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Monday, November 17, 2008 12:00 AM

Bill Ayers talks back

Sarah Palin called him a terrorist, Barack Obama called him an acquaintance. A Salon editor who knew Ayers back when talks to the ex-Weather Underground member turned Republican talking point.

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  • Monday, November 17, 2008 05:03 AM

    Radical chic rules on stalin.com

    Interesting all the rationalizations and bs since I went to sleep last night.

    I was drafted and served, and, like the sargant who posted earlier, I served with a peace symbol in my heart. My unit was sent to Vietnam early in the war when Vietnam was just beginning to cope with massive invasions by the NVA. "We Were Soldiers Once and Young" is based on a battle I saw from the deck of our troop ship, the first major encounter of our troops with NVA.

    I remember writing to LBJ from there when he said there were no "boys" over there protesting this war.

    It wasn't until I returned and after I joined demonstrations in partial uniform with my medals that I began to change my mind. I met fellow educated vets, one of whom had been a Green Beret, who patiently explained that "WE ARE THE GOOD GUYS!" I began to recognize the dangers of creeping Communism, especially as I witnessed the huge ego trips that our anti war leaders and heros were on. I saw these bloviating fools up close and personal, with their inflated rhetoric and their nasty personalities. They were full of hate and fury. Many of them were privileged brats like Ayers. In short, they were assholes.

    I began to see, that when we win a war, we go home and help the people we liberated to build new lives from the rubble. I remembered the many South Vietnamese who really did like us and welcomed us as liberators. I remembered their beauty and their cheerful, friendly southern nature, their beautiful markets and exceptional food. I met some who were able to survive reeducation camps and/or weeks at sea, and years in camps waiting for a chance to come to this great land. Their stories about the behavior of their northern 'liberators' were graphic tales of shame. Vietnam was a real horror show after we left these good people behind. Talk to Vietnamese Americans if you dare. They will tell you the real story, not Ayers' twisted version.

    Ayers and his ilk continue to undermine this great country with their big egos and their petty, made up grievances. We are the greatest nation the world has ever known. For him, education should be indoctrination of the young by the left with leftwing rubbish.

    It is interesting how the corrupt and cynical big city Democrat bosses have embraced radicals like Ayers. They scratch each others backs They give each other cover. One side gets rich and stays rich on graft. The other gets a free pass to bullzhit about how horrible this country is, and tenured jobs to try to radicalize our young in our school systems with their bullzhit.

    So, if you really want to read the other side of the 60's and 70's by someone who rubbed shoulders with many of these alpha rads, including top Black Panther Cadre, read "Radical Son." Dhorn loved the Panthers, and both her group and the Panthers were violent criminals who felt totally entitled to murder anybody who got in their way.

    Now they are worshipped as heros by radical chic intellektuals like Walter Shapiro.

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