McCain: The “Respectful” Bomber Fans the Lynch Mob
Posted by Mike E on October 12, 2008
This commentary was developed by Iris.
The McCain’s campaign has been actively unleashing the lynch mob currents in American politics. TV ads now portray Obama as hiding terrorist ties, and being somehow fishy and unknowable.
When this produces audiences screaming “terrorist” and “traitor,” McCain himself tries to pose as respectful.
Meanwhile Sarah Palin tries to hammer “questions” about Obama’s “ties” to Prof. Bill Ayers – a former member of the Weather Underground. Bill Ayers has become this year’s Willy Horton. And “questions” about Obama’s “terrorist ties” (and his supposed secret Muslim beliefs) have become a stand-in, a codeword, for the n-word. He is simply not American enough for those who see American as white, fundamentalist and traditionalist.
The fear (both spontaneous and manufactured) of a non-white, non-Christian dominated nation is palpable, frenetic and polarized, visible in McCain rallies where the audiences now shout ‘off with his head’, ‘terrorist’ and ‘traitor’–evoking the din of a lynch mob.
McCain raises doubts, Palin drives them home — and a whole network of Republican hit men are spinning openly racist politics in its most raw and ugly form.
The encouragement of wearing ignorance as a badge of honor, and a George-Wallace appeal to anti-intellectualism, is the emerging hallmark of conservative politics, continuing the style of Bush II. This technique is used to mobilize a conservative base on reactionary values–racism, hatred of foreigners, fear of difference, the oppression of women.
Sarah Palin plays the attack dog, while McCain plays the restrained senior statesman.
* * * * *
This is video of the ‘Obama is an Arab’ question. McCain has no problem with the usage of ‘Arab’ as a derogatory term.
redflags said
How about this: http://www.weeklystandard.com/weblogs/TWSFP/2008/10/more_anger_from_the_left.asp
Republicans trying to march through the Upper West Side of Manhattan, spark booing and then claim victimhood.
Linda D. said
And I hope that people check out the following editorial by Frank Rich in the NYT, today.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/12/opinion/12rich.html?_r=1&th&emc=th&oref=slogin
Reminded me of the first part in “create public opinion”–but obviously leaving off the second part, “seize power.”
Quorri said
I like how those people will just lie because they realize too late that they’re in a critical thinking trap such as, “when did you first hear about Barack Obama?”
HA! But it’s no surprise from the same people who tend to believe that reason is their greatest enemy…
Linda D. said
And here’s the coup de grâce–Congressman John Lewis (former civil rights leader) was calling out Palin/McCain smears as sowing the seeds of hatred (i.e. racism) and likening the McCain campaigns’ recent foray (and unleashing vigilantes) to George Wallace. So what does the Repub./McCain campaign do–they are asking for a “formal apology” from Lewis and the Obama campaign. “Is it me, or is it Memorex?”
TellNoLies said
As some folks know I post occasionally on the liberal democratic blog, DailyKos. Most of my posts there are efforts to explode the massive illusions that people have in Obama. But I also like to read the blog because it gives me a window into the phenomena of mass grassroots liberalism that has emerged since the 2000 elections.
Well, the election is entering its final stretch, so all the folks at Kos are out doorknocking for Obama and writing up their experiences on the blog. Its worth reading them. These people are out there talking with literally millions of people about the elections. They are talking to all sorts of folks. One post was by a middle class white kid assigned to door-knock in the all Black housing projects in his town. Another tells the story of a neighbor with a giant shrine to the Confedeacy in his front yard that he just topped with an Obama sign. Others have described their less pleasant encounters with the “lynch mob” types we see in these videos. Many of these people are having transformative experiences in which they are seeing the ugly side of the United States up close and personal for the first time.
The reason I bring this up is that it is these doorknockers for Obama who are actually on the frontlines against the lynch mob. And like it or not, as a consequence, the election has become a referendum on the lynch mob. As I’ve indicated elsewhere I won’t be abstaining on the question of whether the lynch mob should be part of the governing coalition. But what these videos and the doorknocking stories really bring out for me is the shame that people who are going through these upheavals are not meeting real living revolutionaries who can help them really make sense of all this.
