Desperate Appeals to Rabid Right Endangering Discourse, and Obama

I was watching Bill Moyers Journal last night and his guest, Glenn Loury, Professor of Social Sciences and Economics at Brown University, touched on a point that has been bothering me for some time but I am not sure if I have mentioned:

“Should Obama win, now you have a president of the United States who a lot of people think is illegitimate as a person who consorts with murderers, as a person who’s sympathetic to terrorists. It’s de-legitimating of the president of the United States. It’s poisoning the well in a certain way.

You do what you have to do to win an election. But then after the election the person has to govern. And now what has been said about that person continues to echo in the minds of citizens. And I’m worried that in this case the suggestion that Obama is somehow going to get in the White House and, you know, sell out the country will hurt all of us should he win and need to govern.”

I actually was quite fond of John McCain before this election started, personally, and to an extent, as a politician (“to an extent” is just about as far as I’ll go to saying I like any Senator).  I have been saddened to watch his decline to desperation in attempts to win an unwinnable election (nothing short of a miracle could have re-elected a Republican President, post-Bush).

That he has gambled and been desperate in his campaign seems understandable.  That he has resorted heavily to negative campaigning and attacking his opponent is only typical for an underdog (and he has been the underdog for nearly the entire campaign).  Even his nomination of Sarah Palin was understandable to me at the time (though I was unable to imagine how dim the Governor of Alaska could be).

But his campaign’s attempts to associate Barack Obama with terrorism and anti-Americanism go beyond the pale.  I may hate it, but I do understand the role lies, obfuscations, and suggestion serve in a campaign.  But there exists a large number of Americans who feel that those are capital crimes.  And who might go as far as to believe Sarah Palin or John McCain’s suggestions of such are tantamount to a fair trial, short of an executioner.

And John McCain cannot plead ignorance to the existence of the monumentally stupid (on the left and the right) as he still holds the belief the rumours of his “illegitimate black child” (The Nation reflected on this episode recently) had an impact on his loss in the 2000 South Carolina primary.

In his all-out bid to win, John McCain has actively or acquiesced to (I question his judgment, but I still do have some faith in his character) replicating this brand of lies and even heightening them by charging Obama with a much greater crime, in the eyes of the dimmest Americans, than miscegenation:  Treason.

That it has failed to sufficiently slow Obama’s campaign says very little, but is at least a positive.  As Glenn Loury suggests, that Barack Obama will have to govern with a small number of citizens who actively believe a man is in office who actively conspires to destroy the nation is now the reality.

In efforts to win this election, John McCain has destroyed any faith those who supported him in the past had in his judgment, and most any trust we had in his character.  I dearly hope this is enough for him to lose re-election in the Senate in the near future, beyond his loss in tomorrow’s election.

At the same time, through his most dangerous accusations, he has literally endangered the life of his competitor.  This seems to be a bit of a taboo topic, but Barack Obama (or the First Black President in general) was going to be faced with threats to his life beyond that faced perhaps by any previous president regardless (four of whom were assassinated, and six of whom had attempts made on their lives.  I include Theodore Roosevelt, which that link does not).

Not only are those who are racially motivated likely to threaten Barack Obama, but due to the implicit support offered by the flagbearers of the Republican party and the associations they have created and nurtured, American ‘patriots’ will be after him as well.

That John McCain was willing to trade in the past 20 years or so of goodwill he engendered with Independents, Democrats, and some Republicans in seeking the highest office in the land is a personal failure of his own choosing.  That he has chosen, actively or through ignorance, to endanger the life of his opposition to increase his own chances is a trade he had no right to make.

Regardless of what may happen in the coming eight years, I hope John McCain reflects on his actions and understands that his lies may have been justified and limited to the campaign in his mind, but they are certainly not limited to the campaign by many of those who will vote McCain/Palin tomorrow.

… and the cow goes moo