A Call For Sanity
October 11, 2008
I was pleased to see and hear Senator John McCain telling the crowd that Senator Barack Obama is neither Arab, nor the scary terrorist Senator McCain and Governor Sarah Palin made him out to be. It was one of the all-too-infrequent flashes of the Senator John McCain of old that we have seen during this campaign. Pleased but still disappointed. Senator McCain didn’t go far enough. He needs to state, as firmly assertively as possible, that he KNOWS Senator Barack Obama is not Muslim (not that there’s anything wrong with that), he KNOWS Senator Obama is not a terrorist or a terrorist sympathizer, he KNOWS Senator Obama is as patriotic as he is.
For his part, Senator Obama needs to stop saying Senator McCain is “erratic” in a not-so-veiled attack on his age and mental stability—it is unseemly and off-putting. ‘Senator’ is a title of honor and respect and all of you, all 100 of you, need to show much more of each. And both sides need to rein in their surrogates who are as responsible as anyone for the vitriolic atmosphere which has smothered what was once the most interesting and entertaining presidential race in my lifetime. We are constantly told that we’re already living in a dangerous world—you should not be making it more so. This, too, applies to the ‘commentators’, the so-called ‘talking heads’ of network and cable news. You are entitled to your opinions, but when you are perpetuating the same lies and innuendoes spewed by campaign flacks, you are no longer giving opinion, you are spreading propaganda.
And while you’re at it, could you just tell us the truth, or at the very least, something approaching the truth. We’re big boys and girls—we can take it. Now, we understand for emphasis’ sake, it is necessary to overstate your position and understate your opponent’s. We understand it’s politics. We understand politicians lie, in fact, we expect it. But for the next three and a half weeks or so, if you find it impossible to keep the discourse totally honest, could you at least keep it within the bounds of hyperbole and not out-and-out fabrication.
Every day, the economic outlook is bleaker than it was the day before—the world’s financial markets are in freefall, people are losing their livelihoods, their homes. This is the time for our leaders to pull us together not tear us apart. So when I saw how rancorous things had gotten at some recent McCain-Palin rallies and the antagonistic response from the Obama-Biden camp, it was more than a little disheartening. Sure, we have seen some typical rough-and-tumble politics, but things have gotten out of hand. Being an Obama guy, I not only thought it was time for everyone to take a couple of steps back, to take a couple of deep breaths, to try and calm things down before something tragic occurs, I thought it might be time for Senator Obama to craft another inspirational speech reminding us of how this campaign started, how we got to where we are, and where we need to go in order to regain our collective sanity. But that was just me being selfish, I guess.
No, it has to be a truly non-partisan effort. This, therefore is my proposal:
All four candidates, Senator John Sidney McCain III, Senator Barack Hussein Obama, Senator Joseph Robinette Biden, Jr., Governor Sarah Louise Heath Palin and their families should convene this Sunday (Too short a notice? Monday works for me.) with Pastor Rick Warren at Saddleback Church for a non-denominational, secular yet somehow non-secular, informal gathering for unity and tolerance.
I envision you all on stage, getting to know each other on a personal rather than adversarial level, demonstrating to the country and perhaps the world that while we may not always, or ever, agree, we respect each other as human beings. And after some sage words from Pastor Warren and/or the candidates themselves, you invite the members of the public in attendance, hopefully as diverse as the country itself, to join you so they can also get to know you on a personal level. Who knows? You just might learn a thing or two about them as well.
Refreshments will be served.
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