[lit-ideas] "he's an Arab" - the rhetoric of political smears
- From: "William Dolphin" <dolphinw@xxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sun, 12 Oct 2008 15:41:25 -0500
The woman in question, Gayle Quinnell, 75, who works for the McCain campaign
in Minnesota, was interviewed at the rally after the exchange with McCain
and made it clear that while she may not be sure Obama is an Arab terrorist
(she was distributing flyers about it at the rally), she does know that
"he's got Muslim in him" and that the McCain campaign may know it but is
unwilling to say it publicly.
(http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/10/12/105649/99)
But what is she really saying? Certainly we've been treated to any number of
youtube videos of McCain supporters showing up for rallies yelling that
Obama himself is a Muslim and a terrorist, but what are they really saying?
Perhaps most importantly, what is the McCain campaign saying when it uses
the "palling around with terrorists" line, notably plural in the number of
terrorists, or that Obama began his career in the living room of a
terrorist?
I don't think it has anything to do with "Muslims" or "terrorists" or
"Arabs" -- in much the same way that "elitist" has a special meaning as
applied to Obama -- and that the difference fully explains how McCain
responded.
No, I think that, for this campaign, those words are dog whistles, coded
phrases that mean something deeper and more elemental, something
disconnected from the particularities those words normally identify.
In the political discourse as currently deployed, aren't those words to be
understood as saying something about the possible danger presented by
African Americans who are not kept in check, not kept in their place? Isn't
the suggestion less about terrorists per se (no one alleges that the
present-day Ayers is a threat to anyone) than it is that this black man who
would be President represents a fundamental challenge to a particular vision
of American identity?
With Kennedy, the fear stoked was of the Papist influence his Presidency
would usher in; with Obama, it is sympathy for the Muslims and terrorists.
But I don't think that the overt suggestion that Obama is a collaborator
with the enemy in a titanic clash of civilizations is really to the point.
That's not how people like Gayle Quinnell experience it. For them, what's
invoked is a primal "otherness" that always means "danger" on the most
primitive level.
One of our Congressmen from Mississippi was kind enough to remove the
curtain from the similar use of "elitist" after he repeatedly said to a
reporter that the Obamas were "uppity" -- his spokesperson "clarified" his
remark the next day by saying that the Congressman had meant "elitist" when
he said "uppity".
Of course, McCain, having been on the receiving end of just such attacks in
2000 from Tucker Eskew, knows just how it works. That's why he hired Eskew
to run Sarah Palin's part of the campaign.
And that's why he responded with his "decent" remark: McCain knows that
"Arab" in this context doesn't mean anything to do with ethnicity or region
or origin, it's about being labeled indecent.
The real question may be just how dangerous such talk really is, per Rep.
John Lewis, who draws the lineage to George Wallace, or Frank Rich in
today's NYT, who raises the terrible specter of assassination.
(http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/12/opinion/12rich.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin)
-Wm. Dolphin
Memphis, Tennessee
where dog whistles are about all you hear
>-----Original Message-----
>From: lit-ideas-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
>[mailto:lit-ideas-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]On Behalf Of Judith Evans
>Sent: Sunday, October 12, 2008 2:02 PM
>To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
>Subject: [lit-ideas] Re: Opinion needed
>
>
>the video clip I initially saw and have subsequently seen repeated
>> on news pieces has the woman saying "he's an Arab" and McCain responding
>> with "No, ma'am, he's a decent family man citizen who..."...
>
>I saw that, yes. (But I thought I'd already heard someone call Obama a
>terrorist. Certainly, I thought the
>'Arab' wasn't the first insult, McCain was already trying to
>counter insults
>from the audience. -- here's the video:
>
>http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/223513.php
>
>it seems the 'he's an Arab...terrorist' comes from someone who was there,
>but the video doesn't back it up.
>
>I'd say McCain just didn't know what to say -- was flustered -- not that he
>thinks being an Arab precludes being a 'decent family man' (or citizen!),
>alternatively, he may have been replying to the woman's assumed meaning, to
>what he assumed the connotations of 'Arab' were.
>
> later in that
>> same rally is a guy saying he's afraid of Obama because he cohorts with
>> home-grown terrorists, and in which another couple people shout "kill
>> him".
>
>
>I thought that was in a Palin rally
>
>
>----- Original Message -----
>From: "Julie Krueger" <juliereneb@xxxxxxxxx>
>To: <lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
>Sent: Sunday, October 12, 2008 7:48 PM
>Subject: [lit-ideas] Re: Opinion needed
>
>
>>I understand there are all sorts of nuances which would not lend
>themselves
>> to a quick off the cuff answer -- distinctions re. Arabs, Persians,
>> Muslims,
>> etc. But the video clip I initially saw and have subsequently seen
>> repeated
>> on news pieces has the woman saying "he's an Arab" and McCain responding
>> with "No, ma'am, he's a decent family man citizen who..."...
>later in that
>> same rally is a guy saying he's afraid of Obama because he cohorts with
>> home-grown terrorists, and in which another couple people shout "kill
>> him".
>>
>>
>> On Sun, Oct 12, 2008 at 1:38 PM, Judith Evans
>> <judith.evans001@xxxxxxxxxxxx>wrote:
>>
>>> I have heard it commented on, Julie. One story is that he was actually
>>> replying to 'he's an Arab, he's a terrorist' but I've seen the video and
>>> can't hear that at that point. (It did seem clear McCain was thrown.)
>>>
>>> To give McCain a pass: it's a bit difficult in that kind of situation to
>>> say'He isn't an Arab -- as you mean 'Muslim', I'll add: he is not a
>>> Muslim
>>> -- but if he were, so what? (etc.)"
>>>
>>> Judy Evans, Cardiff
>>>
>>>
>>> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Julie Krueger"
><juliereneb@xxxxxxxxx>
>>> To: <lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
>>> Sent: Sunday, October 12, 2008 7:28 PM
>>> Subject: [lit-ideas] Opinion needed
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Okay -- you guys have to settle a disagreement between my husband and
>>> me.
>>>>
>>>> I'm sure you all have seen the repeatedly run bit from a recent McCain
>>>> rally
>>>> in which a gray-haired, red-shirted woman says she's afraid of Obama;
>>>> after
>>>> significant stuttering and stammering she comes up with the assertion
>>>> that
>>>> she's scared of Obama because he's an Arab. McCain shakes his head,
>>>> says
>>>> "No Ma'am, he's a decent family man citizen"....
>>>>
>>>> I've seen pundits from all over the place rplay that, refer to it and
>>>> seemingly examine it, evaluating to what extent McCain was trying to
>>>> play
>>>> gentleman in the thug-fest.
>>>>
>>>> What no one I've heard comment on is the peculiarity of the essential
>>>> exchange: "Is he an Arab?" "No, he's a decent man" -- which was my
>>>> immediate initial reaction when I first saw the rally exchange.
>>>>
>>>> Jim says I'm way too cynical and that that interpretation hadn't even
>>>> occurred to him.
>>>>
>>>> I maintain that it was obvious the first time I saw the
>>>> mini-conversation.
>>>>
>>>> What say ye?
>>>>
>>>> --
>>>> Julie Krueger
>>>>
>>>> Visit www.VoteForChange.com. Register to vote and help spread the word.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
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>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> Julie Krueger
>>
>> Visit www.VoteForChange.com. Register to vote and help spread the word.
>>
>
>
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