Saturday, October 4, 2008

Another Round of Dirty Politics May Give Us What We Already Have

We already know that Sarah Palin is a windup doll, able to smile, wink and spout whatever nonsense her handlers give her. Now that it is clear that McCain’s chances of winning this race are dimming, the campaign is pulling out all the stops. And for the Republican right wing, that means playing as dirty as possible. Muddy the waters, make the public think the other guy is the one who’s dirty, can’t be trusted, and we’re the white knight. And Sarah has been anointed to bring this message to the people because we know she is so good at sarcasm, insult and passing on the dirt. This has been her trademark from her unveiling at the Republican convention.

And so Sarah continues the character assassination. This time, Palin has announced that Obama is pals with a terrorist, and if that weren’t bad enough, pals with a terrorist against America! Ironically, he was an anti-war [Vietnam] activist. The fact that this fellow committed whatever crimes he committed 40 years ago, when Obama was about 8 years old, and further that Obama is and has never been good friends with him – well, why does truth have to get in the way of Sarah’s attempt to depose Obama from his lead in the polls.

It is somewhat heartening to see that a number of organizations—even some news organizations—are attempting to separate truth from fiction in this election, after falling down on the job in a pitiful manner in the last two elections. Unfortunately some make sure to attempt to be “evenhanded” – you know, one side distorted and the other distorted too. Nonetheless, there are levels of distortion and these have to be examined most carefully.

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