I Heard the President Was a Big, Fat, Marxist, Fascist, Communist!

It was in my heady youthful days in politics when then Vice President George Bush proclaimed his 1988 opponent, Governor Michael Dukakis, not only was a liberal, but “a card carrying member of the ACLU.” His liberal philosophy and membership in the American Civil Liberties Union were offered as evidence to the American people that Dukakis was soft on crime and a proponent child pornography. These charges were leveled to put the man’s patriotism in question. More important, it was a darn effective move by the Bush Campaign, especially since Dukakis let the remarks linger too long before offering a response.

Let’s fast forward to the present and listen to the righty blog chatter, talk radio and the TV talking heads. The tactic has not changed – painting the opposition as having questionable, if not unpatriotic, motives continues. However, the word weaponry has escalated. Being labeled a liberal or an ACLU member is no longer the stinging indictment it once was. In one show last week alone, leading Fox babbler Glenn Beck said “it's not simply that President Obama is really liberal… It's something much, much bigger than that... Obama was mentored as a youth by a communist… He went to a black liberation theology church for 20 years…Why should we believe he doesn't want Marxism?”

Cheers of “give me my country back” were heard frequently at Town Hall meetings in August and the Tea Party march in DC a few weeks ago. So, we must now add national larceny to the list of accusations I assume. Some on the right seem more interested in questioning the patriotism of those they oppose by placing scary labels on them than in offering an alternative route to success. Mr. Beck and his fellow talkers are entertainers, so I understand what they are selling. I just hope the rest of us have the fortitude to reject the name calling and seek something more from those we elect.

The right is not alone in playing the fear mongering, innuendo whispering, and guilt by association game. I just pick on them today because my Twitter feed seemed a little more crowded with statements from the right this morning.

Leadership is not owned by those who stand to the right or the left on the political spectrum. Leadership belongs to those who develop the vision to build a better community, state, country and world, and are able to inspire the rest of us to join them in the heavy lifting of building a brighter future. We need a whole lot less babble and a whole lot more leadership from both sides.

This entry was first published as a Des Moines Register blog entry.