", 24 August 2008 (UTC) OK, I've read the arguments pro and con on this one, and decided to read some of the articles themselves. They're all, as has been noted several times, news about the smears, not support for those smears. I had thought Ayers and Obama had some kind of friendship beyond their professional dealings, but there is absolutely zero evidence of that. I'm disappointed... I had assumed WorkerBee74 had read some of those articles he found in Nexis. They fall into two categories: 1) Editorials and opinion pieces claiming  largely without evidence  that there was some kind of non-professional connection. 2) News stories about those claims. I couldn't find a single, solitary news article that states as fact that Obama and Ayers shared anything more than positions in the same organization. I assumed good faith when I wrote the statement that I've just struck. It seems I was mistaken to. This is an attempt to use Wikipedia to smear someone through guilt by association, and I apologize to everyone for being taken in by it. This is Wikipedia, people. Not your personal soapbox.  19:04"