Johnny Dangerously and The American Right.

John McCain has stepped back. We'll see how long it lasts, but after TV and radio ads run by his campaign that have accused Barak Obama of being "dangerous" and a"liar," McCain actually tried to douse some of his supporters' fire by saying that Obama is a "decent person and a person you do not have to be scared of as President of the United States." These remarks came at a "town hall"-style campaign rally that, like many others recently, featured heated rhetoric by the questioners, along with shouts of "traitor," "liar," "terrorist," and even "off with his head." So what are we to make of these outbursts? Frightened citizens wanting to protect their families, or desperate attempts by jaded Republicans to strike up some electoral fervor?

First off, lets identify those making these kinds of comments. One gentleman, shaking with rage, implored McCain to attack Obama strongly in the next debate because the "Socialists are taking over our country." This person obviously didn't know that the very man he was talking to had "suspended his campaign" to try to push through the biggest government buyout of the private sector since the 1930s. It doesn't get much more socialist than that. This may have been an appropriate sentiment at a Ron Paul rally. But the Republican party is no protector of free markets unless it suits them financially.

In another episode, a lady said "I don't trust Obama, I have read about him. He's an Arab." (I didn't hear the audio of the incident, but one can just imagine that it was pronounced ai-rab.) This woman apparently knows nothing about either physical or ethnic geography, not to mention nationality standards. In case she happens to read this, I'll explain:

Barak Obama's father was from Kenya. Kenya is a country in sub-Saharan East Africa. Obama's father (whom he was named after) was raised a muslim, but it is unclear if he remained active in that faith when he went to college in the U.S. The elder Obama was what is sometimes (and overly simply) termed, a "Black African." The Arabs, a long time ago, enlaved many Black Africans, just as the Europeans did. That is why many black Africans are Muslims today, just as many of African descent in the U.S. are christian. The Arabs and the Black Africans historically do not get along. You may have heard of a place called Darfur, where Arabs have been killing and raping Black Africans for a number of years, mostly because they can. Obama's mother was of European descent. Therefore, even if it was in any way meaningful, you are incorrect in your assertion that Obama is an Arab.

Sorry about the digression, but as you can see, we are not dealing with the sharpest bulbs on the porch here. Senator McCain and his campaign bear some responsibility for these kinds of sentiments. You run campaign commercials to convince people of your position. If your position, at least in your advertisements, is that someone is "dangerous" or a "liar," you are estopped, I think, from claiming to be surprised that some people believe it. It is possible that Senator McCain did not understand the visceral anger and hatred that these sentiments would elicit in people. But, if he was paying attention, he should have.

And now we come to the real culprits in this situation: the religious and reactionary right. I'm speaking of people like James Dobson and Pat Robertson, Jerry Falwell and Billy Graham, Rush Limbaugh, Ann Coulter, and Bill O'Reilly. These individuals, and the organizations that support and give air to their views have constantly poisoned the public discourse with hateful and spite-filled rhetoric, not to mention half-truths and outright lies. They have told Americans time and again that their very "way of life*" is being threatened. They have warned that the fall of American Society, nay, Western Civilization itself, is imminent, that the "end is near**" and that it is all because of the liberals, and progressives, and homosexuals, and socialists, and their bosom buddies, the "activist judges***." So what is a partially-educated, red-blooded American who believes in god, mom, Chevrolet (or Ford), and apple pie to do?

Well, when a respected Senator, a war-hero, approves a message calling his opponent in the election "dangerous," our above hypothetical citizen takes him at his word. After all, it's just what all those "smart" people on the radio, TV, and the "intertubes" have been saying. If this Obama guy is the leader of all those things that are going to end with the destruction of everything these people hold dear, why wouldn't they be angry, and scared, and ready to do anything to stop him? It is the conservative movement, including behind-the-scenes movers like Dick Cheney and Karl Rove, that have set the stage for this kind of behavior. When you play on the basest emotions of people, on their fear, their uncertainty, their biological predisposition to dislike that which they don't understand or is not like them, then that is what you get. The basest reaction.

Let me be clear. I am not calling for a move to silence any of the above individuals, or anyone like them. The greatest right the U.S. Constitution grants us is to say stupid, mean-spirited, even ridiculous, things. But, we, as a society, as a public, should hold them accountable for the atmosphere they create. Call them names, laugh at their silliness, pity how small their thought. But always point out that it is they that are dangerous. If American society is going to fall, it is the conservative movement that will be the death of it. Because it is the conservative movement that doesn't understand what is good and right about America. That tolerance is not a political catch-word used when you find something distasteful but don't want to alienate. That you can disagree with someone's ideas, but not be physically threatened by them. That diversity, not homogeneity, is, and has been, the strength of America for over two-hundred years. That there is no "traditional family," only people trying to live as families, which is what has always been the case. That America is not, nor has it ever been a "christian nation," just a secular republic, founded on the ideals of the Enlightenment, that allowed christianity to attain the influence it now has. And that the American people will not always follow those base instincts of fear and hatred.

Perhaps John McCain has come to understand the danger of his rhetoric. I hope so. Because as the original Johnny Dangerously said: "I never should have picked a name like that. A name like that you gotta live up to."

Too true.

Legend:
* "Way of life" means a mythical nirvana where every set of two attractive (white) heterosexual parents raised two children, who grew up to be a doctor and a lawyer and took care of their parents in their golden years.

**The end is near" must be interpreted in light of the bible, in which near can mean any time between Jesus' death and whenever god gets around to it.

***an "activist judge" is defined as any judge who won't change the ideas found in the Constitution to agree with those set out by a tribe of bronze age nomad goat herders.

