At age 50, Bill Ayers called himself a "radical" and a "communist." As recently as 2001, Ayers had himself photographed for a magazine story trampling an American flag. But that's not good enough for the Associated Press. In an article today, AP describes Ayers as a "former radical."
AP's de-radicalization of Ayers appeared in an article about a forthcoming biography of Barack Obama, entitled The Bridge, by New Yorker editor David Remnick. Here's the line [emphasis added]:
Remnick conducted "hundreds of on-the-record interviews" for the book, including of Obama himself, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright and former radical Bill Ayers.
Interestingly, Knopf, publisher of the biography, doesn't describe Ayers as a "former radical." Rather, it lumps him with other questionable Obama associates, referring to them collectively as "more complicated figures."
Does AP know something that Knopf and the rest of us don't? Does the wire service have evidence that Ayers has renounced his radicalism since his 1995 boast about being a Communist and a radical or his 2001 American flag-stomp? Or is AP just trying to sanitize the man who helped launch Barack Obama's political career?
