Scapegoat

Jewish people can be paranoid. I am Jewish, so I can say that. Who knows - it may be a genetic thing. Like "survival of the fittest;" only the most nervous and un-trusting of our groups survived. If you are Jewish and still here, then you must have come from one of the more nervous or paranoid lines.

That being said, I wanted to express some concerns/fears that I have regarding some of the rhetoric being displayed at recent McCain/Palin events (see video above). There is an anger in their audiences that is quite frightening. I understand that this election period is coming to an end and that McCain is down in the polls. Look, tough times call for tough measures. It is only natural.

Politics and desperate politicians get dirty. That is a given. What scares me is the unique combination of events that we are living through, that seems to make political dirt even more scary. A sort of "perfect storm," I guess you can say. Firstly, Barack Obama is African American - I know that may be news, but it is true. There is bound to be an already existing level of fear/anger that stems from this fact. Secondly, we are in awful mess financially. The US and the entire world are undergoing a financial free fall that is unprecedented. Lastly, the conservative base had a powerful role in our society for the last ten years or so. This may be most likely coming to an end (keep fingers crossed), and there is bound to be some lashing out.

All of these facts seemed to come together for me while I was watching some video at a recent McCain/Palin rally. I saw this crowd of angry people, yelling and expressing their disdain at our country becoming a land for "socialists." Some individuals are spouting violent statements toward Obama. Then - I saw this little guy at the front of the crowd whom they were there to hear. He was small in stature, and was gesturing with his arms dramatically in order to emphasize his points about how not electing him puts the US in jeopardy. You know, he puts "country first." Something is familiar about this scene...

Believe me, I am in no way comparing McCain's beliefs to those of Hitler's. I don't believe that. What is frightening to me is any time a person in some level of power is using rhetoric to "rally the troops." People are angry and scared enough already. Just like in Germany during the early 1930s, people are experiencing difficult financial times. This makes for fertile ground in sowing the seeds of rage. When there is rage, violence and scapegoating is not far behind. I hope that McCain and Palin are not stoking the fires for their candidacies, beyond what can safely be extinguished.