Smartmouthwoman
Inspected by #12
There's never been much controversy surrounding these FACTS about the Obama's history... but I heard a little tidbit about Michelle & Bernardine working at the same law firm during the campaign and it stuck with me so I decided to look it up.
If nothing else, it might make the righties say hmmmmmmmm... and probably send the lefties into another tizzy of denial. But I think it's interesting enough to discuss. And think there probably would've been a lot more made of these 'coincidences' during the campaign... except there were so many other distractions, this one slipped right under the radar. Or maybe there's nothing to it, eh?
Interesting fact #1
Background: Bernardine Dohrn (Mrs. Bill Ayers)
While on the run from police, Bernardine Dohrn married another Weatherman leader, Bill Ayers, with whom she has two children. During the last years of their underground life, Dohrn and Ayers resided in the Logan Square neighborhood of Chicago, where they used the aliases Christine Louise Douglas and Anthony J. Lee.
In the late 1970s, the Weatherman group split into two factions — the "May 19 Coalition" and the "Prairie Fire Collective" — with Dohrn and Ayers in the latter. The Prairie Fire Collective favored coming out of hiding, with members facing the criminal charges against them, while the May 19 Coalition continued in hiding. A decisive factor in Dohrn's coming out of hiding were her concerns about her children.
The couple turned themselves in to authorities in 1980. While some charges relating to their activities with the Weathermen were dropped due to prosecutorial misconduct (see COINTELPRO), Dohrn pled guilty to charges of aggravated battery and bail jumping, receiving probation. She later served less than a year of jail time, after refusing to testify against ex-Weatherman Susan Rosenberg in an armed robbery case. Shortly after turning themselves in, Dohrn and Ayers became legal guardians of Chesa Boudin, the son of former members of the Weather Underground, Kathy Boudin and David Gilbert, after they were convicted of murder for their roles in a 1981 armored car robbery.
From 1984 to 1988, Dohrn was employed by the prestigious Chicago law firm Sidley Austin. She was hired by Howard Trienens, the head of the firm at that time, who knew Thomas G. Ayers, the father of Dohrn's husband. "We often hire friends," Trienens told a reporter for the Chicago Tribune. However, Dohrn had not been admitted to the New York or Illinois bar. She passed the New York bar exam but had not submitted an application to the New York Supreme Court's Committee on Character and Fitness. She also passed the Illinois bar, but was turned down by the Illinois ethics committee because of her criminal record. Trienens said of the Illinois rejection, "Dohrn didn't get a [law] license because she's stubborn. She wouldn't say she's sorry."
Interesting Fact #2
•May 11, 2007
Sidley Austin: When Barack Met Michelle
For those of you gearing up for the arrival of a fresh class of summer associates, you could very well find a future presidential candidate in your midst. Or your future spouse. Or both.
Those of you on the Obama bandwagon are probably hip to the fact that Barack and his wife Michelle met at Sidley Austin in Chicago.
In 1988, Michelle was a young Sidley lawyer fresh out of Harvard Law School and she was put in charge of mentoring a summer associate named Barack. From a Newsweek profile: “Attraction was instant, but Michelle thought an office romance unseemly. Still, Barack pursued his blushing adviser.” The WaPo reports that on the campaign trail, she recalled hearing his “strange name” before meeting him and thinking that “any black guy who spent his formative years on an island had to be a little nerdy, a little strange.” She took him to lunch.
By the time they got hitched in 1992, Michelle had jettisoned corporate law for the public sector, taking a job with Mayor Richard Daley. “I wanted to have a career where I was thrilled to wake up,” she told a reporter in 2004. Obama, for his part, never went back to Sidley. After graduating from Harvard Law in 1991, he led voter registration drives in Chicago. He then joined civil rights firm Miner, Barnhill & Galland from 1993 to 1996. (He also taught constitutional law at the University of Chicago Law School until 2004.) In 1996, he left law-firm life and entered politics when he was elected to the state senate.
Interesting facts #3 & #4
Barack Obama and Bill Ayers served together on the board of the Woods Fund, a Chicago-based charity that develops community groups to help the poor. Ayers joined the board in 1999 and is still on it. Obama left it in December 2002 after nine years. In the mid-1990s, when Obama was making his first run for the Illinois Senate, Ayers had Obama to his home to introduce him to others.
**********
When confronted with his past association with Bill Ayers, this was Obama's stance:
Obama said Ayers is "a guy who lives in my neighborhood" and not someone who has endorsed him or talked to him regularly.
"And the notion that somehow as a consequence of me knowing somebody who engaged in detestable acts 40 years ago when I was 8 years old, somehow reflects on me and my values, doesn't make much sense," Obama said.
********
Oh, really? For someone whose paths seems to have crossed again and again with Bill Ayers... I find Obama's statements a little hard to believe.
Is it even remotely possible that the Ayers hand-picked Barack Obama way back in 1988 to serve as their political puppet someday when an educated black man was more likely to be elected POTUS than even the best-qualified white person because it was the politically correct thing to do? Could the Dems have been so eager to bring forth the first black president, that they chose to overlook his ties to radical domestic terrorists like Ayers? Could we as a country have been so naive as to actually elect the man Bill Ayers picked to carry out his long-held mission of bringing on the downfall of America?? What better way to start than by bankrupting the country and putting something as important as our healthcare in the hands of the government? Ayers must be very proud.
