...how petty things have become.

Bill Ayers was a domestic terrorist, of sorts, in the 1960s. Now he's a university professor. And in 1997 he was named Citizen of the Year in Chicago. I never met Ayers. But I'm assuming he's a pretty nice guy. And if he were my neighbor, I wouldn't mind knowing him. And socializing with him. And I'd like to talk to him about how he's changed over the years. Sounds to me like he's a pretty interesting guy.

But to listen to the rants of John McCain and Sarah Palin, that wouldn't be a good idea. I wouldn't be a patriotic American if I became a friend of Bill Ayers. That might make me a terrorist-sympathizer, according to them. Yes, that's the kind of reasoning I'm hearing in the current presidential campaign. Barack Obama has been taken to task by McCain and Palin for being Ayers' neighbor and serving with Ayers on the board of directors of a charitable organization.

Yes, that's how petty things have become. --Jim Broede