Terrace Agenda

It can’t be easy to be John McCain these days.  His campaign is essentially in the sewer, his running mate is out of control, and now he’s asking Obama to throw him a bone and defend him against “brazen and baseless” attacks by Congressman John Lewis.  Who said Dadaism was dead?

Lewis’ criticism of the McCain campaign will be raked over the coals in the next couple of days, but not for the right reasons.  The issue most in play is Lewis’ apparent comparison of John McCain to the repugnant George Wallace.  It should be obvious to anyone who has read Lewis’ statement that the invocation of Wallace was not meant to create a link between the two politicians, but rather, a connection between two similiar environments:  Civil-Rights Era right-wing fear-mongering, and the current Republican “character” campaign.

McCain would be wise to heed this warning, coming from a man who McCain claims he’s “always admired.” Lewis knows what he’s talking about.  And if he says that the rhetoric of McCain/Palin (although we all know he’s talking more about Palin than McCain here) feels too similar to the rhetoric of Wallace, well, that ought to give one pause.

Here is Lewis’ comparitive statement:

George Wallace never threw a bomb. He never fired a gun, but he created the climate and the conditions that encouraged vicious attacks against innocent Americans who were simply trying to exercise their constitutional rights. [emphasis mine]

In the light of recent McCain and Palin rallies, this seems like a reasonable caution.  Of course, despite criticism from elsewhere towards the increased viciousness of the McCain campaign, the righteous Republicans scoff. Rick Davis might not think that a call for the beheading of Obama is a “big deal,” but it is.  And, despite his confidence that “it has nothing to do with what [his] candidates are doing or saying right now,” it does.  It is, in fact, the whole point of what the Republican candidates are doing.  Why else would they choose to spew this jingoist tripe at their rallies, far from polite company, and not bring it up at the debates?

Here’s your answer:  because it doesn’t mean anything to call Obama by his middle name; because it doesn’t mean anything to accuse him of “pallin’ around with terrorists;” because it is easier to play to people’s fear and prejudice than it is to assuage those fears and prejudices with reason and compassion.  Because the Republican ticket is a pathetic fraud.

Obama did end up responding to Lewis’ statement, although probably not in the way that John McCain had hoped he would.  Through a spokesman, he said that he “does not believe that John McCain or his policy criticism is in any way comparable to George Wallace or his segregationist policies,” which was nice of him.  But he went on to add that, “John Lewis was right to condemn some of the hateful rhetoric that John McCain himself personally rebuked just [as in far too late,-Z] last night, as well as the baseless and profoundly irresponsible charges from his own running mate.”  Nothing comes for free, Johnny:  it looks like you might have to leash that pitbull after all.