Jonah Goldberg Flirts With the ‘Ayers Wrote Obama’s Memoir’ Theory

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Wednesday, October 07, 2009 at 11:03 am

The author of “Liberal Fascism” falls hook, line and sinker for Bill Ayers’ joke about serving as Barack Obama’s ghostwriter.

I am not sure what to make of the story that Ayers has now admitted to writing Obama’s autobiography. If it pans out, that is to my mind a very big story. Stay tuned. But I do think I should revise my earlier pooh-poohing of Jack Cashill’s effort to prove the Ayers-Obama connection. A while back, a close friend of mine (and a pretty famous person in NR land) harrangued me about how I didn’t give Cashill’s argument enough attention or consideration and that it makes a pretty persuasive case. This friend then walked me through it for a while and I was impressed. I’m still sure what the truth is (sic) but whether this latest story pans out or not, I figured I should at least withdraw some of my, uh, pooh-pooh.

Let’s take a few steps back.

Ayers told the blogger that he acted as Obama’s Cyrano because “Michelle asked me to.” That’s not even what Christopher Andersen suggests in his account of the Ayers story, which is partially sourced to original conspiracy theorist Jack Cashill.

Ayers also told the blogger that if she proved he co-wrote Obama’s book, “we can split the royalties.” If he’s referring to the royalties for the still-selling “Dreams From My Father,” we know that, well, he didn’t get any of those — check Obama’s Senate financial disclosure forms. This sounds a whole lot like a joke.

A reasonable explanation for this, if we take the heretofore-obscure blogger at her word for what Ayers said: Ayers was messing around with a conservative movement that’s been after him for a decade, putting them back on the trail of a fruitless conspiracy theory.

As to who told Goldberg that Cashill made a “persuasive case,” it could be anyone, but the evidence suggests it might have been NRO blogger Andy McCarthy or leftist-turned-conservative author Ronald Radosh, both big believers of Cashill. And I fully expect this story to break into the conservative TV media soon. Yes, it’s truly shocking to think that Ayers, a man who helped wreck the anti-Vietnam War movement by becoming a terrorist, would make such a miscalculation.

I’m trying to come up with a name for adherents of this theory. “Ayersheads”? Does that work?

UPDATE: I’m just seeing that James Simpson of Examiner.com–a conservative news site that pays bloggers for posts–interviewed the conservative blogger, who gave him a more detailed version of the story. Simpson’s convinced.

Was he, as she had asked, pulling our collective legs? Other sources report rumors that Ayers is very upset both about not getting any credit for helping Obama on ‘Dreams,’ and may also be put off by being summarily thrown under the bus along with Rev. Wright and everyone else who becomes an inconvenience to this President.

Well, if “other sources report rumors,” who can argue?

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Comments

12 Comments

» Ghost Writers and Conservative Gullibility Liberal Values
Pingback posted October 7, 2009 @ 1:26 pm

[...] without bothering to fact check anything which confirms their biases, is amazing. David Weigel at The Washington Independent notes how Jonah Goldberg “falls hook, line and sinker for Bill Ayers’ joke about serving as [...]


sammybaby
Comment posted October 7, 2009 @ 3:25 pm

I suggest “Ayers-holes”

You're welcome.


Roger Ailes
Comment posted October 7, 2009 @ 3:38 pm

Damn, beat me by 10 minutes.


Roger Ailes
Comment posted October 7, 2009 @ 3:43 pm

The real question is who wrote the Pantload's tome, Liberal Fascism: How I Was Potty-Trained on Stories of the Third Reich.


Matt
Comment posted October 7, 2009 @ 4:16 pm

How about “Bookbaggers”, “Birthbookdeatherbaggers” would be too long for them:-)


SEK
Comment posted October 7, 2009 @ 6:22 pm

I believe “ghosters” is the term of choice.


strangely_enough
Comment posted October 7, 2009 @ 6:22 pm

Bill Ayers wrote it.


Bas-O-Matic
Comment posted October 7, 2009 @ 9:05 pm

Date: Wednesday, 7 October 2009 08:58:18 -0700 (EDT)
From: William Ayers [wayers@acornrulestheworld.fak]
To: Right Wing Blogosphere
Subject: CONFIDENTIAL PROPOSAL

My name is Mr. William Ayers. I am Minister of the Pimp and Ho Housing Advisory Department of Acorn for Lagos, Nigeria. I write you in respect of one of my clients, one Barry Soetro of Mombasa Kenya, otherwise known as Barack Hussein Obama.

Without knowledge to the general public, his autobiographical work, Dreams of my Father, was in fact ghostwritten by myself and a committee consisting of the leaders of Al Qaeda, the Communist Internationale, and the Bilderbirgers in the hopes diminishing the vitality of the American public.

Obviously this would be a matter of great embarrassment to the great and glorious Obama should it ever become public, and, to that effect Mr Soetro has agreed to deposit a sum of money to the First International Bank of Nigeria equaling 1 Million U.S. dollars a day since the birth of Jesus Christ to fund our campaign to take away the guns of the American people to weaken them for their eventual takeover by the United Nations. Unfortunately, in order to keep the requisite degree of separation between myself, my compatriots and the holy and wise Obama whose coming was foretold in the Koran, the Satanic Bible, and the Communist Manifesto, we are unable to retrieve these funds ourselves.

Based on the reason that nobody can come forward to claim the deposit, I hereby ask for your co operation in using your name to send these funds out to a foreign offshore bank a/c for mutual sharing between myself and you. At this point I am the only one with the information because I have removed the account information from the files of my co-conspirators.

What is required is to send an application laying claim of the account in your name. I will need your full name and address telephone/fax number, company or residential, also your bank name and account where the money will be transferred into.

