Palin offers Fear to the Frightened

As if American families are not already fearing their financial situation, fearing their children's safety as gun violence rises, and fearing for homeland security, Governor Palin began enlisting Fear Tactics in her speeches. In a recent rally, McCain's running mate said, "I am just so fearful that this is not a man who sees America the way that you and I see America...I’m afraid this is someone who sees America as imperfect enough to work with a former domestic terrorist who had targeted his own country." I can understand that the campaigns are becoming increasingly negative as crunch time approaches, but insinuating that Senator Obama is a threat to this nation because of his ties to a former radical is the same tactic as spreading widespread rumors of Obama's Muslim faith. The Muslim argument was blasted by critics, but this is a more subtle way of digging into that part of the mind that recalls 9/11. It is smart though. In a time of economic crisis in a country fighting an astronomically expensive war, nobody wants to hear that Obama is "friendly to terrorists" as she was also quoted saying.
My bias is not cloaked. I feel that in these times of peril, we should gather around a new model of leadership. Bush and his administration dug a hole into this countries treasury and morale, and McCain and Palin, armed with shovels, don't promise to fill it in. As the Great Depression strangled our country in the late 1920's, the country realized that it had to join together in order to correct the apathy towards the common man. FDR came into power and inspired the country to get their hands dirty. Men that once drove Mercedes were loaded into buses to build dams but McCain and even Senator Obama are forced to preach that the average man will once again have prosperity without having to lift a finger. According to Palin, all we have to do is ask ourselves if we want a terrorist friendly President like Obama and head to the poles with the "right" choice.
In times of Peril, we take so easily to the leader appearing powerful and willing to take action. But these are, like Mr Hale in "The Crucible" said, new times. In these new times we have to realize that swift action is and bold experimentation are not the keys to this country's recovery from economic disaster. We should not be shaking up when we should be bolting down and looking past partisan differences to get things done. Had partisan issues not been so strong during the 1920's perhaps the Republican Party would have look at Senator McCarthy and questioned whether he was right in the head.