From Mark Steyn:
The point is not that President-designate Obama is a "close friend" of the unrepentant Ayers, or that he was only eight when his patron was building bombs to kill the women of New Jersey. As Joe Biden would no doubt point out on his entertaining "This Day In History" segment, McCain was only six when Czogolsz killed President McKinley. But I doubt he'd let the guy host a fundraiser for him.
But, in the world in which Obama moves, it would seem absurd and provincial to object to partying with an "unrepentant terrorist." The senator advanced and prospered in a milieu in which men like Ayers are not just accepted but admired for their "passionate participation", and function as power-brokers and path-smoothers. This is a great country, and most of us (as Peter Kirsanow notes below) make it without having to kiss up to America-haters like Ayers and Wright. But not Obama.
Who is this man on course to be 44th president? Apparently, it's not just impolite but racist to ask.
Speaking of which, Sarah Palin apparently handled the racism nonsense from CNN pretty well yesterday.
[Update a couple minutes later]
Jonah Goldberg has some more thoughts on the terrorists"passionate anti-war and civil rights movement" and the contradictions of the fascist left.
Most significant is that Obama worked with Ayers to implement public policy. The Chicago Annenberg Challenge served to enact its own educational curricula within certain schools. While Obama served as chairman, Ayers was masterminding that curricula.
Doing lunch with an unrepentant crook is one thing. Abetting his rise to becoming a powerful regional lobbyist is another.