"When once the forms of civility are violated, there remains little hope of return to kindness or decency."
--Samuel Johnson
Eeriness is fermenting in America -- a thick shadowy cloud. Like Manifest Destiny, it is expanding and creating settlements inside the psyche of the American mind. The eeriness is provoked by fear. Due to the economic collapse akin to the Great Depression, many Americans run to and fro for answers. Looking for comfort Americans want to believe they will wake up in the morning and someone will say, "It was only a bad dream." But that won't happen. So, instead, Americans are offered a big irrelevancy to distract them from that creepy eerie feeling that dwells in their head. That irrelevancy boldly stated by John McCain and Sarah Palin is called that one -- Barack Hussein Obama.
Choir directors of antilocution verses of discord followed by a Marilyn Mansonesque type chorus shouts out "Kill Him! Treason! I'm Scared of Him! [Obama] Terrorist!" McCain and Palin have made the Mc-Palin pact to do what it takes to win by any means necessary. Even if it is ultimately the destruction of the Republican Party whom intellectual conservatives fear is gone, and more wretchedly the possible return to a re-polarization of yesteryear when it was permissible to say to a black man, "Sit down boy," it is worth it all to lose decency in order to try and attempt victory on November 4th.
By using inciteful speech in an organized way and maybe unbeknownst to McCain and Palin, they are normalizing a scary behavior actualized by fanatics sending messages that to be American is to demolish the character of anyone who disagrees or is just plain different.
At a time in America, when the bottom half of Abraham Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs is being annihilated while the whole world looks on with gaping mouths in total disbelief, the McCain campaign has chosen to engage in what is called Competitive Arousal. In May's 2008 issue of the Harvard Business Review, authors Malhorta, Ku, and Murnighan say Competitive Arousal is an andrenaline fueled emotional state that leads to bad decision-making in leadership. Even if the facts of a situation is presented and proven that to engage in a particular behavior would reap negative consequences, those who suffer from Competitive Arousal while foaming at the mouth will continue down the path towards destruction to not only their own peril, but any and all around them. The authors say "the primal urge to win often overwhelms [them]."
Though the term was meant to apply in corporate settings, however, McCain and Palin are the first real world case study in 21st Century politics. The authors argue key factors that contribute to Competitive Arousal are: 1. Intense rivalry -- a real dislike forms against the person who was once the opponent -- they now become the enemy. After the first debate, it became clear John McCain saw Obama as the adversary. He did not look at him during the debate and after the second debate he left the hall very quickly. 2. Time pressure -- quick decisions or major changes must be made, but time is running out. There is less than a month to Election Day and the McCain campaign uses the character assassination tactic as their last hope. 3. Working in the presence of an intensely watching audience. The media spot light is on and the pressure to win for Mc-Palin grows unbearable. With her winks and provocative rhetoric Palin the Pitbull wearing stillettos whips up crowds to frenzyish decibels.
The sinister jeering and the banal comments show ignorance by Mc-Palin supporters. An African American man begged McCain to keep speechifying against Obama about Reverend Wright. An older woman with unkempt hair named Gayle Quinnel was de-microphoned by McCain for her crazy claim that Obama was Arab. People like Quinnel believe Arab is in Obama's blood -- even if it is not! John McCain booed for attempting to qualify Obama as "decent" should be horrified. His campaign shows a complete loss of control at these rallies. They are frantic. The fact that America may see food lines soon does not even seem to matter to the McCain campaign. Mobs are ruling the day at these events. They have a scary mental model that is a potential safety threat to others -- and in our Nation's time of suffering, this is certainly not a good look. Civility is on its way to the grave.