restless reformer

It’s always nice when someone is able to discern the absurdity of political spin.  Here’s Jesse Walker of Reason on the political spin of the Obama-Ayers “connection” -

The point of Sunstein’s comments, obviously, is not to “equate” Epstein with Ayers, just as the point of Obama’s earlier comments, obviously, was not to “equate” Ayers with Coburn. The point is that Obama associates with a lot of very different people and that it’s foolish to assume his loose connections to one of them define his politics. Serving on the same board as Bill Ayers doesn’t make Obama sympathetic to Marxist terrorism any more than shooting hoops with Epstein makes him a libertarian.

If there’s a legitimate story here, it isn’t that Obama is one of the many Chicago politicians (even the mayor!) who have interacted with Ayers. It’s that Ayers, after playing revolutionary for a spell, has managed to find a place in the Chicago establishment. The Weather Underground was made up of the children of the elite, and after all the shouting of the ’60s and ’70s died down those Weathermen who managed to avoid prison or self-immolation have often been able to return to high-status professional positions. I’d love to see a Marxist analysis of that class dynamic.