My Buddy Bill (Ayers)

I don't know Bill Ayers personally but, by association, you can call him my buddy because I attended and recorded his speech at Michigan State University on November 30, 2007.

I recommend that you listen to his 10-minute talk at the SDS reunion event -- provided below -- because his words from nearly 12 months ago resonate with new meaning.

In the ensuing months following his appearance in East Lansing, the repudiated radical right -- accompanied by a pit bull peep-squeak with lipstick -- tried to make Bill Ayers the Willie Horton of the 2008 Presidential election. The Karl Rove-like tactic did not work this time, but it is a tactic that won't go away.

Not surprisingly, you can still hear the Ayers name bantered about by radical right radio commentators, as these conservative spokespeople seem to be barking to themselves in a corner like they just suffered a nervous breakdown this week. It's nothing a little OxyContin can't fix.

Bill Ayers apparently managed throughout the election season, though he did not talk to the press during the campaign. He finally broke his silence on Tuesday and talked with the Washington Post. Ayers' post-election comments to the Post are worth reading as he talked about the radical right's attempt at turning him into a cartoon character and other issues.

Finally, one last admission about my association with my buddy Bill Ayers: We're both American taxpayers. Guilt by association.

-- Rico Thomas Rico

Bill Ayers Speaking at

Michigan State University

November 30, 2007