Anathema to Democracy

McClatchy runs a good piece on ACORN and the violence that the McCain campaign is clearly stirring regarding the bogus voter fraud issue. The latter is not a point of dispute at all - the issue is bogus and the McCain camp and its surrogates repeatedly instigate. And, despite the efforts of some in the media to suggest otherwise, there is no moral equivalence here between the McCain and Obama campaigns. I wish the national media would quit treating it as such. This is clear instigation to violence and that is the limit of free speech. These people are anathema to democracy:

• Attempted voter purges and the fraudulent ACORN attacks (and allied Bush administration corruption). (See also here).
  
• Ongoing explicit and implicit accusations of treason.
• The utter lack of transparency. (And we already know about the propaganda and lack of accountability over the past eight years).
• Anti-intellectualism.
• Willful ignorance.
• Suggestions that some parts of the US are "pro-American", whatever that means (and, by implication, that others are not). Given that Palin is suggesting that anyone with views on the left is anti-American, she lacks a basic understanding of the foundations of democracy: the reality and importance of a pluralism of values.
  
• Ongoing corruption.
• The language and threats of violence they're helping to propagate (we might even call it "hate speech"). (See also here). (And more).
  
• Repeated racist political advertisements from GOP operations.
• And even the surrender of their own representational responsibilities to conservative thought.

These aren't accidents. This is a collective, ongoing effort by the GOP and McCain campaign. So, bereft of ideas in response to the many problems we face, the McCain campaign has obviously gone negative. This is a typical political response for the losing candidate. But this particular one passed the threshold of decency some time ago, quickly passed by the level of vigorous democratic debate, and has now entered the realm of a general assault on pluralistic democracy. It seems hyperbolic to say it - and I'm surprised and dismayed to find myself saying it, despite the shakiness of US democracy in the past - but I think we're at the point where we need to be very careful to defend democracy itself. This vote is an extremely important one.