For friends and family members, my political leanings in this presidential election are not much of a secret. And so, as you can imagine, it is with concern that I have been reading about rowdy crowds at McCain and Palin speeches yelling that Obama is a terrorist and should be killed. I understand that running negative ads is a time-honored (and unfortunately, effective) campaign strategy. But things are getting out of control. I think this editorial by Frank Rich said it best (full text at http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/12/opinion/12rich.htm):
IF you think way back to the start of this marathon campaign, back when it seemed preposterous that any black man could be a serious presidential contender, then you remember the biggest fear about Barack Obama: a crazy person might take a shot at him.
Some voters told reporters that they didn’t want Obama to run, let alone win, should his very presence unleash the demons who have stalked America from Lincoln to King. After consultation with Congress, Michael Chertoff, the homeland security secretary, gave Obama a Secret Service detail earlier than any presidential candidate in our history — in May 2007, some eight months before the first Democratic primaries.
“I’ve got the best protection in the world, so stop worrying,” Obama reassured his supporters. Eventually the country got conditioned to his appearing in large arenas without incident (though I confess that the first loud burst of fireworks at the end of his convention stadium speech gave me a start). In America, nothing does succeed like success. The fear receded.
Until now. At McCain-Palin rallies, the raucous and insistent cries of “Treason!” and “Terrorist!” and “Kill him!” and “Off with his head!” as well as the uninhibited slinging of racial epithets, are actually something new in a campaign that has seen almost every conceivable twist. They are alarms. Doing nothing is not an option.
...By the time McCain asks the crowd “Who is the real Barack Obama?” it’s no surprise that someone cries out “Terrorist!” The rhetorical conflation of Obama with terrorism is complete. It is stoked further by the repeated invocation of Obama’s middle name by surrogates introducing McCain and Palin at these rallies. This sleight of hand at once synchronizes with the poisonous Obama-is-a-Muslim e-mail blasts and shifts the brand of terrorism from Ayers’s Vietnam-era variety to the radical Islamic threats of today.
That’s a far cry from simply accusing Obama of being a guilty-by-association radical leftist. Obama is being branded as a potential killer and an accessory to past attempts at murder. “Barack Obama’s friend tried to kill my family” was how a McCain press release last week packaged the remembrance of a Weather Underground incident from 1970 — when Obama was 8.
We all know what punishment fits the crime of murder, or even potential murder, if the security of post-9/11 America is at stake. We all know how self-appointed “patriotic” martyrs always justify taking the law into their own hands.
...What’s troubling here is not only the candidates’ loose inflammatory talk but also their refusal to step in promptly and strongly when someone responds to it with bloodthirsty threats in a crowded arena. Joe Biden had it exactly right when he expressed concern last week that “a leading American politician who might be vice president of the United States would not just stop midsentence and turn and condemn that.” To stay silent is to pour gas on the fires.
Amen. We are not a backwards, corrupted, faltering third-world democracy. Political games are one thing; inciting to riot and violence is another. For the sake of our nation, I dearly hope this all comes to nothing.
2 comments:
It was so fun to hear from you. We have been hearing how cute the baby is from Louise and so it was good to finally see pictures. He really is a doll. Hope everything is going good with you guys!
I don't like Barack Obama. I don't like McCain either. So I do hope I'm commenting objectively.
I listened several times to the clips and couldn't hear those shouts myself, so I can see how they didn't respond. But If someone shouted "Kill Him" I would not be surprised if the person were a plant trying to make a bad campaign look worse, NOR would I be surprised if its were a bigot who meant it. Either way, it IS awful.
I am a bit surprised at the accusations that McCain and Palin didn't respond to the shouts, considering I couldn't even hear them myself, so I don't think it's particularly fair to tie to their campaign.
The "Terrorist" bit.. definitely unfair to abuse his middle name. I haven't heard McCain or Palin call him "B. Hussein Obama" like so may people have. I can't say I've heard them speak up about it either though.
But on the other hand, I also think its misleading to say that Ayers 'was' a terrorist when Obama was eight. One might say that Ayers 'was' a murderer when Obama was ten, but now he's not a murderer anymore, just a professor who brags about having gotten away with it. ;-)
How well they know each other and actually agree with each other, that I don't know, but I think its funny that everyone focuses on the 'eight years old' bit when it's not even true.
I AM concerned though that the things he and his wife say, combined with the things that are happening around us, seem to fit well with some rather disturbing Alinsky theory. Alinsky believes in manipulating people with shame, fear, anger, despair, jealousy, (Insert any negative emotion here). Basically get them into fight or flight mode, then dangle a sweet little carrot of hope. Even if the hope is illogical, they're too wound up to think things through, and with their eyes on the prize, they're very easily controlled. Alinsky says this must be done to facilitate radical social change, with democracy being just an intermediate step, and with the end goal justifying whatever means it takes to get there.
Yeah, Jared thinks its hilarious that I actually believe this but .. there you have my opinion anyway. I'd also venture to say Mr. Obama is certainly not the only politician out there using the same methods.
"We are not a backwards, corrupted, faltering third-world democracy. Political games are one thing; inciting to riot and violence is another. For the sake of our nation, I dearly hope this all comes to nothing."
I dearly hope so too.
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