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On 'pal-ing around' with William Ayers
Obama: The guilt-by-association ploy
Steve Cohen
Much has been written about the tactic of guilt-by-association, used in the recent election by Republicans who linked Barack Obama to William Ayers or the Reverend Jeremiah Wright.
Less noticed is a supposed link between Obama and Zbigniew Brzezinski. Presumably because I’m Jewish, I received mail that said I should beware of Obama because he associated with Brzezinski. Ads to this effect were placed in the Jewish Exponent and no doubt in other Jewish publications as well.
Brzezinski, Carter’s former national security adviser, is said to be critical of Israel. That could cause concern if he were a policy-maker. It’s immaterial, however, because there’s no evidence that Obama relies on the man.
My reaction was two-fold. First, I tossed the mail in the trash without finishing it. And I resolved to vote against the candidate who sent me this nonsense. Don’t the practitioners of this tactic realize how counter-productive it is?
All of this begs the larger question: Why should we worry if a candidate "pals around with" former terrorists or critics of Israel? I’m reminded of the Seinfeld episode in which a character’s gay identity is mentioned and Jerry interjects, "Not that there’s anything wrong with that."
Let’s imagine, for the sake of argument, that Obama did talk with William Ayers about issues other than education, that he did talk with Brzezinski about the Middle East and that he was listening when his pastor did one of his rants. So what? All that matters is Obama's conclusions after listening.
My son Gary was a political science student at Columbia University in 1981 and took a course taught by Brzezinski. Uh-oh— he might have become infected. But despite this exposure Gary remains a strong supporter of Israel. Gary tells me that Barry Obama, also a Columbia student at that time, may also have been enrolled in that very popular class. We can't confirm this because student transcripts aren’t available to the public.
I’m often seated next to other critics at theater openings. I even talk with them. That doesn’t mean they influenced my reviews, or vice versa.
The election results suggest that voters have grown wise to this fear-mongering ploy. Is it too much to hope that candidates in future campaigns will refrain from using it?
Less noticed is a supposed link between Obama and Zbigniew Brzezinski. Presumably because I’m Jewish, I received mail that said I should beware of Obama because he associated with Brzezinski. Ads to this effect were placed in the Jewish Exponent and no doubt in other Jewish publications as well.
Brzezinski, Carter’s former national security adviser, is said to be critical of Israel. That could cause concern if he were a policy-maker. It’s immaterial, however, because there’s no evidence that Obama relies on the man.
My reaction was two-fold. First, I tossed the mail in the trash without finishing it. And I resolved to vote against the candidate who sent me this nonsense. Don’t the practitioners of this tactic realize how counter-productive it is?
All of this begs the larger question: Why should we worry if a candidate "pals around with" former terrorists or critics of Israel? I’m reminded of the Seinfeld episode in which a character’s gay identity is mentioned and Jerry interjects, "Not that there’s anything wrong with that."
Let’s imagine, for the sake of argument, that Obama did talk with William Ayers about issues other than education, that he did talk with Brzezinski about the Middle East and that he was listening when his pastor did one of his rants. So what? All that matters is Obama's conclusions after listening.
My son Gary was a political science student at Columbia University in 1981 and took a course taught by Brzezinski. Uh-oh— he might have become infected. But despite this exposure Gary remains a strong supporter of Israel. Gary tells me that Barry Obama, also a Columbia student at that time, may also have been enrolled in that very popular class. We can't confirm this because student transcripts aren’t available to the public.
I’m often seated next to other critics at theater openings. I even talk with them. That doesn’t mean they influenced my reviews, or vice versa.
The election results suggest that voters have grown wise to this fear-mongering ploy. Is it too much to hope that candidates in future campaigns will refrain from using it?
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