By Gene Daily

There is a new Robert Redford movie out called “The Company You Keep.” For old people like me, it reminds me of the lessons taught in our youth. We were taught that you will be judged by the company you keep. For me, that phrase “the company you keep” was conveyed forcefully, especially by my Grandmother, the guiding influence on my life till her death.

For her, and many like her, it was imperative to surround yourself with people who would enrich your standing in the community. Your word, given over a handshake, was suppose to be stronger than any contract. To her, the only encumbrance upon that theory was your reputation, and your reputation was greatly impacted for the good or for the bad dependent upon The Company You Keep. Your previous conduct, added to those you were known to associate with and by your previous record of keeping your word, summed up how the small town I lived in saw you as a person. Thankfully, in my small town USA, your family background, while it played a part in how others perceived you, was limited as so many of us were economically regarded as poor but happy.

It seems to me that this ethic has lost most of its impact upon those who are now in the administration. In part, I suppose, this is part and parcel of growing up in what is now considered flyover country, a portion of the country whose opinion matters very little to those from the power centers such as Washington, LA, New York, and (lest we forget) Chicago. We must remember that the President matured in his political standing, surrounded and influenced by those leaders of the enlightened few in Chicago.

Perhaps we should again look at those enlightened few who have so influenced our “Great Leader” to find how this may have impacted his thoughts and actions since his arrival in the most powerful position in the world. What were their aims and motivations? What does history say about their reputations? And how should he be viewed in light of The Company He Keeps?

Bill Ayers, about whom there has been much comment but very little context, has admitted that he hosted Obama’s political coming-out party. Ayers is also a self-described revolutionary and an unrepentant terrorist. His only regret, according to his own lips, is they did not do enough bombing and other direct action. He was part of the Weather Underground Movement, around which the movie “The Company You Keep” is based. Part fiction and part fact, the movie conveniently leaves out their close ties to the Black Panthers Party and their group’s declaration of war against the United States. Bill Ayers was a founding member and leader of this group along with his wife Bernadine Dohrn. They were but two of the members who split from the Students For A Democratic Society, the original group founded upon the principles of bringing about a revolution in the USA and creating a communist society

From: http://www.westernjournalism.com/the-company-you-keep/