From NBC Chicago, Jan 21, 2009:
Bill Ayers was "overflowing with happiness, relief, love" when he and his wife went to Grant Park with tens of thousands of Chicagoans to celebrate the election of President Barack Obama.
Ayers and his wife, Bernardine Dohrn, spoke exclusively with NBC Chicago's Dick Johnson about why they joined the Election Night celebration in the park, where 40 years before they helped stage the Days of Rage riots.
The couple said they got last-minute tickets from a friend to be in Grant Park that night.
"I couldn't stop crying a couple of times. I found the exact spot where I was beaten 40 years ago," Ayers said. "But I've never been in a crowd that large that wasn't edged with either anger or drunkenness or gluttony, and it was really an extraordinary feeling."
Maligned as terrorists by Obama's opponents because of their activities in the late '60s, Ayers told NBC Chicago that he and his wife condemn all forms of terrorism. They prefer labels like activist and radical -- although these days, they're more likely to be called professor, or grandma and grandpa.
Oh, gag me. "Maligned" as terrorists!! Poor Grandma and Grandpa! If I bombed a bunch of national buildings, robbed a Brinks truck, and took part in a few murders, I'd much "prefer" being called an activist too. Do you think the dead cop's kids, when they think about their Daddy's "free as a bird" murderer, call him an activist?