Voting Station

Bernardine Dohrn

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Outlaw

The Resume

    (January 12, 1942- )
    Born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin
    Birth name was Bernardine Ohrnstein
    Member of the radical Weathermen
    Named to the FBI's 10 Most Wanted list (1970)
    Fugitive (1970-80)
    Named adjunct professor of law at Northwestern University (1991)
    Director of Northwestern's Children and Family Justice Center
    Married fellow Weatherman Bill Ayers

Why she might be annoying:

    She called fellow leftists 'scared honkies' for not burning down Chicago to protest the death of Black Panther Fred Hampton.
    At a Weathermen 'war council' she said of the Manson Family, 'Dig it! First they killed those pigs and then they put a fork in their bellies. Wild,' and gave a three-fingered 'fork salute.'
    She later claimed she was making a joke to mock American violence, but David Horowitz noted that he interviewed over 30 Weathermen and 'Not one of them thought Dohrn was anything but deadly serious.'
    She wrote, 'We are building a Communist organization... to lead the working class to seize power and build socialism.'
    She served seven months in jail for refusing to testify to a grand jury about a former Weatherman accused of robbing a bank (1981).
    Asked about the Weathermen bombing campaign, she said 'I think what happened during that era was generally appropriate and restrained.'

Why she might not be annoying:

    One radical said, 'She had the most amazing legs - every draft resister on the East Coast knew those legs.'
    Federal charges against her were dropped because of prosecutorial misconduct.
    She admitted, 'I wish I hadn't been arrogant and self-righteous.'
    A spokesperson for Northwestern said, 'While many would take issue with views Ms. Dohrn expressed during the 1960s, her career at the law school is an example of a person's ability to make a difference in the legal system.'

Credit: C. Fishel


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    For 2024, as of last weekly ranking, Out of 1 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2023, Out of 212 Votes: 67.92% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 26 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 16 Votes: 93.75% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 185 Votes: 54.05% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 748 Votes: 53.48% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 568 Votes: 57.92% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 639 Votes: 69.95% Annoying
    In 2016, Out of 107 Votes: 60.75% Annoying
    In 2015, Out of 370 Votes: 61.35% Annoying
    In 2014, Out of 434 Votes: 51.61% Annoying
    In 2013, Out of 766 Votes: 59.92% Annoying
    In 2012, Out of 199 Votes: 75.38% Annoying
    In 2011, Out of 295 Votes: 78.98% Annoying
    In 2010, Out of 487 Votes: 70.64% Annoying
    In 2009, Out of 1238 Votes: 72.21% Annoying
    In 2008, Out of 776 Votes: 79.77% Annoying