Sophie said
I really recommend that everyone listen to Naomi Woolf’s speech in October (on YouTube) outlining the real, growing, and immediate danger of fascism and her analysis of the “coup” that George W. Bush has carried out.
Also, the articles by Dennis Loo (found on World Can’t Wait) are essential reading and analysis. Loo characterizes the situation as more of a rolling coup with dramatic present dangers and speaks to what he sees as the urgent response people need to mount to stop this.
An effective response doesn’t rely on Obama being elected (even if you plan on voting for Obama). Though certain aspects of struggle may enter the situation depending on whether there is a full scale attempt to “steal” the election (not unlikely).
We are in days of unprecedented events with global realities and consequences. While we need debate, we need I think, unifying analysis and approaches.
The conversation everywhere, including here, needs a shift in urgency. As I see it, there is rapidly sharpening polarizatiuon in US society. But there needs to be a dramatic shift where the two sides and terms of the debate are not McCain v Obama; where the millions who are disgusted, scared, revolted, by the direction that is concentrated in McCain/Palin and compromised with by Obama/Biden break free of the confines of electoral politics and make some politics of our own.
Whatever “scenarios” we have considered, there are possible scenarios developing as we speak…and let’s not forget…those scenarios were meant to identify possible openings for revolutionary crisis in a country like the US. As I see it a crisis of “confidence” is unfolding which could also move towards a legitimacy crisis…all in very fraught circumstances. The pogromist like rallies behind McCain and Palin have powerful forces behind them. Scripts are written and the unscripted is sometimes shocking. McCain’s answer to the woman who stated Obama was an Arab was outrageous. Obama’s sildence on this…not in terms of defending himself but in terms of denouncing the whipping up of attacks on Arab people and immigrants is unacceptable.
The alternative to opposing the empire is chilling. The possibilities that might be born out of these extreme times will not emerge cleanly and will not be tapped without energetic political struggle.
nando said
sophie writes:
All the talk in Naomi Wolf’s video about there having already been a fascist coup….. And your talk that such an analysis suggests we need a shift in urgency etc. I find it to be a cascade of familiar thoughts — presented without any visible foundation.
I have to say Sophie that when I hear that particular line, I find it hard to respond positively. It is all so sketchy and hyped — impressionistic, metaphorical, vague. I want to encourage you to flesh out your arguments in some more substance and detail — with more rigor. and i don’t think you can expect much positive response untill you do.
In many discussions with former RCP people, I am surprised how quickly the figurative becomes taken for literal, and how quickly the exaggerated seems to be considered fact.
The fact that a congressman said martial law was threqtened, does not mean it is planned. The fact that some of McCain’s rallies have an open racist character is not a surprise — and it is also not new in American politics. If you want to argue something new has happened, or is about to happen, please do so… but let’s make an analysis not a string of rambling allusions.
Personally I think there is a chance of leaps to fascism in this country — especially if there is some new, major military attack like 9/11. And i even believe it is possible that some reactionary forces could stage one to head off political changes they don’t like (like an Obama victory).
But it is a chance, that requires very particular and extreme events. It is not a sharp characterization of the larger slope on which we are standing — of the general trends that are currently defining the scene.
Avakian’s analysis was that the grab for world hegemony was accelerating the pressures for fascist theocracy within the U.S. If anything Mccain is the grab for hegemony represented in a man who is NOT known for any association with the Christian fascists.
Overall, Avakian’s analysis was wrong on every point: He said the liberal democrats could not develop a program that could counter the Christian Fascists. But they did (and it was always clear they could). He said that the liberal democrats would be congenitally incapable of mobilizing their own base because of their ruling class fear of stiring the lower depths. But in fact they have been mobilizing pepole with considerable energy and unleashing an “excitement” not seen in a long time. They have not mobilized people in a frontal approach to conservative religion — but they have presented a program that flouts the prejudices of old-school white-majority America — and they have obviously risked raising expectations among among Black people (with all the dangers that can dome with sudden or gradual disillusionment).
The poobahs of Christian fascism have (contrary to Avakian’s analysis) fallen far down among the king-makers of the Republican coalition (and within the ruling class hierarchy overall). They are not out of the running. One particular sequence of unlikely events could even put Palin in the White House (even if her views have minimal support in both the ruling class and in the broader population). Would a Palin presidency mean fascism…. or a U.S. in acute constitutional crisis? well, we would have to make and debate an analysis to answer that.
