995, when CAC was first set up, had a notation nearby with the word, "Consent."

As Stanley Kurtz reminds us, Bill Ayers and his wife, Bernardine Dohrn were terrorists for the notorious Weather Underground during the 1960s, and turned fugitive when a bomb designed to kill army officers in New Jersey accidentally exploded in a New York townhouse.

Prior to that, Ayers and his cohorts succeeded in bombing the Pentagon. Ayers and Dohrn remain unrepentant for their terrorist past. Ayers was pictured in a 2001 article for Chicago magazine, stomping on an American flag, and told the New York Times just before 9/11 that the notion of the United States as a just and fair and decent place "makes me want to puke." Although Obama actually launched his political career at an event at Ayers's and Dohrn's home, Obama has dismissed Ayers as just "a guy who lives in my neighborhood," and "not somebody who I exchange ideas from on a regular basis." For his part, Ayers refuses to discuss his relationship with Obama.

Although the press has been notably lax about pursuing the matter, the full story of the Obama-Ayers relationship calls the truth of Obama's account seriously into question. When Obama made his first run for political office, articles in both the Chicago Defender and the Hyde Park Herald featured among his qualifications his position as chairman of the board of the Chicago Annenberg Challenge, a foundation where Ayers was a founder and guiding force. Obama assumed the Annenberg board chairmanship only months before his first run for office, and almost certainly received the job at the behest of Bill Ayers. During Obama's time as Annenberg board chairman, Ayers's own education projects received substantial funding. Indeed, during its first year, the Chicago Annenberg Challenge struggled with significant concerns about possible conflicts of interest. With a writ to aid Chicago's public schools, the Annenberg challenge played a deeply political role in Chicago's education wars, and as Annenberg board chairman, Obama clearly aligned himself with Ayers's radical views on education issues. With Obama heading up the board and Ayers heading up the other key operating body of the Annenberg Challenge, the two would necessarily have had a close working relationship for years (therefore "exchanging ideas on a regular basis"). So when Ayers and Dorhn hosted that kickoff for the first Obama campaign, it was not a random happenstance, but merely further evidence of a close and ongoing political partnership. Of course, all of this clearly contradicts Obama's dismissal of the significance of his relationship with Ayers.

There's much more, of course, and Stanley Kurtz is hard at work chasing down the truth and trying to work around obstacles thrown up by the Richard J. Daley Library at the University of Illinois at Chicago - obstacles like being told that the "collection is closed because it has come to our attention that there is restricted material in the collection."

Take home question: What is the University of Chicago hiding to prevent Americans from learning about Barack Hussein Obama's ties, relationships, and activities involving one or more far left radical terrorists?

Update:
"McCain Camp Plays Ayers Card; Demands University of Illinois Stop Hiding Obama/Ayers Records":

The question now is, will Barack Obama immediately call on the University of Illinois to release all of the records they are currently withholding to shed further light on Senator Obama's relationship with this unrepentant terrorist?

Shocka! Mayor Daley Refuses to Say U of I Should Release Obama/Ayers Records; Mounts Defense of His Terrorist Friend: ... Mayor Daley does not seem to agree that Obama and Ayers are merely politely-nodding acquaintances. He says they're friends -- something Obama denies.

Posted by Richard at August 20, 2008 11:54 AM

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• Obama's Annenberg Problem Isn't Going Away (Updated) - Aug 20, 2008