Former Weather Underground leaders William Ayers and Bernardine Dohrn made an appearance at San Francisco’s Modern Times Bookstore on February 21 to promote their new book Race Course Against White Supremacy.

I attended the event for one reason only: To see what kind of reception San Francisco would give to these two former terrorists. I took a few photos, but luckily someone who goes by the name “SFPatriot” took some videos as well and sent them in to me; they are presented below, along with my photos.

It was quite clear that just about every single person there (except me) idolized these two unapologetic violent revolutionaries. The entire store was packed full of people.

But we ran smack dab into what I call the Ayers-Dohrn Paradox, which is:
Ayers and Dohrn gained fame as violent revolutionaries willing to commit murder and other terrorist acts in order to overthrow the United States. For that, they were greatly worshipped by the far left. Now, in their sunset years, they’re trying to re-cast themselves as “respectable” left-wing professors with “reasonable” opinions, who have long ago sworn off violence. And so, at these events, neither of them ever mentions their violent heyday, except rarely in passing. Instead, they focus exclusively on their current obsessions: Introducing Marxist thought into schools, and closing down the prison system. However, almost no one who goes to see Ayers and Dohrn gives a damn about hearing monotonous lectures on these particular topics: instead, their fans idolize them because of their violent revolutionary past. So at these events, the audience (as in this case) is full of far-far-far-left radicals who came in order to hear overheated revolutionary rhetoric. But instead, what they get is a boring professorial monologue. If Ayers and Dohrn were nothing more than your run-of-the-mill leftist professors, no one would go to their appearances. They’re coasting on their violent reputation, while at the same time trying to distance themselves from it. And that is the Ayers-Dohrn Paradox.

(Video by “SFPatriot”)
This video shows one of the very few references to their past made all night: During the introduction by fellow former radical Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz (who now works at Modern Times Bookstore), the following exchange occurred, which produced the biggest laugh of the night:

Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz: “Bill and Bernardine have been a collaborative pair for so long, I don’t even think of them as a married couple, even though they have three children and grandchildren and all. They’re partners in…um…in um…
Bernardine Dohrn: “Crime.”
Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz: “Crime.”
Audience: [Laughter.]

Bernardine Dohrn: A life of crime. And proud of it.

(Video by “SFPatriot”)
I’m not particularly interested in simply reporting what Ayers and Dohrn had to say. In fact, during Ayers’ speech, that’s exactly what he recommended: Do not let your ideological enemies even get the opportunity to present their narrative. Besides which, they both already have way too much of a platform. But I’ll show a little mercy here and give Bernardine a minute in this video to explain the thesis of their book, Race Course Against White Supremacy.

There. Having seen SFPatriot’s video, aren’t you glad you missed the rest of the lecture?

(Video by “SFPatriot”)
Just like our new Attorney General Eric Holder, Dohrn and Ayers think the United States is “a nation of cowards” for not “talking about race” enough — as if 23 hours per day isn’t satisfactory. In this video, Dohrn says she agrees with Eric Holder. Which is exactly what Obama’s detractors were saying during the campaign — that Obama would appoint people to powerful government positions who would in fact be promoting the Ayers/Dohrn philosophy. And now we know — that’s exactly what has happened.

“Guilty as hell — free as a bird!”