GOP and McCain: Panderers or Hypocrites? The Answer May Surprise You (But Probably Won't)

If anyone had any doubts as to whether the Republican Party is the party of hypocrisy and pandering, the recent Republican National Convention and the days following should have dispelled them completely. First, we have the selection of unknown Alaskan Governor Sarah Palin to be John McCain's running mate. No, sorry, she's more than that: she's (in his words) his "soulmate." So Mr. Maverick, agent of change that he is, nominates a woman with political views that track, almost exactly, those views of the reactionary religious right that have held sway in the White House for the past eight years.

Ms. Palin (she probably hates being called Ms.) is anti-choice, even in cases of incest and rape. She is however, "proud" of her pregnant, unmarried 17-year-old daughter's "decision." We observers can only assume Sarah means her daughter's decision to engage in teenage, pre-marital sex that results in pregnancy, as it is clear bringing the baby to term is not a choice. Further, Ms. Palin is shocked, shocked I say, that the media has covered anything about her daughter's situation. It is "a matter that should be left to the family."

Take your time and re-read that last paragraph, I'll wait. Yes, you got it. In the governor's eyes, the government is entitled to deny the right to choose abortion under any circumstances to everyone, but is indignant that anyone might meddle in the affairs of her family. Kids, can you say cognitive dissonance? It is exactly this kind of compartmentalisation of thought that is encouraged by Christianity in particular and religion in general. But that is a different rant.

Speaking of religion, Hockey-Mom-in-Chief Palin believes that the war in Iraq is, to paraphrase the Blues Brothers, "a mission from God." Apparently, God's plan was to have the United States be the cause of over 1 million deaths, including both Americans and Iraqis, not to mention untold legions of the physically and mentally maimed, for the purpose of the aggrandizement of the Bush Administration's world view. (Of course, anyone who's read the Bible wouldn't be surprised; this kind of thing is God's M.O., after all.) Sarah, you really need to watch all this "maverick" thought, it might get you into trouble.

Well at least she stands up to Washington and those petty bureaucrats that want to hand out free money to the states. Except when she proposed, in 2008, that her state's senator request $197 million in federal "earmarks," more, per capita, than any other state. But it's probably because Alaska is needy, what with all the avalanches and polar bear attacks, right? Well, it seems Alaska took in $10 billion in revenue, twice what it did last year, and swelled the coffers enough that Palin got the legislature to approve a $1200 payment to every Alaskan. This is in addition to the customary payment of $2000 given to every Alaskan annually out of the oil-wealth savings account, known as the Permanent Fund. Apparently Iraq isn't the only place with an oil-based surplus. The Permanent Fund now contains $35 billion, thanks in part to oil tax hikes that Palin signed into law last year.

Now, you may ask: "Hasn't Palin accused Obama of wanting to raise taxes in every speech she has made?" Of course not silly, she only said it in one speech, it's just that she gives the same one every time. Besides, who cares as long as she has all that foreign policy experience by living in the state closest to Russia.

I could go on for ages about our soon-to-be vice-MILF, but let's turn to the rest of the party, shall we? If you doubt that the McCain camp is pandering to the right wing of the party in its selection, consider this: Palin is being endorsed, enthusiastically, by the likes of James Dobson and Focus on the Family. Mr. Dobson declared earlier this year, on the Dennis Prager Show, that he "can not and will not vote for Senator John McCain." Focus on the Family has been taking women to task for years for "abandoning" the family unit and going to work. Yet here we have a mother with five children, one of whom has special needs (not to mention the 17 year-old who's getting ready to have one), and Focus on the Family is endorsing her to work in the second-highest office in the land. The word here kids is "hypocrite." But again, what can we expect from an organization that is "bible-based," considering the bible itself is a seething mass of contradiction.

Further evidence of pandering has cropped up in the newest attack ads from the McCain Campaign. These accuse Sen. Obama as being for "sex-education for kindergartners." This stance is gleaned, according to McCain's ad, from Obama's support of Illinois SB0099, which was debated in the Illinois legislature while Obama was a member. Although the ad touts this as Obama's "legislative accomplishment," he didn't sponsor it, and the bill was never passed (it was tabled in 2003 before coming to a vote, and is, for all intents and purposes, dead.) That's lie #1. Lie #2 is that the bill was meant to teach "comprehensive sex education to kindergartners." The text of the proposed bill mentioned "grade k" twice, the most relevant mention of which was:

"Sec. 27-9.2. Family Life. (a) If any school district provides courses of instruction designed to promote wholesome and comprehensive understanding of the emotional, psychological, physiological, hygienic and social responsibility aspects of family life, then such courses of instruction shall include the teaching of prevention of unintended pregnancy and all options related to unintended pregnancy, appropriate to the various grade levels; and whenever such courses of instruction are provided in any of grades K through 12, then such courses also shall include age appropriate instruction on the prevention of sexually transmitted infections, including the prevention, transmission and spread of HIV AIDS. " (Stricken portions omitted.)

The other mention is here:

"Each class or course in comprehensive sex education offered in any of grades K through 12 shall include instruction on the prevention of sexually transmitted infections, including the prevention, transmission and spread of HIV." (Stricken portions omitted.)

Now, Mr. Dobson, Focus on the Family, and, one can presume, Mistress Palin, may have issue with this proposed bill because it mentions sex education and the prevention of unwanted pregnancy, which are anathema to the "God Squad" crowd. But to name it a call for sex education for kindergartners is not a Fox-news style "interpretation" or an issue upon which reasonable minds can differ. It is an outright lie. I imagine Karl Rove had his fingerprints on this, but the responsibility rests with John McCain. After all he "approved this message." There are no two ways about it; John McCain is a liar.

From the above, I think it is apparent that the answer to the titular question of this post is a trick one: the GOP and John McCain are both hypocrites and panderers. They are also liars. But again, this should surprise no one who has been paying attention to the last 8 years of Republican rule.