So, although I have disagreements with McCain over policy issues, both economic and social, I always try to pay him a certain amount of deference. However, in light of the events of the past week, I have to speak out on this.
John McCain no longer lives with honor. That's hard for me to write because, believe it or not, he was a hero to me in many ways. Sure, there was his sacrifice in Vietnam, but he was also pretty damned cool. He dated models and strippers. He wasn't an excellent student or even a great pilot. I admired him because, like any good maverick, he didn't follow the rules.
Today, that seems to extend to the rules of common human decency.
At issue are recent speeches, interviews and ads by John McCain, Sarah Palin, and the Republican National Committee. Palin accused Obama of "palling around with terrorists." You'll note that she originally didn't specify what kind of terrorists, domestic or foreign. Why? Well, because we don't have much of a problem with domestic terrorism anymore. Post-McVeigh, that kind of radicalism has died down. Today, terrorism is synonymous with Islamic Fundamentalism – the kind of men who committed the atrocious acts of 9/11 and later attacked our allies… and Obama is "palling around" with them.
"When did he know Bill Ayres was a terrorist?" "Did he approve of the terrorist acts?" "Does he know any other terrorists?" "Has he been completely honest about it?"
Honestly, those kinds of questions would be acceptable to ask if McCain, Palin and their supporters didn't already know the truth, or if they were honestly looking for answers. They do, and they're not. This is just a nakedly cynical ploy to stir up fear and anger among an electorate already on the brink of its collective sanity.
And therein lies the indecency. The strategy by the McCain campaign is less Rovian and more reminiscent of another "J.M." – Joseph McCarthy. It was McCarthy, after all, who pioneered the techniques of false outrage (he accused his first political opponent of profiteering during WWII even though he profited in equal amounts). It was McCarthy who stood at women's forum in Wheeling, West Virginia and claimed to have the names of 250+ State Department officials who were secretly communists – at best, an exaggeration, and at worst an outright lie.
McCarthy wasn't very successful at prosecuting communists, but he was exceedingly good at pointing fingers and stirring doubt about our fellow citizens. The lingering scourge of McCarthyism is that some of us are all too quick to turn on fellow Americans, especially those who don't look or sound like quite right.
None of this would be a problem if it were just a cynical campaign strategy that gave conservative voters a knowing wink. It might be unseemly, or undesirable, but it would be part of the game, and you can't hate the player.
What's not part of the game, and what makes McCain's actions so insidious is the fact that he's stoking the fires of radicalism. Regardless of McCain's intentions, it has become clear that this tack has moved the fearful to anger, the angry to hatred, and the hateful to violence.
Just this week, we've been treated to jeers of "terrorist," "treason" and, most notably, "kill him!" That's just at McCain's rallies. A Youtube.com video featuring a bunch of drunken rednecks threatening to cut off Obama's head has been making the rounds recently. Obviously, I don't believe McCain condones any of this, nor does he want violence directed at Obama – but you sure couldn't tell that from his tepid response to the situation this week.
You can't just light a fuse, walk away, and then claim that you didn't burn down the house, the fire did. John McCain, of all people, knows the history of radical assassins in this country. It only takes one Sirhan Sirhan. It only takes one Mark David Chapman, one John Hinckley, and (sorry conspiracy theorists) one Lee Harvey Oswald.
What else can you possibly expect when you imply that a terrorist is going to take over the nation someone holds dear? Do you think he's going to canvas with a pamphlet and a clipboard? Do you think he's going to restrict himself to fundraisers? Do you really expect him just to vote? And what if he sees the polling data that says his single vote will likely do little good against a groundswell of Obama support? Could he be so frustrated that he'd resort to violence in order to "save" his country? Can you expect anything else, given the stakes?
We need only ask a 17-year-old boy named Juan Romero, the busboy who held Robert Kennedy's bloody head in his hands as Kennedy's life slowly slipped away. We need only ask Nancy Reagan, who's husband was nearly killed by a crazed assassin. And if John McCain needs any more proof of what one radical individual can do, he need only turn to the left of the Senate chamber and ask Edward Kennedy about the price of radicalism.
The days ahead may be our most trying days. The times require us to be more united than ever. Instead, McCain and Palin offer to divide us, to make us afraid, to make us angry. Some among us have been only too quick to oblige.
It is incumbent upon John McCain to speak out immediately and condemn the violent rhetoric and the hatred. It is a matter of honor. Maybe he feels it goes without saying. It doesn't. Maybe he feels it's his shot, his one shot, at winning this election. That may be. But John McCain still has to wake up on November 5 and look himself in the mirror.
The problem seems to be that McCain equates winning with honor. Nothing could be farther from the truth. Honor is its own reward. No one doubts that John McCain served with honor during the Vietnam War, and yet, he returned on the losing side.
So please, John McCain, you still have the chance to do the right thing, to condemn the most radically violent elements of your party, publicly and without reserve. Do at a rally. Do it at the final debate. Do it in prime time for the world to see. Stand up, be a leader, and say, "This will not stand because this is un-American!"
Please, John McCain, do not sacrifice honor for victory.