In other words, the hype of Avakian’s “Coming Civil War” and his fantasy of christian theocrats serving as the “stage manager for proletarian revolution” was wrong even before the ink was dry — and became wronger with each new political event following Bush’s setback in the election of 2006.
Sophie: I don’t need to remind you that the hype of urgency has been used (around the RCP especially) to silence thought and debate — and to stampede people, to encourage a kind of chicken little atmosphere that doesn’t serve us well in the future (when there actually MIGHT be real dangers of fascism).
In the late 1970s, Avakian put forward a deliberate method of “keep the advanced elements tense” — he has repeatedly hyped the objective situation, and repeatly implied that only the revolutionary forces could offer a way out. We don’t want to repeat this cycle.
In particular: We do not have a revolutionary party right now. Revolutionary and communist forces remain somewhat scattered (in part because the RCP is shriveling without producing a clean split). We do not yet have a clear credible leading line. We have not deeply enough summed up a whole series of fiascos and wrong directions taken in the communist movement. and past training still still influences thinking those of us who have made initial breaks with the RCP politically and organizationally.
In such a situation the work of regrouping revolutionaries and communists emerges as particularly important (in its own right). And it is not something to be pooh-poohed by (once again) hyping urgency in all-too-familiar ways.
We do need new “unifying analysis and approaches,” and we are working to develop them. If you want to propose some, do so.
And if someone really thinks that Bush has staged a coup — then describe when, describe what its program was, and how conditions are now different from traditional constitutional electoral democracy. If anyone thinks the tides are running towards fascism right now, then explain why you think that.
To the rest of the world think Bush looks gray, whupped and politically discredited. From the point of view of U.S. imperialism he has been one of the worst presidents in history — does anyone think he is riding high, or his minions are planning to cancel the elections? If so present your evidence. The rest of the world thinks that the ruling establishment forced through this “rescue plan” (against the will of the people) but that Bush was not driving the process, and that his endorsement was a detriment to getting it passed.
We need something more substantive than the flakey rambling hunches, half-truths, speculation and hype that the RCP has presented in works like “Coming Civil War.” Our standards must be higher. In fact the standards of all serious political people are considerably higher.
There are dangers. Yes. There is urgency. Yes. Great forces are in play, and the world is dominated by very sinister forces, and very unpredictable things can break out.
But we should start by speaking to each other in a language of materialism, reality, fact and sobriety.
Linda D. said
Thank you Nando. When I first read the comments by Sophie, immediately thought of “chicken little”. What I think lacking in both Klein’s proposals, as well as Sophie’s reactions, is an “out of touch” assessment of the political landscape as it exists today. The shifts in terms of the mood of the masses, the cracks and fissures within the ruling class itself, an overwhelming anti-Iraq war sentiment—which includes the “war on terror”, the tragedy of Katrina, Guantanamo, the over the top anti-Bush/Cheney sentiment, and what they blatantly represent (any Republican running for office has to appear to distance themself from Bush and his doctrine if they want to get elected), the disregard for “democratic rights,” abuse of power, the worst economic crisis since The Depression, etc. – all this has contributed to shifts in people’s thinking and those shifts have been developing over the course of the last 5 years. And it is no small thing that not only has the super reactionary wing of the r.c. (and their “base”—mostly the Christian “fascists”) been discredited in the U.S., the U.S. has been discredited internationally.
An apocalyptic view, including the view of the bourgeoise (or a section thereof) as being all powerful, unfortunately leads to our only being reactive. We need to go on the offensive. If the Christian-fundamentalists, and/or the Bushies had such hegemony, why would Obama even be a consideration for presidential candidate? It is one thing for McCain to try and cancel his appearance at a debate, it’s a whole other thing to propose that Bush & Co. would cancel the elections. Not that the elections might not be rigged—we’ve seen that happen before. But what the bourgeoisie needs now, probably more than anything, is to try and convince people that they still live under some semblance of a “democracy” and to try and regain some sense of credibility.
Sophie said
I will write a more developed response to NANDO and Linda D this evening. A few initial thoughts:
–I encouraged everyone to view Naomi Wolf’s video and read Dennis Loo’s article (among other things). I did not say that I subscribe to the analysis being presented in total.
