This is terrifying because it's so true.I was in Israel interviewing Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin just before he was assassinated in 1995. We had a beer in his office. He needed one. I remember the ugly mood in Israel then — a mood in which extreme right-wing settlers and politicians were doing all they could to delegitimize Rabin, who was committed to trading land for peace as part of the Oslo accords. They questioned his authority. They accused him of treason. They created pictures depicting him as a Nazi SS officer, and they shouted death threats at rallies. His political opponents winked at it all.Sound familiar? Please name the Republican "leaders" who have condemned the hate-filled vitriol spewed out by Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh, Rep. Joe "You Lie!" Wilson, Rep. Trent "Obama is an enemy of humanity" Franks, the Dick Armey-led tea partiers, etc., etc. Hmmmm...is that the sound of crickets chirping I hear? Yep, sure is. And where could this all lead to? Continuing with Tom Friedman's column...
And in so doing they created a poisonous political environment that was interpreted by one right-wing Jewish nationalist as a license to kill Rabin — he must have heard, “God will be on your side” — and so he did.That's where it can all lead. Now, I'm well aware that politics is a rough business, that personal attacks are par for the course, and that this has been going on since the beginning of our nation. However, there are times when it gets completely out of control, and this is one of those times. To be fair, I thought that some of the rhetoric (e.g., any use of Nazi imagery) against George W. Bush - as much as I disapproved of his policies - got out of hand as well, but not nearly to the degree as we're seeing now with President Obama (and it generally wasn't being egged on by elected Democratic officials). Again, the question is, when will Republican "leaders" (in quotes until the prove that they truly are leaders) step up to the plate, work to calm the situation, and denounce the most extreme demagogues (Rush, Glenn)? Or will they simply continue to "wink" from the sidelines, while our country is torn apart? For all of our sakes, I sincerely hope they opt for the former, not the latter, but I'm not brimming over with confidence on this...
Others have already remarked on this analogy, but I want to add my voice because the parallels to Israel then and America today turn my stomach: I have no problem with any of the substantive criticism of President Obama from the right or left. But something very dangerous is happening. Criticism from the far right has begun tipping over into delegitimation and creating the same kind of climate here that existed in Israel on the eve of the Rabin assassination.
UPDATE: And yet more insanity from the right wing. Plus, what the heck is Gore Vidal talking about?!?
