Not since Bill Clinton denied the plain meanings of "sex" and "is" has a Democrat been such a word stickler as is Barack Obama. He insists that Sarah Palin is wrong when she levies the charge that Obama was a "pal" of Weather Underground radical William Ayers.
To paraphrase Lloyd Bentsen badly out of context, Obama's response to the Republican vice presidential candidate is: I knew William Ayers. I was a friend of Williams Ayers. But William Ayers was no "pal" of mine.
(Actually what Palin said was that Obama was "palling around with" Ayers. Yes, that is the correct way to spell "pal" when the "ing" is added, but it keeps suggesting the word should be pronounced "pauling", which is annoying.)
Where is that other William -- as in Safire -- to parse a word when you need him? In his absence, there is Thefreedictionary.com, which provides, among others, the following definitions and synonyms:
Noun
1. pal - a close friend who accompanies his buddies in their activitiesbuddy, chum, crony, sidekick, brother
cobber - Australian term for a palfriend - a person you know well and regard with affection and trust; "he was my best friend at the university"
Verb
1. pal - become friends; act friendly towardschum up, pal up
befriend - become friends with; "John and Eric soon became friends"; "Have you made friends yet in your new environment?"
wn()
Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2008 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.
pal
noun (Informal) friend, companion, mate (informal) buddy (informal) comrade, chum (informal) crony, cock Brit. (informal) main man (slang), chiefly U.S. homeboy (slang), chiefly U.S. cobber Austral., N.Z. (old-fashioned), (informal) boon companion, E hoa N.Z.
hc_thes()
Collins Essential Thesaurus 2nd Edition 2006 © HarperCollins Publishers 2005, 2006
Let's see, Ayers was a neighber of Obama, they served on boards together, and Ayers helped launch Obama's political career, even holding a party for Obama in Ayers' home. Let the reader decide for herself whether any of the above fits.
Update: The Drudge Report has linked an article describing one occasion when Ayers, Barack and Michelle Obama shared the stage.
Update: Drudge also has a link to an RNC piece listing the ties between Ayers and Obama.
Please note: The postings of "G. Morris", written by John K. Bush and which end in 2016, stated his views as of the dates of posting and should not be understood as current assertions of his views. The postings, which have not been altered since they came to an end, remain on this blog to preserve the historical record. In 2017, Mr. Bush took a position that precludes further public political comments or endorsements. He will no longer be contributing to this blog.
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pal·in (pāl’ĭn) v. palined, palin·ing, palins 1. To flub, fail or otherwise stumble in response to simple, predictable questions in an interview; to give an off-topic and incoherent or syntactically suspect response to a simple, predictable question in an interview; to do likewise in any other human endeavor. 2. To fabricate an untruth, that is easily verifiable as such, in response to a question for which one does not know the answer.
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