Believe me, I hope I'm wrong. But if there's the slightest possibility I could be right, God help us all. Come on libs... convince me the Obama/Ayers connection is just one huge coincidence.
If nothing else, it might make the righties say hmmmmmmmm... and probably send the lefties into another tizzy of denial. But I think it's interesting enough to discuss. And think there probably would've been a lot more made of these 'coincidences' during the campaign... except there were so many other distractions, this one slipped right under the radar. Or maybe there's nothing to it, eh?
Interesting fact #1
Background: Bernardine Dohrn (Mrs. Bill Ayers)
While on the run from police, Bernardine Dohrn married another Weatherman leader, Bill Ayers, with whom she has two children. During the last years of their underground life, Dohrn and Ayers resided in the Logan Square neighborhood of Chicago, where they used the aliases Christine Louise Douglas and Anthony J. Lee.
In the late 1970s, the Weatherman group split into two factions — the "May 19 Coalition" and the "Prairie Fire Collective" — with Dohrn and Ayers in the latter. The Prairie Fire Collective favored coming out of hiding, with members facing the criminal charges against them, while the May 19 Coalition continued in hiding. A decisive factor in Dohrn's coming out of hiding were her concerns about her children.
The couple turned themselves in to authorities in 1980. While some charges relating to their activities with the Weathermen were dropped due to prosecutorial misconduct (see COINTELPRO), Dohrn pled guilty to charges of aggravated battery and bail jumping, receiving probation. She later served less than a year of jail time, after refusing to testify against ex-Weatherman Susan Rosenberg in an armed robbery case. Shortly after turning themselves in, Dohrn and Ayers became legal guardians of Chesa Boudin, the son of former members of the Weather Underground, Kathy Boudin and David Gilbert, after they were convicted of murder for their roles in a 1981 armored car robbery.
From 1984 to 1988, Dohrn was employed by the prestigious Chicago law firm Sidley Austin. She was hired by Howard Trienens, the head of the firm at that time, who knew Thomas G. Ayers, the father of Dohrn's husband. "We often hire friends," Trienens told a reporter for the Chicago Tribune. However, Dohrn had not been admitted to the New York or Illinois bar. She passed the New York bar exam but had not submitted an application to the New York Supreme Court's Committee on Character and Fitness. She also passed the Illinois bar, but was turned down by the Illinois ethics committee because of her criminal record. Trienens said of the Illinois rejection, "Dohrn didn't get a [law] license because she's stubborn. She wouldn't say she's sorry."
Interesting Fact #2
•May 11, 2007
Sidley Austin: When Barack Met Michelle
For those of you gearing up for the arrival of a fresh class of summer associates, you could very well find a future presidential candidate in your midst. Or your future spouse. Or both.
Those of you on the Obama bandwagon are probably hip to the fact that Barack and his wife Michelle met at Sidley Austin in Chicago.
In 1988, Michelle was a young Sidley lawyer fresh out of Harvard Law School and she was put in charge of mentoring a summer associate named Barack. From a Newsweek profile: “Attraction was instant, but Michelle thought an office romance unseemly. Still, Barack pursued his blushing adviser.” The WaPo reports that on the campaign trail, she recalled hearing his “strange name” before meeting him and thinking that “any black guy who spent his formative years on an island had to be a little nerdy, a little strange.” She took him to lunch.
By the time they got hitched in 1992, Michelle had jettisoned corporate law for the public sector, taking a job with Mayor Richard Daley. “I wanted to have a career where I was thrilled to wake up,” she told a reporter in 2004. Obama, for his part, never went back to Sidley. After graduating from Harvard Law in 1991, he led voter registration drives in Chicago. He then joined civil rights firm Miner, Barnhill & Galland from 1993 to 1996. (He also taught constitutional law at the University of Chicago Law School until 2004.) In 1996, he left law-firm life and entered politics when he was elected to the state senate.
Interesting facts #3 & #4
Barack Obama and Bill Ayers served together on the board of the Woods Fund, a Chicago-based charity that develops community groups to help the poor. Ayers joined the board in 1999 and is still on it. Obama left it in December 2002 after nine years. In the mid-1990s, when Obama was making his first run for the Illinois Senate, Ayers had Obama to his home to introduce him to others.
**********
When confronted with his past association with Bill Ayers, this was Obama's stance:
Obama said Ayers is "a guy who lives in my neighborhood" and not someone who has endorsed him or talked to him regularly.
"And the notion that somehow as a consequence of me knowing somebody who engaged in detestable acts 40 years ago when I was 8 years old, somehow reflects on me and my values, doesn't make much sense," Obama said.
********
Oh, really? For someone whose paths seems to have crossed again and again with Bill Ayers... I find Obama's statements a little hard to believe.
Is it even remotely possible that the Ayers hand-picked Barack Obama way back in 1988 to serve as their political puppet someday when an educated black man was more likely to be elected POTUS than even the best-qualified white person because it was the politically correct thing to do? Could the Dems have been so eager to bring forth the first black president, that they chose to overlook his ties to radical domestic terrorists like Ayers? Could we as a country have been so naive as to actually elect the man Bill Ayers picked to carry out his long-held mission of bringing on the downfall of America?? What better way to start than by bankrupting the country and putting something as important as our healthcare in the hands of the government? Ayers must be very proud.
Believe me, I hope I'm wrong. But if there's the slightest possibility I could be right, God help us all. Come on libs... convince me the Obama/Ayers connection is just one huge coincidence.
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