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October 9, 2008

All Pretense of Impartiality Goes Out That Window

Be afraid. Be very afraid.

Last Saturday, when I was pulling the Egg into a parking space at the Centennial Airport, having arrived to join other Colorado Women Against Palin in peaceful protest, I noticed a older man getting out of a pick up truck covered in McCain stickers a few spaces behind me. I had no more opened my door before he yelled at me, "I guess you don't read, do ya." Oh, jesus, here we go. I donned the most beatific smile my jaw could hold and with every fiber of patient kindness I could muster, I turned toward him and asked, in my most calm, first grade teacher voice (yeah, uh-huh, it sounded just as condescending as I am describing), "Now, what would make you say a silly thing like that?" And thus began twenty minutes of patiently cornering and twisting off every single crazy, bullshit argument against Obama this bigoted, xenophobic, sexist, dumb shit American could throw my way.

I am balls out tired of holding in my elitist nature, damn it. I AM educated! I DO cherish critical thought. I DO read newspapers, even the ones I don't agree with (what better way to craft a tight argument?). I had a father who dragged his life out of a one room tenement with no electricity or toilet, who worked through middle school, high school, college and medical school so that he could provide for his children a better, safer childhood than he had. In my household, education WAS religion and every day were expected to worship the twin gods of vocabulary and science. I will be damned if I will sit back and watch an entire political party say on one hand they want to fund education and then on the other, dish this "reg'lar American" bullshit to the smallest minded, the least informed, and the most easily manipulated, winking while reminding Joe Six Pack to fear those more educated than himself.

In the last four days we have seen racism and fear intentionally and proudly injected into the Republican's campaign strategy as a way to "rally their troops" or, in my opinion, whip up the most noxious mob frenzy since the end of the Wiemer Republic (their economy was in a panicked crisis as well). I recognize deft mob manipulation when I see it. It was this very kind of hate mongering that the Nazis effectively employed in Germany in the 1930's to sell their brand of fascism to "the people." It was this kind of pandering to the lowest common human denominator, the rawest form of emotional and visceral hatred, that allowed half of my family to be decimated in Europe.

Take the following, for example:
“The inheritance which has fallen to us is a terrible one. The task with which we are faced is the hardest which has fallen to American statesmen within the memory of man. But we are all filled with unbounded confidence for we believe in our people and their imperishable virtues. Every class and every individual must help us to found the new America.

Now, people of America, give us four years and then pass judgment upon us. May God Almighty give our work His blessing, strengthen our purpose, and endow us with wisdom and the trust of our people, for we are fighting not for ourselves but for America.”

It sure sounds like Palin's recent speeches, doesn't it? What with the "difficult road ahead" and how she and McCain aren't running for themselves but for America. Country First! It speaks to a great deal of what normal American life should look like, moral and Christian (as opposed to "that one" who sees "palls around with terrorists"). All that talk of "unity" and "mavericky bipartisanship".

Exchange every "America" with Germany and you get my point. The above excerpt is taken from a speech Adolf Hitler gave to the German people on February 1, 1933 one week after being named German Chancellor by German President Hindenburg. Call it hyperbole, but I see no difference in Sarah Palin's dangerous political grandstanding. When the Vice-Presidential nominee doesn't see fit to stop her speech to quell the chants of "terrorist!" or "kill him!" or "treason!" then not only is she encouraging this outrageous behavior, but she is not fit to govern this nation. I hate to pull out the Jew card (after all, I only get a couple of them upon birth), but we have been down this race baiting, hate-mongering road before and it doesn't end well.

In the end, the hate spewing McCain supporter and I agreed to disagree. I couldn't convince him that Obama was the better man to lead this country (and that he isn't a terrorist) or that McCain's voting record regarding veterans' issues is miserable and he couldn't convince me that Obama's tax increases were going to kill my family and leave us starved to death. With a rictus grin plastered to my face and a relieved laugh, we said our goodbyes. A half hour later, he drove past me standing on the sidewalk and gave me the finger. Lovely.

Be careful the seeds you sow, for ignorance can breed a mighty beast:

I promise, from here on out, unless Sarah Palin pulls out a shotgun and starts firing off shells into the air at her rallies, there will be no more mention of That Woman. She is, from here on out, persona non grata and, like Voldemort, She Who Will Not Be Named. Because I believe in HOPE and, quite honestly, we as a species can be better than this.

Posted by bethamsel at October 9, 2008 4:59 PM

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Posted by: Andi at October 15, 2008 4:48 PM

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