When you contact me, then we shall discuss on how the money will be split between us and the others we shall also speak in details. I am currently in Iran visiting with Mahmood Ahmadinejad for a six months course on Holocaust denial, you can reach me at this number for further
discussion 5555 555 555 5555. Kindly send your reply to my private email address wayers@acornrulestheworld.fak.

Trusting to hear from you,

God Damn America,

Mr William Ayers.
wayers@acornrulestheworld.fak.
(5555 555 555 5555)


Swami_Binkinanda
Comment posted October 7, 2009 @ 10:56 pm

Jesus wrote it, Obama was just covering for him.


Wednesday’s Reading Room « scottwilder.com
Pingback posted October 14, 2009 @ 1:33 am

[...] Did Domestic Terrorist Bill Ayers Write Obama’s Memoir? [...]


bobnordberg
Comment posted October 29, 2009 @ 1:20 pm

>Lets just go over a few facts shall we! ……………. Both in Ayres writing and in Obamas Dreams we have the commonallity of 1 Story of Tidal river….#2 older male explain to younger about tidal river…..#3 tidal river is the Hudson River …..#4 Story has both teaching moment standing on exact szme spot on Hudson Rivr…..#5 both books talk of “Frantz Fanon”….#6 Both books spell “Frantz Fanon” WRONG IN BOTH BOOKS !!!!! Hello are you starting o get the Pitcure??? Here if some more both Ayers in [A Kind and Just Parent] and Obama in [Dreams from My Father] make reference to the poet Carl Sandburg. In itself, this is not a grand revelation Let us call it a C-level match. Obama and Ayers seem to have shared the same library in any case . . . Ayers and Obama, however, go beyond citing Sandburg. Each quotes the opening line of his poem “Chicago” . . . This I would call a B-level match. What raises it up a notch to an A-level match is the fact that both misquote “Chicago,” and they do so in exactly the same way…..MMM MMM MMM ..Maybe you get why Fox news needs to be discredited….Maybe now you know why Obama needs you to turn them off ….Maybe now you are wondering if maybe Billy could use this against the President ? Maybe now you know or at least supect why Obama cant raise the Troop level as he promised ….Maybe now you know why the MSM wont cover this….Maybe now you know why Eric Holder wont allow San Francisco Police reopen Ayres Bombing Follow the links down the rabbit Hole to the bigest story in the last 100 years! I'm Just Sayin..Bob Nordberg This is Me birdmanbob4@gmail.com
> The truth will set you free! Here is the info for the B Cast
> Scott Baker | Liz Stephans
http://hotmetalmedia.tv
thebcast@gmail.com
AOL IM: bcastlive
Twitter: @thebcast The b cast Breitbart link http://www.breitbart.tv/?cat=49 Old B Cast show from before the election http://www.breitbart.tv/the-b-cast-writer-makes… this is the-B-Cast link giving me credit for tip on new book with eye witnesses http://www.breitbart.tv/the-b-cast-new-claims-c… / . link to San Francisco Story of Eric Holder blocking investigation http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/…

Jack Cashill http://www.cashill.com/ C. Anderson Noted Arthur wnd site http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageI… Thomas Lipschomb http://pajamasmedia.com/blog/what-if-ayers-joke…


bobnordberg
Comment posted October 29, 2009 @ 5:20 pm

>Lets just go over a few facts shall we! ……………. Both in Ayres writing and in Obamas Dreams we have the commonallity of 1 Story of Tidal river….#2 older male explain to younger about tidal river…..#3 tidal river is the Hudson River …..#4 Story has both teaching moment standing on exact szme spot on Hudson Rivr…..#5 both books talk of “Frantz Fanon”….#6 Both books spell “Frantz Fanon” WRONG IN BOTH BOOKS !!!!! Hello are you starting o get the Pitcure??? Here if some more both Ayers in [A Kind and Just Parent] and Obama in [Dreams from My Father] make reference to the poet Carl Sandburg. In itself, this is not a grand revelation Let us call it a C-level match. Obama and Ayers seem to have shared the same library in any case . . . Ayers and Obama, however, go beyond citing Sandburg. Each quotes the opening line of his poem “Chicago” . . . This I would call a B-level match. What raises it up a notch to an A-level match is the fact that both misquote “Chicago,” and they do so in exactly the same way…..MMM MMM MMM ..Maybe you get why Fox news needs to be discredited….Maybe now you know why Obama needs you to turn them off ….Maybe now you are wondering if maybe Billy could use this against the President ? Maybe now you know or at least supect why Obama cant raise the Troop level as he promised ….Maybe now you know why the MSM wont cover this….Maybe now you know why Eric Holder wont allow San Francisco Police reopen Ayres Bombing Follow the links down the rabbit Hole to the bigest story in the last 100 years! I'm Just Sayin..Bob Nordberg This is Me birdmanbob4@gmail.com
> The truth will set you free! Here is the info for the B Cast
> Scott Baker | Liz Stephans
http://hotmetalmedia.tv
thebcast@gmail.com
AOL IM: bcastlive
Twitter: @thebcast The b cast Breitbart link http://www.breitbart.tv/?cat=49 Old B Cast show from before the election http://www.breitbart.tv/the-b-cast-writer-makes… this is the-B-Cast link giving me credit for tip on new book with eye witnesses http://www.breitbart.tv/the-b-cast-new-claims-c… / . link to San Francisco Story of Eric Holder blocking investigation http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/…

Jack Cashill http://www.cashill.com/ C. Anderson Noted Arthur wnd site http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageI… Thomas Lipschomb http://pajamasmedia.com/blog/what-if-ayers-joke…


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