I am thankful that I live in a country where its citizens can take to the streets in (relatively) peaceful protests like this one.  Because there are a whole lot of places on Earth where these folks would have been arrested, beaten, imprisoned and abused.

That said, I have a real problem with this “rally.”  Not because its backers are conservatives and I’m progressive in my political beliefs.  Not because I think conservatives are stupid or evil.

It’s because the rally was in large part organized by Dick Armey’s Freedom Watch and Glenn Beck, both of whom have cynically manipulated some genuine concerns (and some irrational fears) into a furious mob.  This mob doesn’t know what it stands for–only that it stands against Obama.

Why?

Because he’s a Nazi, a socialist, a communist, or sometimes all of them at once.  (Which doesn’t make logical sense–it’s just an attempt to stick the vilest labels to the man in order to demonize him.)

Because he’s going to “take away our freedoms.”  (Like what?  No matter–he just is, and we’re not going to let him.)

Because he’s going to take over health care.  (Go back and read his speech from last Wednesday, then look at his actions since January 20, and you’ll see he doesn’t want to “take over” health care any more than he wants to take over Mexico–he wants to fix the current system.  Debate all you want about the manner in which he wants to do so, but debate honestly.)

Because our taxes are going to go up.  (Which isn’t true in the short term but will likely be inevitable in the long term as a result of the past 8 years of economic policy which erased a huge surplus, gave substantial tax breaks to the wealthiest Americans, and saddled us with an enormous debt.)

Because he lied to us.  (What did he lie about?  I still haven’t heard anything that doesn’t conflate “I think he’s wrong” with “He’s a liar,” which are two very different things.)

All of these seem to boil down to the following:

Because Barack Obama, a black man, defeated the Republican nominee for president and therefore gets a shot at promoting his agenda rather than a Republican one.

I understand feeling frustrated, even angry, in the context of having my candidate lose and seeing an opposing political ideology take control of Washington.  I’ve felt that way for most of the past eight years.  But this anger goes beyond that.  It taps into some darker aspects of our national psyche–a fear of blacks, for one thing, and of change, fears so strong that they overwhelm rationality and become knee-jerk reactions.

By all means, hold our elected officials responsible, from the president down to your local city councilman or woman.  Enter into a vigorous national debate about these issues.  Exercise your constitutional rights and vote for the candidates you support, and let all elected officials know where you stand.

But again, do it honestly.  Calling attention to the fact that our deficit is enormous and arguing that too much government regulation may be stifling to innovation and efficiency is one thing.  Engaging in fear-stoking rhetoric, and shouting “You lie!” at the President during a Congressional address, and comparing President Obama with the Joker is another.

If you want an example of the kind of honest debate I’m talking about, look here:

Granted, the “angry mob” title is probably misplaced rhetoric: this looks like less of an angry mob than it does a gaggle of concerned citizens.  But this is what political discourse should be in our country.  Instead, we get this:

And this.  And this.  And this.  And especially this.

Rachel Maddow got it right when she spoke about this kind of rhetoric:

Part 1

Part 2

Advertisement