Silly Season
I remember during the primaries, Barack Obama threw out a known political phrase about the campaigns heading into "silly season." If that was silly season, the last week has been more like a terrifying season. When people are shouting out things like "kill him," "terrorist," and "treason" at political rallies, we have gone too far.
On politifact.com, Barack Obama has one "pants on fire" rating for an ad linking John McCain to Rush Limbaugh, certainly a pretty silly accusation. It's fairly well known that McCain, at least compared to many of his peers, is a moderate conservative. Rush Limbaugh has frequently criticized McCain for his more moderate views, especially during the Republican primaries. They're not friends. Now take a look at this one silly ad and compare it McCain's seven "pants on fire" ratings, his most recent coming from the whole William Ayers angle.
Both campaigns have been guilty in the past of a dirty kind of politics, but McCain's campaign has, in the past week, made these types of accusations the core of his campaign. With the recent accusations of ACORN committing voter fraud, you can bet his campaign will (because they already have) blow an isolated incident grossly out of proportion in an attempt to discredit thousands of legitimately registered new voters. They'll also try to make people afraid by playing up political associations that are tenuous at best. Let's be serious here. Ayers was a terrorist when Obama was a child. The only relationship that Obama has had with him in adulthood was to serve alongside him on a board pursuing educational reform in Chicago--a project funded by a Republican, and a board on which many Republicans also served (a few of whom have now actually donated to McCain's campaign).
It's clear from reading this who I support for President, but that's not really the point. The point is that we cannot let fear decide another United States Presidential election. We have had our fears manipulated for 8 years by a now impotent administration that--when we are now struggling with a genuine, and not manufactured, fear--is unable to comfort the American people in the face of a crisis. Fear monger administrations can create panic and insecurity very well when it suits their purposes, but what can they do to quell public anxiety that is not of their own making? Apparently nothing.
The importance of this election, even more than who wins, is why we put them there. In November, let's prove that we are not all ruled by fear, that we are not all this gullible.
On politifact.com, Barack Obama has one "pants on fire" rating for an ad linking John McCain to Rush Limbaugh, certainly a pretty silly accusation. It's fairly well known that McCain, at least compared to many of his peers, is a moderate conservative. Rush Limbaugh has frequently criticized McCain for his more moderate views, especially during the Republican primaries. They're not friends. Now take a look at this one silly ad and compare it McCain's seven "pants on fire" ratings, his most recent coming from the whole William Ayers angle.
Both campaigns have been guilty in the past of a dirty kind of politics, but McCain's campaign has, in the past week, made these types of accusations the core of his campaign. With the recent accusations of ACORN committing voter fraud, you can bet his campaign will (because they already have) blow an isolated incident grossly out of proportion in an attempt to discredit thousands of legitimately registered new voters. They'll also try to make people afraid by playing up political associations that are tenuous at best. Let's be serious here. Ayers was a terrorist when Obama was a child. The only relationship that Obama has had with him in adulthood was to serve alongside him on a board pursuing educational reform in Chicago--a project funded by a Republican, and a board on which many Republicans also served (a few of whom have now actually donated to McCain's campaign).
It's clear from reading this who I support for President, but that's not really the point. The point is that we cannot let fear decide another United States Presidential election. We have had our fears manipulated for 8 years by a now impotent administration that--when we are now struggling with a genuine, and not manufactured, fear--is unable to comfort the American people in the face of a crisis. Fear monger administrations can create panic and insecurity very well when it suits their purposes, but what can they do to quell public anxiety that is not of their own making? Apparently nothing.
The importance of this election, even more than who wins, is why we put them there. In November, let's prove that we are not all ruled by fear, that we are not all this gullible.