That, at least, is a current meme being broadcast by the liberal intelligentsia. Here are the now well posted statements of Representative John Lewis:
"As one who was a victim of violence and hate during the height of the Civil Rights Movement, I am deeply disturbed by the negative tone of the McCain-Palin campaign. What I am seeing today reminds me too much of another destructive period in American history. Sen. McCain and Gov. Palin are sowing the seeds of hatred and division, and there is no need for this hostility in our political discourse.
"During another period, in the not too distant past, there was a governor of the state of Alabama named George Wallace who also became a presidential candidate. George Wallace never threw a bomb. He never fired a gun, but he created the climate and the conditions that encouraged vicious attacks against innocent Americans who only desired to exercise their constitutional rights. Because of this atmosphere of hate, four little girls were killed one Sunday morning when a church was bombed in Birmingham, Alabama.
Wow! Did Palin vow to stand where Jefferson Davis once stood? Did John McCain belt out "Segregation now! Segregation forever!" Well not exactly. What McCain Palin did was to criticize Obama's alliance with unrepentant terrorist Bill Ayers. Now a reasonable person might well think that the Obama/Ayers alliance doesn't matter, or that McCain has similar skeletons in his own closet. But does criticizing Obama's political actions in the past really equate to murdering little girls in a church? So far as I can tell, the only bomber in the equation is Ayers.
And then there is Dianne McWhorter, writing at Slate. Her attack is much cleverer than Representative Lewis's.
Any comparison between George Wallace's program and the current Republican campaign must acknowledge the truth reflected in the fact alone of a black presidential nominee: The country today is a long way from the America of 1972. By the same token, that stunning achievement is the very fact that gives this debate over Wallace's legacy its urgency.
The most obvious tactic shared by Palin and Wallace is their cranky assault on the "elite" national news media. Wallace would often single out reporters at his events from "the Life magazine," "the Time," and "the Newsweek," but he thoughtfully assigned them bodyguards in case his "folks" got too riled up. When Palin deprecated Katie Couric at a rally, the crowd shook thunder sticks at the press section—and one supporter told a black network soundman to "sit down, boy." Like Wallace's base, Palin's "true Americans" owe their authenticity to their rebellion against American institutions.
That acknowledgement of the obvious truth about America is good strategy. The fact that Barack Obama is the Democratic nominee, and that he looks to be the next President, surely means that race is no longer a bar to any office in the United States. Nor can McWhorter come up with anything vaguely resembling racism on the part of McCain or Palin. So how is Palin like George Wallace, as the post title says?
Well, Palin is a "cranky" anti-elitist. I think I follow the logic here. Palin attacks the elite. Anti-elitism was a theme of George Wallace. Therefore, Sarah Palin is George Wallace. I will let my readers measure that sophism on their own. But look at what has become of the Left! They once stood as the challengers of the elite, the enemies of the status quo. Now, poised on the lip of what looks like victory, they want to make sure that no challenges to their regime will be allowed.
Racism is a terrible thing. The cynical use of anti-racism as a weapon against innocent parties is damning.
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