Mosques, Media, and McCain

Today, Senator John McCain will be holding a “victory rally” at the courthouse in Media, Pennsylvania. Both my wife and I are from Media; in 1974, when I married my high school sweetheart, we climbed those courthouse steps to get our marriage license. Media, the county seat of Delaware County, is as Republican Red as just about anyplace I can name. A good venue—little chance of an impromptu Obama rally breaking out here, as it did during a recent visit to an automotive plant.

But perhaps that’s indicative of a growing problem in America---the “Mosquing” of Main Street. While every religion has fundamentalist zealots, the notion that somehow Islamic Fundamentalists are particularly inclined to eradicate America seems to have been inculcated into the national psyche. We see video clips of similarly-dressed individuals chanting anti-American rhetoric, and shake our heads in chagrin at such mindless devotion to ill-reasoned concepts. In a previous generation, it was “sig heil” chanted by different people in a different land—but the same chagrin.

Yet, as I follow the blogs and listen to the pundits on cable, a disturbing fact about Decision 2008 is emerging: the vast majority of the electorate’s mind is (and has been) “made up.” When investigative reporters unearth questionable facts regarding Gov. Palin, the reactions are purely knee-jerk. Those who support Ms. Palin either see nothing wrong, or condemn the story as muckraking. Those inclined against her simply nod, and think “see, I thought there was something about her I didn’t like.”

Sunday’s news includes a piece about some 30% of white democrats not being able to support Sen. Obama due to his race. White only voting white—even if they disagree with the man’s policies, or evangelicals supporting Gov. Palin for Vice President—not based on qualifications but upon religious conviction, or black voters supporting Sen. Obama—only because he’s the “black” candidate.

This is 2008—we have the internet to share ideas with fellow citizens across the nation at virtually no cost, we can see remarks by the candidates in small town meetings as they happen on cable news—and still we must elect a president based upon polarization???

Demagogues throughout history have exploited “hoi polloi” to their own ends. Those of us in academia devote their lives to educating those “polloi,” and cannot but be somewhat upset that an important election seems to be coming down to inculcated and ill-reasoned prejudices, this time not coming from a mosque, but perhaps just as threatening to a thoughtful democracy.