Posted by
Elmer from Iowa on Monday, October 27, 2008 10:54:12 PM
Many have made a lot about the choices that Senator Obama has made in the people he associates with. He has chosen people like Jeremiah Wright and William Ayers and has had those choices questioned. Senator Obama replies to those questions by saying that they were not the people he knew or, in the case if Ayers, he assumed that repentance had happened.
If we take the Senator at his word, we can say that he has made some bad choices. People do make bad choices. Your knowledge of a person may be incomplete when you choose to associate with someone and this may lead to a bad choice. I have made that mistake myself. Of course an association requires the choice of both people. To maintain an association or friendship, both partners must choose to do so.
We have heard Senator Obama’s reasons and assumptions but we have not heard from the other people in question. We have not heard why someone who preaches “God d@mn America” would chose to introduce Obama to influential people in the community. Nor have we heard why someone who talks about the “KKK of America” would choose to give the opening prayer at an Obama event. Even though he was later asked not to give that prayer in public, he still chose to do so.
One could also question the motivation behind the decision of Ayers to associate with Obama. Why did a person who was glad to be photographed standing on the American flag, host a fund raising party for the Senator? Do you raise money for people you know nothing about?
Why did someone who said he was not sorry about his past terrorism, but wished he could do more ask Barack Obama help him distribute money for his project? William Ayers and 2 others were authors of a proposal for grant money from the Annenberg Foundation. He was then instrumental in creating the organization to distribute the money. One of the people chosen to run the organization was Barack Obama. Ayers went on to attend many of the meetings even though he was not on the board. It would be difficult to say that he had no say in the choice of board members.
Let us not forget Tony Rezko. More than once he tried to get Obama to work for him. Did he have a flash of insight that if only Obama would work for him he might refrain from wire fraud and solicitation?
As I have said before, people can make mistakes in their associations. Senator Obama has attempted to explain how he came to make those mistakes. Now, can we hear from the other side? Why did those people all decide to associate with Barack Obama? What did they see in him that would encourage them to include the Senator in their lives?