–different and conflicting phenomena can (and do) exist within the same situation. The outcome of all of this is not determined
–let me repeat, my own view is not a left “end days” one. Revolutionaries need to look at the present situation for both its dangers and opportunities, and neither one being viewed mechanically or woodenly. But I do think that we need to look for possible openings.
–I think it is way “out of touch” to downplay the Christian fundamentalists on the basis of arguing against them having hegemony. No, the do not have hegemony. But, as the emergence of sarah Palin might indicate they have friends in high places and could emerge as major players.
–The country is far more polarized than Linda D is characterizing it
–The economic crisis is far more serious than Naomi Wolf is characterizing it
–The drama we are watching and are part of is not a pre-written script and everyone has agendas within it
Mike E said
I look forward to sophie’s coming response. and looking over the initial list of points above, it looks like Sophie has the framework for an interesting commentary.
* * * *
but one point I would like sophie to address more fully is when she writes:
this argument misses the context our discussions are happening in.
The problem among revolutionaries has not been “downplaying” the christian fundamentalists — but a very specific and overblown analysis. Avakian argued that they were the dominant part of the ruling class coalition (and that neocons were secondary). He argued that Bush himself represented theocratic and fascist forces in power — and this was the basis for the RCP’ insistent “Bush = Hitler” claims.
the argument was made that there was no force within the ruling class that was capable of challenging the Christian fascists — and that the Democrats (in particular) were incapable of (a) developing a coherent counter-program and (b) mobilizing their own social base to confront the Christian fascist social base.
In other words, the argument was made that things were going toward a fascist theocracy UNLESS the RCP succeeded in leading a repolarization of society (around the revolutionary proletariat, and specifically around Bob avakian) — and unless this was done in a particular and fleeting window of opportunity. (Remember the intense drumbeat of “time is running out, time is running out” that dominated the RCP’s messages in October 2006? Right before November 2006, when in fact time ran out for the unrestrained republican tide.)
And now, when we are together working on excavating the errors of THAT analysis, sophie raises complaints that “it is ‘out of touch to down play the christian fundamentalists on the basis of arguing against them having hegemony.”
First, I don’t think it is “out of touch” at all to start to make an analysis of where the Christian right REALLY stands within american politics. And specifically repudiating Avakian’s superfical and mistaken analysis is not a bad way to start to get “into touch” with reality.
second, are you unware that there are still many RCP (and exRCP) who have not yet realized how “out of touch” Avakian’s whole analysis was?
third, Sophie writes that “the emergence of sarah Palin might indicate they have friends in high places and could emerge as major players.”
well, no shit. Who can disagree with THAT very restrained statement?
Isn’t that what was meant in the comment sophie is responding to when it said
but lets face it, saying that Christian fundamentalists “could emerge as major players” is a rather indesputable and tame assertion.
Compare that to the overheated analysis that the RCP circulated as a pathbreaking and dividing line summation:
And remember this capsule summation of how the Chritian fascists could be the stage manager for revolution by reducing the choices in society to two:
What is wrong with this analysis is NOT its assertion that communism provides an answer to capitalism. The error here is the reductionist way it declares that the choices in the U.S. are boiling down to only two: christian fascism or the RCP. It was simply wrong.
So, if we are going to talk about “way out of touch” — lets start by settling some accounts with this lines of hype, reductionism, exaggeration and self-aggrandisement. And lets dig into the methodology that foisted rambling anecdotal speculation off on everyone as if it was scientific, materialist analysis.
Because we don’t want to go there again.
Iris said
http://www.democracynow.org/2008/10/13/former_mccain_supporter_accuses_the_senator
Amy Goodman interviews Frank Schaeffer, former McCain supporter and founder of the evangelical right. He has written “An Open Letter to John McCain” here:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/frank-schaeffer/an-open-letter-to-john-mc_b_133489.html
Linda D. said
Something I think important to be following is an article (with various responses) from one Blake Fleetwood on The Huffington Post:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/blake-fleetwood/sadly-prejudice-against-a_b_134349.html
I even wrote to Fleetwood, and was pretty blown away that he responded toute de suite, with copies to Ariana Huffington, etc.–a personal note and not one of those friggin’ auto replies.