Did the two former leaders of the Weathermen, a violent anti-war group that bombed banks and government buildings in the 1960s and '70s, reject their own acts of terrorism, a member of the packed audience wanted to know.
"We don't think, individually or as a group, that we were terrorists," Dohrn replied.
"We never did, and we don't think terrorism is a good idea. But the Weather Underground broke through a lot of barriers - there were 2,000 people dying a week in Vietnam, and we had 500,000 soldiers occupying a tiny country, involved in acts that would be considered war crimes by today's framework. I don't defend it, but I do insist on explaining it."
Ayers pointed to his 2001 book, "Fugitive Days: A Memoir," as "one long explanation and reflection on how people like us could be put in a place like that."
"It's not so easy to say, 'I am completely nonviolent,' because there is violence being carried on this minute in the names of everyone of us in this room. So to sit on your couch and think you're exempt from violence because you're not doing anything ... well, that's too easy."
I find that fascinating thinking. I mean, aside from the blindness to the truth that we were defending an ally against communist thugs and not "occupying" South Vietnam.
What is fascinating is that the two yuppie terrorists don't think they are terrorists. They think, however, that if they are violent people for planting bombs to stop a war, so too are people who fail to stop their government from waging that war. Each is violent in their own way.
I guess that's how they sleep at night.
It is a disgrace that two such revolting people walk our streets, let alone prosper in our society. They dress up like respectable Westerners, but they are scum. They should be hiding in a cave in some Pakistani border province worrying about JDAMs ending their lives.
