Many of the efforts to smear Barack Obama are the result of his 10 years of "subversive" activism, otherwise known as his time as a professor at the University of Chicago. Apparently, in "real America" everybody knows that professors are by definition "subversive" and un-patriotic. They hate America and never say nice things about our country.In his latest desperate swipe McCain is going after Obama for his association to fellow prof, Rashid Khalidi. Khalidi is a respected scholar of Middle East politics who has been critical of Israeli policy. McCain and Palin have called him a "PLO spokesman." I bet your shocked that this charge is not true. When you are sowing the seeds of doubt, truth is not important. Did you see the survey that showed 23% of Texans surveys actually believe Obama is a Muslim? WOW!
The thing is, professors are professional students and good students ask a lot of questions. Good students do not censor their questions or "vett" them for political correctness. This makes them perfect patsy's in political campaigns. If some voters are willing to believe that a person has made a firm personal commitment to every idea they have ever considered as a scholar, then professors may as well forget about running for public office, and may want to avoid politicians that they actually like. Maybe professors should befriend politicians with whom they disagree.
To Americans not possessed by emotional political demons, this is one of the best illustrations of anti-intellectual politics. By literally demonizing systematic thinking, politicians are sending a horrible message to our children. If American education is in crisis, anti-intellectual politics is clearly among the causes. In politics and celebrity culture in general, our kids see those who look down on critical thinking succeeding, while intellectuals are mocked.
Think about the children of the folks out there who are militantly anti-Obama, who are peddling crazy accusations about him. What will their kids think in a few years when everything their parents were saying is clearly exposed as nonsense, or worse? What will these kids take away from this realization? The way grown ups engage in politics teaches kids a lot.
I wrote this post after readinig today's Washington Post editorial.
PS. reminds be of sage advice from a Massachusetts politician:
"Never write if you can speak; never speak if you can nod; never nod if you can wink."
Maritn Lomasney