Gary Leupp, The Smirking Ass, isn't content with boring university students, he now wants to launch a defense of . . . Bill Ayers. Apparently, Leupp is saving his 'needed' defense of Zac Efron for next week.
At Dissident Voice, Leupp blathers on:
Bill Ayers represents an era of widespread outrage at American imperialism, including in the U.S. itself--an era of deep division unparalleled since the Civil War. An era McCain and his right-wing fringe running-mate would like to forget or undo. They see nothing wrong in the Vietnam War except for a lack of will to win. The '60s "protesters" for them were a genus of traitors, whose very right to protest was somehow being defended by those bombing Hanoi. If the communists weren't stopped in Vietnam, they argued, they’d be invading the west Coast. Rational people see this argument as highly stupid now.
Three years after McCain was shot down over Hanoi while on that bombing mission, Ayers by his own admission participated in a bombing of a New York City police station, and went on to bomb the Capitol and Pentagon in the next two years. Each action came in response to a specific escalation of the Vietnam War. There were no casualties, and Ayers was never convicted of a crime. He denies that the bombings were acts of terrorism and points out instead that the war in Vietnam was a war of terror. (During this time, by the way, the 11 to 13 year old Obama was living in Indonesia and Hawai'i.)
You stupid idiot, Leupp. You don't know the first thing you're talking about and we're damn sick of all the fuck heads like yourself.
First off, Gary The Faux Radical, if you want to call US soldiers "war criminals," have the guts to fucking do so. That's what you're arguing in your loony tune rant. Go for it and see where that gets you. John McCain was in the military and followed orders -- the same way approximately 150,000 US service members do currently each day in Iraq. So cast your stones, Gare, be clear in what you're saying and stop using weasel words.
Vietnam was a tragedy and, how typical of the useless, Leupp wants to turn the group whose suffering was only second to the Vietnamese themselves into the 'bad guys.' How typical. He wants to take a decorated service member and liken him to a spoiled, White boy whose Daddy always paved the way -- including when Bill Ayers was 'underground.'
The reality Leupp and others refuse to face is that Bill wants to be respected for 'living his belief' but, in fact, he has not done that. Not in the 70s -- they are not the sixties, Dumb Ass Leupp -- and not in the 80s and not in the 90s and not today. While real radicals -- as opposed to play radicals -- like Angela Davis had to fight an oppressive system repeatedly, White skin and a rich Daddy made sure Ayers never had to stand for any belief and that, whenever the going got tough, money would be spread around to 'cushion' any realities that might intrude upon Bill's life.
Bill's a Daddy's Boy, he was born that and he will die that. He has never had the strength to stand on his own.
He is not a 'success' story, he is the typical weak-spirited, immature, sucking up to Daddy, little boy. Had he not hooked up with Bernardine, he would have retreated from his 'beliefs' long before he did. Hooking up with Bernardine allowed Daddy's Boy to take on a new role "Trophy Wife." Billy was the Nancy Reagan to Bernardine's Great Communicator.
He is not a leader, he is not an originator. His life, such as it is, is rather embarrassing. And it always embarrassing to watch faux radicals like Leupp insist make arguments that utilize sexism and racism.
Sexism? Bernardine was the leader of Weather Underground. Bernardine remains a leader today. Those elevating Bill to 'heroic' and 'leadership' status would never attempt to downgrade Jim and turn Judy into Rebel Without A Cause. But, and isn't it revealing, they do that over and over with Bill Ayers. Ayers is "the girl," Bernardine is the leader. It doesn't fit with their schema because they're just not used to see women in charge or in leadership.
Racism? Again, Angela Davis and other radicals didn't just stand up, they were persecuted for it and some still are. Daddy's Best Boy Bill Ayers never had to stand. Daddy spread the ConEd wealth around in Illinois and, long before Bill and Bernardine surfaced at the end of 1980, the state was on the record saying they would not prosecute either fugitive. That's 'democracy' at work, if you believe in Dollars For Democracy. And further proof of the racial bias in our legal system.
But Gary Leupp doesn't bother to address any of that mainly because he's a knee-jerk reactionary whose so stupid (and racist?) he's not even aware of Big Mama Thornton, Memphis Slim, John Lee Hooker, Leadbelly, Woody Guthrie, Hank Williams, Sleepy John Estes, Robert Johnson, Muddy Waters, Little Walter, Bessie Smith, Pete Seeger, Blind Boy Fuller, Billie Holiday, Big Bill Broonzy, Skip James . . . . We could go on forever. And we have to raise that issue because Leupp falsely maintains, "We in the '60s rarely listened to the music of the '20s, '30s and '40s." See, that's your first sign that you should shut your damn mouth, Leupp.
You don't know your facts and your false claims render a large number of musicians (primarily African-Americans) invisible. So just shut your damn mouth. You don't know what you're writing about and you do nothing but reinforce stereotypes.
There are many radicals worthy of a defense, Bill Ayers is not one because he's not a radical. He's Meg Ryan's Pam in Oliver Stone's The Doors -- along for the ride. It takes a lot of sexism to look at the 'coaster' and 'helpmate' of a couple and render him the leader. It takes a lot of racism to look at a rich White boy whose Daddy cushioned everyone of life's blows and declare him a 'victim' of an oppressive system.
Mainly it takes a lot of stupidity.
Weather Underground was not about ending the illegal war, it was about bringing that war to US shores and creating an armed revolution in the streets. Do not confuse it with the peace movement, do not confuse it with an oppressed class in the country rising up. Learn your facts or shut your damn mouth because the country already has more than enough middle-aged, straight White boys with chips on their shoulders. The fact that Leupp wants to be one 'from the left!' doesn't alter the reality that too many like him are already crowding the stage and need to make room for the under-represented.