Friday, October 10, 2008

This should not have to be said, but...

...Barack Obama is not a messiah,

...Barack Obama is
not an Arab,

...Barack Obama is not a Muslim, and


... Barack Obama is not a terrorist.


With all due respect, Reverend Farrakhan, you just need to keep this inflammatory messiah commentary to yourself; being Arab is a matter of birth, just like being Irish or French or Greek, or being Pennsylvanian or Oregonian; choosing to be or being born Muslim is no different than choosing to be or being born Baptist or Catholic or Buddhist; and what a complete, albeit unfunny, crock of a joke the whole terrorist thing is.

All these claims are ludicrous, and, as such, no one should ever have to make the counter-claims.

But they're being made nevertheless, and John McCain's campaign should be ashamed of itself for allowing its part of this BS to continue as long as it has. Saying they don' t approve of said BS (and the covert email and Internet campaigns that promote it) is the same argument they're trying to make against Obama vis-a-vis Ayers. Obama clearly said he condemns Ayers' prior acts. Why, then, isn't it enough for Obama to condemn Ayers' acts, when it is enough for the McCain campaign to claim they don't approve of people using Obama's middle name as an epithet? This is a complete contradiction (a.k.a. hypocrisy).

People have a right to say whatever they want, but the listeners have a right to disagree with what's been said, and these claims and the arguments and propaganda that led to them are so ridiculous that they would be laughable if the reality of the situation behind them wasn't so sad (so scary), and that reality is this: apparently people are stupid enough and are hateful enough and are prejudiced enough to believe such utter nonsense.

What other conclusion can
be derived? What other inference can be drawn? And what an odd combination of accusations: a messiah and a terrorist?!? Yikes. Why not just move past the limits of reason and claim he's an ET? This claim couldn't be any more absurd.

Look, Peggy Noonan is right: political discourse just has to be raised above this gutter level of personal attacks, these specious questions about citizenship, about patriotism, about heritage. Moreover, John McCain just has to step up and make an effort to do this now, before it's too late. Such a simple act on John's part might cost him the election, but if he does this, if he comes clean about this, he just might be remembered for having done it instead of being remembered for the alternative, which I just can't see as anything but horrible.

This is not John McCain's fault, but... his continued silence is deafening.

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