I have recently encountered a new blogger strategy for McCain Campaign. Using anecdotes, rumor, and a little factual information to say Obama supporters are naturally thugs or that thugs have Obama's support. What gets me, is the anger behind this, while the bloggers are trying to pretend to be disinterested and intellectually honest.
Last Saturday my sister sent picture's of her, her mom and daughter voting early; she entitled the pictures 3 generations for Barack Obama. In some of the pictures they are smiling and standing proudly all dressed up. I really didn't think anything of them voting on a Saturday, dressed up, until I saw African American Political Pundit's post about a 106 year black woman voting in Atlanta, she was dressed up too. I do not know if many people dress up to vote, but I do feel the vote is worthy. It isn't even necessary to single out this election, it is always a historical event. Me? I'll trudge in before I go to work, probably looking like a ragamuffin, since the work I do, its best not to wear something that could get ruined; but then, what is important is that I have voted and it counts.
Yesterday I head this woman interviewed about whom she would vote for. One of her reasons as to why she would vote McCain/Palin, she said she could not vote for someone who was named Obama; that his mother was an atheist, his father a Muslim and his Christianity was not in the Bible. I felt like she wrapped up all the stereotypes in that one name.
This made me want to shout from the world stage, that if the African slave had kept their real names, Barack Hussein Obama would be as common as Andrew Jackson. Also that many versions of Christianity had justified slavery and Jim Crow and had created schools in Virginia to subvert desegregation.
The story where I saw the interview was broadcast last night on PBS' NOW called Virginia's Vote, the lady's comment comes near the end of the segment.
When you live long enough, you get to see history repeat itself. In my childhood, the fear was Communism and if the Russians would use the Bomb. A national paranoia was stirred up by Joseph McCarthy and his hearings that tried to weed out Communist in every faze of life, even though is was legal to belong to the Communist Party. In the south with an emerging civil rights movement, the white southerner in order to discredit civil rights leaders, tagged them communist. It must be a communist conspiracy and instigators who came south to stir up their Negroes. This could then be presented to the nation as acceptable rhetoric as why it was justified to vilify civil rights and shroud their racist attitudes. The strength of the civil rights movement did push the white southerner to show his real intentions.
Fifty years later, terrorism has replaced communism. There are no McCarthy hearings now, but bloggers and the McCain's presidential campaign are stirring up the paranoia. The intellectual rhetoric of the bloggers is falling apart on the ground, where the McCain's campaign is creating suspicion, mistrust and inciting violent outburst. A terrorist is the Democratic nominee.
Twice this week I have been told that since the events on 9/11, partisan politics has been stronger than ever. Divided to the point where we have become two countries; Us and Them. This morning I saw an educational project on TV which gets students involved in solving problems. Some novel ideas were presented to some old problems, which made me think that in the future, there has to be a new approach to government and problem solving in order to maintain the integrity of this country. I had once thought that the constitution was a document that would forever be the idea. The parties quarreling does not reflect that we are now in the 21th century with problems no eighteenth century person could have imagined. We as a society do not even define the role of government in maintaining a civil society. We are stuck, in trying to define ourselves by the past. I would hope that our youth find a different approach to government and be wary of ideology guiding their creativity. Our technology is new under the sun, that is in human history, so why not our philosophy and politics.
Seven years have passed, grief and anger have subsided in the nether regions of the mind, but this date always reminds me that no one has yet to pay for committing this crime. Over five thousand dead, the victims, our casualties and untold tens of thousands civilians dead; in our government's pursuit of its agenda. I do not say War on Terrorism, because the Al Queda we were told that were responsible; still alludes us. The second in command in Iraq and the chauffeur is all we had? It seems that Osama Bin Laden will die a natural death, because our war has become a War on Civilization, not a war to bring Justice for all the dead.
No denying now; I am an old soul. One of a few, that are in a wired universe of youthful exuberance and blissful ignorance.
