Jane Smiley: John McCain Is The Same As William Ayers Because They Both Used Violence
Of course, McCain was in the US Military and used violence against valid military targets within a movement of murderous totalitarians. Ayers used violence against the American public in order to intimidate them into bending to his political agenda.
But according to Jane Smiley at the Huffington Post, that’s the same thing.
Every time I think of William Ayers, I also think of John McCain, because they are of the same era, and they both believed in the efficacy of violence. According to an article in Friday’s New York Times, McCain once said of Ayers, “How can you countenance someone who was engaged in bombings that could have or did kill innocent people?” He had to use that “could have or did” because no one knows if bombs Ayers built actually killed anyone—let’s say that the odds are against it. Likewise, no one knows whether the bombs John McCain dropped on North Vietnam ever killed anyone. According to McCain’s biography, “With the outbreak of the Vietnam War, McCain volunteered for combat duty and began flying carrier-based attack planes on low-altitude bombing runs against the North Vietnamese. ...On October 26, 1967, during his 23rd air mission, McCain´s plane was shot down during a bombing run over the North Vietnamese capital of Hanoi.” Let’s say, given those twenty-three bombing runs, the odds are for McCain having killed some innocents. How can you countenance someone who was engaged in bombings that could have or did kill innocent people, John?
Of course, Jane Smiley never had any problems with contributing to John “Reporting For Duty” Kerry’s campaign in 2004. But I guess supporting Kerry was ok, right? Because Kerry threw his medals away. And “confessed” to war crimes at the Winter Soldier events.
