McCain and Palin Are Playing With Fire
By Khaled Hosseini
Sunday, October 12, 2008; Page B05
I prefer to discuss politics through my novels, but I am truly dismayed these
days. Twice last week alone, speakers at McCain-Palin rallies have referred to
Sen. Barack Obama, with unveiled scorn, as Barack Hussein Obama.
Never mind that this evokes -- and brazenly tries to resurrect -- the unsavory,
cruel days of our past that we thought we had left behind. Never mind that such
jeers are deeply offensive to millions of peaceful, law-abiding Muslim
Americans who must bear the unveiled charge, made by some supporters of Sen.
John McCain and Gov. Sarah Palin, that Obama's middle name makes him someone to
distrust -- and, judging by some of the crowd reactions at these rallies,
someone to persecute or even kill. As a secular Muslim, I too was offended.
Obama's middle name differs from my last name by only two vowels. Does the
McCain-Palin campaign view me as a pariah too? Do McCain and Palin think
there's something wrong with my name?
But never mind any of that.
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The real affront is the lack of firm response from either McCain or Palin.
Neither has had the moral courage, when taking the stage, to grasp the
microphone, turn to the presenter and, right then and there, denounce the use
of Obama's middle name as an insult. Instead, they have simply delivered their
stump speeches, lacing into Obama as if nothing out-of-bounds had just
happened. The McCain-Palin ticket has given toxic speeches accusing Obama of
being a friend of terrorists, then released short, meek repudiations of some of
the rough stuff, including McCain's call Friday to "be respectful." Back in
February, the Arizona senator apologized for the "disparaging remarks" from a
talk-radio host who sneered repeatedly about "Barack Hussein Obama" before a
McCain rally. "We will have a respectful debate," McCain insisted afterward.
But pretending to douse flames that you are busy fanning does not qualify as
straight talk.
What I find most unconscionable is the refusal of the McCain-Palin tandem to
publicly condemn the cries of "traitor," "liar," "terrorist" and (worst of all)
"kill him!" that could be heard at recent rallies. McCain is perfectly capable
of telling hecklers off. But not once did he or his running mate bother to
admonish the people yelling these obscene -- and potentially dangerous --
words. They may not have been able to hear the slurs at the rallies, but surely
they have had ample time since to get on camera and warn that this sort of
ugliness has no place in an election season. But they have not. Simply calling
Obama "a decent person" is not enough.
Is inaction tantamount to consent? The McCain campaign certainly thinks so when
it comes to Obama and incendiary remarks from the Rev. Jeremiah Wright. By
their own inaction, then, are McCain and Palin condoning these slurs? Or worse,
are they willfully inciting the angry and venomous response that we have been
witnessing at their rallies? If not, then what reaction are they hoping to
evoke by their relentless public suggestions that Obama is basically an
anti-American liar who won't put "country first" and has an affection for
terrorists? Do they not understand the kind of fire they are playing with?
I -- and, I suspect, millions of Americans like me, Republicans and Democrats
alike -- couldn't care less about Obama's middle name or the ridiculous
six-degrees-of-separation game that is the William Ayers non-issue. The Taliban
are clawing their way back in Afghanistan, the country that I hope many of my
fellow Americans have come to understand better through my novels. People are
losing their homes and their jobs and are watching the future slip away from
them. But instead of addressing these problems, the McCain-Palin ticket is
doing its best to distract Americans by provoking fear, anxiety and hatred.
Country first? Hardly.
Khaled Hosseini is the author of "The Kite Runner" and "A Thousand Splendid
Suns."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/10/10/AR2008101002456.html?nav%3Dhcmodule&sub=AR
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