Riding A Mob Into Office: A How-To Guide For Dictators

First, you will need the following:

1 - Bitterness and anger among your constituency
2 - A weakened Constitution
3 - A free-fall economy
4 - Xenophobia and racism
5 - Propaganda
6 - Key allies in the press
7 - A peculiarly compelling personality

The right ingredients, at the right time, utilized by a ravenously ambitious leader without any moral compass, can and will produce an extremely toxic and dangerous environment. In the last few days we have seen those "leaders" (especially Sarah Palin) in a brand new light. Or maybe I should say a brand new dark.

For weeks we've watched an empty-headed poser try to compete on the national stage and fail miserably. But now that this future she hasn't earned is slipping from her talons we are witnessing something far more troubling, far more lethal. Sarah Palin is summoning the ghosts of a very dark past when she throws around words like "terrorist" to a frustrated crowd of mostly white supporters, fueled by fear and desperation, terrified that the life they've always known could be disappearing into vapor before their children's eyes.

One wonders, if their opponent was a white man, if she and her partner would be choosing this particular line of attack. Barack Obama, an African-American man (emphasis on "African") with the Arab sounding name (emphasis on "Hussein") presents a perfect target for a perfect audience and their imperfect leaders. You see, the word "terrorist" isn't heard discreetly in America. It's heard as part of a cacophony of sounds: planes flying into buildings, roadside bombs, Arabic threats, and the cries of innocents.

Sarah Palin and John McCain know that they can't do anything to assuage your fear of the faltering economy so they replace it with a different fear. They call up images of bombings and "those who would seek to destroy us," and put a face in front of you to hate. With charm and a smile ("the heels are on, the gloves are off") they stand silently as you spit blood ("Treason!" and "Kill Him!"), counting on the fact that your fever will spread. And if that virus needs a further contagion, they have people like Sean Hannity and Bill O'Reilly to make it airborne.

Leadership requires an understanding of those one wishes to lead. It also requires an understanding of the difference between a crowd and a mob. Most importantly, it requires the heart and mind to transform one into the other . A leader like Hitler can move his people to accept, assist, and engage in unfathomable horror. A leader like Kennedy can move his people to ask not what their country can do for them, but what they can do for their country.

The McCain campaign wants to talk about character, so let's talk about it. Character is illuminated by decisions made in a crisis. We're watching the candidates make their decisions in the midst of the worst crisis in a generation. Those decisions define their character. The choice we make in response will define ours.

Comments

[ChuckToddFacts]

There is a percentage of the electorate that will never vote for Barack Obama (i.e. a black man). They have a George Bush/John McCain style "if you're not with us, you're against us", grab the pitchforks, mob mentality.
Just listen to the rhetoric that Palin/McCain are spewing and look at the type of crowds that they are drawing at their rallies. At a recently rally, John McCain asked "who is the real Barack Obama?", to which a man yelled out "a terrorist". At a separate Palin event where she was driving home the talking point that Barack Obama "pals around with terrorists", one person in the angry mod shouted "kill him". The Secret Service is now investigating.
Intellectual honesty and meaningful debate are not possible with "those people" (a purposeful mock of McCain's dick-ish "that one" comment).

[sikofit]

There also is the possibility of the reverse of "The Bradley Effect". Some may not want to say that they would not vote for "that one" to their racist friends and neighbors, but for the good of the country will.

[darker]

How much more can we take of REPUBLICAN ADDICTIONS to corruption,
power, smearing, enriching the rich and corporate welfare queens, destroying
the future of middle class Americans??

WE CAN'T AFFORD republicans any more.

NO MORE YEARS.

[BadChristian]

Great post, but I think the drink needs a name. Something like "that one" or "Bad Judgement.­"

The US should never have allowed the Republicans to distract us with their erratic fixation on the name "Hussein".­.. Perhaps we'd still have some international credibility, and maybe Al Qaeda's leader (the guy who orchestrated 9/11), if that bad judgement hadn't been allowed to distract us the last time they baited the hook with it.

[trailerparktrash]

How about "Palin's POTUS Potion"?

[PioneerKing]

is that drink aptly named "the toxic waste coctail"

[DemoMom]

She appeals to the very worst in society and is able to unleash some pretty nasty attitudes. We saw some of that at the GOP convention and it just leaves a very unpleasant taste in the mouth. I just hope that once this is all over, she will disappear once more into the backwoods of Alaska and that we won't hear of her again. Heaven forbid that she should be resurrected in 4 years' time.

[6543]

PALIN FINALLY ANSWERS OUR QUESTIONS
We have been denied both the right to media interviews and hearing any outcome of her ethics investigation in Alaska which I'm sure will be kept under wraps until after the election.
We got to see the real Sarah Palin this weekend at her rallies.Th­e woman who relished inciting bigotry and racism and never skipped a beat in order to stop the comments.
She willingly incited violence by repeating the Ayers allegations against Senator Obama when she well knows they have been debunked. Her tenaciousness is amazing because even after she heard the vile shouts of violence she continued her diatribe for another 2 days. She doesn't like the media so apparently it didn't bother her when a media camera man was called the N word at her rally in Florida.
So there we have it - the real Sarah Palin is a woman that is so power hungry that she will stop at nothing. She speaks of honor and patiotism even as she exemplifies that she has neither of those virtues. We have been told that she disposes of anyone who gets in her way as governor but now we have seen the ferocity of her vindictiveness first hand.
I quote Bridgette Bardot's recent article about Sarah Palin , "I can assure you that no pitbull, no dog, nor any other animal for that matter is as dangerous as you are," Bardot wrote. God help us if she gets anywhere near the White House.

[Brandij]

Excellent.

[oldsteve]

Let's not sink to "their" level. None of the accounts I have read reported the use of the "N word". They all indicated the camera man was called "Boy", which is bad enough.

Oldsteve

[jazzchantoozie]

two words: hear and hear.

[SpoxLogic]

I think the polls are kind of giving us the answer to the last sentence in the article. (Even though I try my best not to get excited and/or depressed, or really give polls much sway)

[MeiLing]

Michael, you are truly a sage! Great words!