Fierce Urgency of Equivalency

In the past couple of weeks, the public has seen some ugly footage emanating from the McCain campaign. I don't mean from the campaign itself (although some, if not many of the things that do come from the talking heads of the campaign warrant serious rebuke), but from those attending.

Now Senator McCain may not share the views of (some of) the hysterical people that populate his audiences. Certainly he should not be found guilty of mere association, least of all by mere virtue of their mere attendance. He can't control what people at his political events think. But it can't be but a little disheartening that his rallies seem to be the gathering grounds for the hysterical and the unhinged. No, and let me be emphatic here, not all of McCain's supporters fit this description, but it's hard to believe that it is not more than just a few.

To McCain's credit, when faced with those comments directly, for example, the lady who didn't trust Obama because she believed he was an Arab, he set the record straight. Obama was a decent family man and a citizen - although it's unclear whether McCain believes that Arabs are also decent family folks and in the case of Arab-Americans - decent family people and decent American citizens (James Zogby, an Arab-American had some thoughts on the matter http://www.huffingtonpost.com/james-zogby/john-mccain-i-am-an-arab_b_133884.html).

At the most recent Presidential debate, Senator McCain took his Democratic rival to task for not having denounced some of rhetoric emerging from the crowds in the latter's campaign. I am curious, which out of step fringe-esque remarks is Arizona senator referring to? Would it be the "Boos"? In recent days, Obama would often tell his audiences, no we don't need that, we just need to vote.

McCain has tried to minimize the impact of these unsavoury crowd remarks at his rallies, by using the metaphors of minimization - fringe elements, or to quote Charles Krauthammer "a couple of agitated yahoos".
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/10/16/AR2008101603182.html?hpid=opinionsbox1

The problem is, we are not just speaking about a few deranged individuals or a couple of agitated yahoos, who yell out some stray incendiary comments. Perhaps Senator McCain or Mr. Krauthammer haven't had an opportunity to see the footage, but others have documented some of the daintier remarks directed at Senator Obama (or people who have supported him) from individuals attending McCain and/or Palin rallies. See for example:

1. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zRqcfqiXCX0&eurl=http://crooksandliars.com/david-neiwert/mccainpalin-supporters-let-their-rac

2. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KjxzmaXAg9E&eurl=http://bloggerinterrupted.com/2008/10/video-the-mccain-palin-mob-in-strongsville-ohio

3. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=itEucdhf4Us&feature=related

The fierce urgency of equivalency suggests that we should equate the hate and hysteria exhibited by the comments of these "supporters" with the "boos" that come from Obama rallies for McCain. It takes a coronary- producing dollop of immense nonsense to even imagine that the "things said at Obama rallies" come within the same galaxy.

We should also recall that these types of angry and vitriolic remarks are not reserved only for Obama, but have been directed at conservative writers such as Christopher Buckley and Kathleen Parker, the former for endorsing Obama (http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2008-10-14/sorry-dad-i-was-fired/) and the latter for eventually questioning the choice of Governor Sarah Palin as the GOP Vice-Presidential pick (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/09/26/AR2008092603268.html). Ms. Parker was even "rudely" (an understatement to say the least) told in one e-mail that she should have been aborted by her mother for daring to criticize Senator McCain's choice of Governor Palin. (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/09/30/AR2008093002315.html).

McCain has the unenviable position of running in an election where Republicans are roundly unpopular, largely due to the policies of the Bush Administration, which he has supported so greatly. He also has the undesirable position of being the practical choice for the xenophobic elements of American society that see Obama as evil incarnate, even if he doesn't himself share those views and has been explicit in saying so.