Celebrity Biographer Seems to Confirm, Maybe, That Bill Ayers Wrote Dreams From My Father

Proof? We'll see.

Relying on inside sources, quite possibly Michelle Obama herself, Andersen describes how Dreams came to be published -- just as I had envisioned it in my articles on the authorship of Dreams. With the deadline pressing, Michelle recommended that Barack seek advice from "his friend and Hyde Park neighbor Bill Ayers."

To flesh out his family history, Obama had taped interviews with various family members. Andersen writes, "These oral histories, along with a partial manuscript and a truckload of notes, were given to Ayers." Andersen quotes a Hyde Park neighbor, "Everyone knew they were friends and that they worked on various projects together. It was no secret. Why would it be? People liked them both."

Andersen continues, "In the end, Ayers's contribution to Barack's Dreams From My Father would be significant--so much so that the book's language, oddly specific references, literary devices, and themes would bear a jarring similarity to Ayers's own writing."

You may or may not know that this is the one crazy, kooky conspiracy theory I have embraced. Cashill's theory struck me as overwrought partisan dementia-twaddle... until I actually read it. It's hard to prove authorship based merely on reading-ease scores and sentence length and an odd fascination for maritime metaphors, but Cashill sure proved it wasn't crazy to notice these "two" authors shared a lot in common, including the odd ability to find a metaphor for life in a tidal river that flowed one way or the other depending on the moon.

Proof? Depends. "Celebrity biographer" is generally not a profession held in high esteem or usually thought to convey a sense of integrity. It's possible Andersen even read Cashill's thesis before turning to his autobiography, thus putting the idea in his head and, as happens, causing him to read too much into quotes about Ayers "helping" Obama.

But. Still. Who is the source for this? I'd sure like to know. If it's someone without a motive to lie against Obama, and in a position to know... then game over, Ayers wrote the damn book, and Obama is not the rara avis that Chris "Fat Moon-Faced Retard" Buckley fell in love with.

posted by Ace at 12:30 AM

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