Not to mention those today who pretend it’s OK that that John McCain’s preacher supports Palestinian radicals. Oh, wait –

http://maggiesnotebook.blogspot.com/2008/04/jeremiah-wright-connects-with-hamas.html

“No one’s” been more concerned about Anti-Semitism than Obama.

O’s supporters don’t care about their intellectual dishonesty, so there’s no point in engaging them as if they do.

The association of guilt to anyone reading or even agreeing with an idea stated because of who stated it is not wrong. Merits of the debate ought not be trumped by sentiments.

You say – “PC is, I think, a menace to the health and well being of the county.” – A Conservative talking point. But Pegler’s example – and his very popularity – should serve as a reminder that PC is not nearly as much of a “menace” as the sort of hate promoted by that 20th Century man, Pegler. I don’t listen much to the right-wing populists in the media who are his heirs – though I think I get a whiffs of their raps at the Club. It’s my understanding they tend to steer clear of his uglier turns. And I guess that’s progress…

By the way – A decade or so ago it turned out that one of the tribunes of literary theory of “deconstruction”, Paul de Man, wrote nazi progaganda under an assumed name in the 40s. Many of his acolytes in the Academy. pretended it didn’t matter. Just as there were those who pretended it didn’t matter that Hiedegger signed letters Heil Hitler in the 30′s. Fuck Dat. (And, trust me, Pegler was no Heidgegger. Though i think they did share a readiness to conflate versions of human nature with the life of plants.)

I am not saying his sentiments regarding Jews was noble, nor am I defending the particular stance he took. I would say that as a persuasive voice of American thought to dismiss Pegler as a monster is a bit over the top. I have heard worse left and right, and not been stunned by the sentiment, but informed.

In the case of the quote in Palin’s speech, the line spoke directly to a segment of America, not a sentiment of Pegler’s. I find it intellectually dishonest to dismiss every evidence of the man’s thinking as fascist or to refer to him as a monster. You may not like the man, you may not agree with the way he stated his arguments, but it was not so long ago that language was not so unacceptable.

I view Pegler not a monster to be ignored, but a mirror to be explored. Much of that reflection is of all of us, some of his remarks are not easy to digest muddled as they are in uglyness and pettiness of human affairs and affairs of human hearts. Others of his statements are true and in their truth can and ought to be used well. It was the sense the words made in the speech, they worked well. The reaction of RFK Jr. is understandable, but probably researched, the rest of the complaints are only piling on to disdain small town people and small town lives.

As a man of ideas I do not see the wisdom in your protest, I do not accept the logic of your complaint. PC is, I think, a menace to the health and well being of the county. And PC ought not to be confused with decency or respect.

As if the O-drones know anything about the Gatsby-esque chameleon they bow down to. Obama doesn’t even know his own position on half the issues. And as for O supporters not being apocalyptic, check this out:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/larisa-alexandrovna/welcome-to-the-final-stag_b_127990.html

And all the chatter about black kids and white kids making common cause is laughable. The O-Drones mistake psychological dysfunction for inspiration. Black kids are, to put it nicely, racial tribalists. White kids want to alleviate their melanin-deficient angst. I spoke to one of them today – a South Texan girl who was painfully self-conscious about her family’s “backward” beliefs. Voting for O is a penance for wealth, white trash family members, whatever makes proggs self conscious. That’s not a ballot box you’re entering on Election Day; it’s the Magic Negro’s Confessional. Whites everywhere, I Absolve You.

Read a nice anecdote the other day about a gathering of some twentysomething O-drones at one of the messiah’s speeches. After all the usual hopeychangey teleprompter goodness, it came time for the Obama Youth to socialize. The black kids and white kids huddled apart in their little groups, not saying so much as a word to each other.
I guess Mr. Ayers’s bag man can’t bring the races together after all – if he doesn’t fulfill that whole “stop the oceans” thing, then I’m REALLY going to feel cheated.

Would that mention of Greeley be in reference to Sayyid Qutb? Sly …

That’s a pretty good summary of federalism. I like it.

I’ll try to dig up your dad’s piece.

As an observer of history, I share the German distrust of charisma. I suspect that our learned host does even more so.

(I fear that I don’t know all of your literary references, I am a mere geologist …

That Obama may be Deval Patrick’s twin is a real concern of itself. Not that he’s a bad fellow, just that McCain is so much more serious.

It is precisely that Rohrschach quality of Obama’s rhetoric that worries me so. It is a clever parlor trick, but is it a philosophy of governance? Especially given the challenges facing the next administration. The senator is expert at setting an emotional ambience, but is he capable of horsetrading? As to his cool manner, I detect a rather thin skin. The old geezer has managed to unnerve him pretty badly.

All of this blood-on-the-streets stuff is plain silly. I am hearing it from both sides, though. If Obama loses in a close race there will a lot of disappointed people with a relatively low maturity level. That is the transition that I was talking about – from Hope to Disappointment. (At this point, I think that McCain will win. Obama has a chance to redeem himself at the debates, but he has performed weakly since the convention.)

@ Kon – Too much in your post that’s worthy so forgive my quickie… Your response to 9/11 reminds me of my own – posted here about that in the past. Wasn’t sure at first WHY I felt personally at fault – wasn’t survivor’s guilt – though my wife got lucky (passed on a potential gig down around the Towers that day)…Slowly dawned that the Deed underscored my own beamishness about…Mankind. (As you can tell, I’m not too good at resisting hope-mongers! ) I’d always focused (pretty much exclusively) on Change. Skipped over the NEED for protection. My obliviousness to the need for Security came home to me bigtime on 9/11. And I felt the gravitas of people – conservatives!!! military guys, cops, fireman etc. – who worried – and ACTED! – while I was, ah, obnubliatory…

I hear you re the NEED to be “moved” – but Lord knows O is all clear about the fact that he’s a screen on which his audiences often project their own emotions. O often seems (to me) to go out of his way NOT to whip folks up. He comes across to me as a public Man Thinking. Not a little Hitler…

As for the dangers of any transition – Have to say that seems like pretty light stuff to me. If O turns out to be Deval Patrick…- I don’t think anyone is going to throw themselves off a bridge. And the only folks I hear talk re “blood in the streets” and “jumping to armed struggle” etc. are on this side of the fence. Maybe I’ve missed apocalyptos on my side, but surely you’ll allow that O is a pretty cool customer…

Your post reminds me of a Les Fiedler line I’ve quoted here in the past. Fiedler (as you probably know) was a lit critic – busted the Rosenbergs’ popular front style in one of his more famous (notorious on the Left!) 50′s pieces. Anyway Fiedler was a charismatic platform presence. But on an early 60′s panel at a German U, he wasn’t getting any action from the crowd. Wondered about that after the dealio. And his host explained – Germans don’t trust charisma! Well they’ve got an excuse. But I don’t think Americans have anything to be afraid of this electoral season. Don’t quite grasp why anyone who cares about the health of American demos should worry re O’s capacity to inspire kids – or the black mons and children who made up 80% of his audience yesterday at a Durham NC rally. -…All good, no?

Your deepest ruminations re media violence and moral character remind me of the last piece my pop wrote before he died – It was long thing in Harpers – “The Hard Man Cometh.” Gotta feeling he would’ve been honored if you’d read it…