October 12, 2001

The Left's Self-Destructive Extremism

By ALAN WOLFE

"The barbarism unleashed against innocent human beings on September 11 has in an instant transformed the complex landscape of American consciousness," one professor recently wrote. "I'm filled with horror and grief for those murdered and harmed, for their families and for all affected forever."

The words were very much like those expressed by people all across the United States. But the writer was anything but typical. For Bill Ayers, professor of education at the University of