Terrorizing the American Politic

Verdict: False. There is no indication that Ayersand Obama are now "palling around," or that they have had an ongoingrelationship in the past three years. Also, there is nothing to suggest thatAyers is now involved in terrorist activity or that other Obama associates are.

If Palin had more integrity, she wouldhave offered the Times' full citation:

"But the twomen do not appear to have been close. Nor has Mr. Obama ever expressed sympathyfor the radical views and actions of Mr. Ayers, whom he has called 'somebodywho engaged in detestable acts 40 years ago, when I was 8.'"

Whenpresented by facts to the contrary, Palin refusedto take her comments back.

Make no mistake about it: this is part of McCain/Palin's strategyto keep mentioning Obama and terrorists in the same sentence (remember how Bushrepeated 9/11 and Iraq in the same sentence?) to keep driving more people tovote for them. Republicanpartisans, like Larry C. Johnson, have already said that they plan to make thisissue what WillieHorton was to Dukakis, and Swiftboat was to John Kerry. Their plan is simple: to prey on citizens' unspoken fears byassociating Obama and terrorists, and by extension associating Obama withMuslims. Thisseems sure to follow in wake of the anti-Islamic DVDs "Obsession" and"ThirdJihad", with 28 million copies of their hate-filled product distributedfor free so far. As I haddocumented, this campaign is orchestrated by a networking of Israeli groups,Christian evangelical, pro-Israel lobby groups in the States, and Republicangroups.

Hereis my ultimate concern: McCain and Palin are behind in polls, they are runningout of time, and they have long ran out of ideas. So what are they appealing to is the very poison of fear andtrepidation, the very essence of terror. I do not wish to fall into the same rhetorical gutter that Palin andMcCain are wallowing in by calling them terrorists, but I do want to pick mywords more carefully. What theyare doing now is none other than terrorizing the American politic.

Thevenerable Merriam-Webster dictionary defines it as: "1 : to fill with terror or anxiety : scare."Thisis in fact exactly what McCain and Palin, and the machinery behind them havedone: they have filled theAmerican politics with a rhetoric of terror and anxiety. "Be afraid, be very very afraid"seems to be their message. "Votefor us, or at least don't vote for Obama, or the sky will fall down." "The terrorists will hunt downyour children, and the all-powerful god of the market will collapse." "Be afraid, and vote for us, ortraditional marriages will fall, and with it Western Civilization as we knowit." This is nothing but thecontinuation of Bush's loathing for negotiation and subtlety, when heequated Obama with Nazi appeasers in 1938.

Obama,for all of his many failings throughout this long election process, has daredto appeal to something lofty in humanity, by daring to dream of a bettercommunity, a better America, and a better world. "Yes, we can!" has gone from a simplistic chant to ahope, a vision of hope for a better tomorrow for all of us.

Ultimatelywhat we have to say to McCain and Palin is this: yes, many of us are afraid, many of us are scared, but weare not going to live in fear. And we will not allow fear to be our ultimatecalling, our supreme motivation. There is something more divine, more noble in us, a sentiment in us thatcan allow us to move closer to God even as we embrace one another. That sentiment has a name, and its nameis not fear or terror. The name ofthis divine inclination is love.

Thisis the continuation of the legacy of Martin Luther King, who sought to wedtogether love and power:

Whatis needed is a realization that power without love is reckless and abusive, andthat love without power is sentimental and anemic. Power at its best, power atits best is love implementing the demands of justice, and justice at its bestis love correcting everything that stands against love.

McCain
and Palin--and Obama--claim to be Christians. It would be lovely if they remembered that one of the
fundamental truth claims of the Christian tradition is the possibility of
redemption. That which was the
instrument to hang criminals, the cross, becomes (for Christians) the very
epitome of redemption and salvation.
The same message is the case in Islam, where a creature made out of clay
is made to be the representative of God on Earth, where a simple orphaned
shepherd becomes God's chosen messenger. This same redemption has to be brought to the
American politic. It
too deserves to be transformed from a terrorized politic to one based on hope,
justice, and a meaningful peace for all.