Like a lot of people who spend way too much time prowling
the web I was shocked by this YouTube of folks coming out of a Palin
Rally convinced Obama was a terrorist. If that is the take away from a GOP rally
something is seriously wrong.
There are plenty of legitimate reasons not to vote for Obama
– enough so that I don’t really have to list them here – but him being a “one
man terrorist cell” whose “name says it all” is not one of them.
In The Elements of Persuasion Bob and I say:
“Of course, not every story has a happy ending, and
there is a very real moral danger in creating villains… Story telling is innate
in human beings, but it is in some respects a value-free process. Fortunately,
there is a fail safe. Those stories that produce destructive and negative
actions tend to cannibalize the people who tell them. They rapidly eliminate
themselves from the cultural dialogue…”
But what do we do while we wait for the fever to run its
course? Listening to the wise words of our political elders seems a good place
to start.
This speech by Republican Jim Leach, formerly the
Representative from Iowa’s 2nd District, fills the bill. It was
given at the Dem convention, and is an endorsement of Obama, but that isn’t the
point. The point is that it is truly bipartisan.
What I really like about it is that it places the story of
this election cycle in the larger context of the Four Great Questions that have
been at the heart of every American election from our county’s beginning and lists progressive
politicians from both parties who have helped our country move towards achieving our ideals. It would make the kernel for a great High School
History class discussion.
Sometimes the real gems from a political convention don’t
standout until later. This speech is one of those. To find out more about Jim
Leach, click here.