McCain and Able
Watching Barack Obama’s acceptance speech two weeks ago, I felt like I was a part of something great, something important in the history of this country. Hearing him speak, watching him in a stadium of 82,000 people, speaking live in front of what-40 million viewers, I felt like we were a part of a speech that was every bit as eloquent, sincere, profound, daring, and prophetic as those of Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther King in the late 60s. Those speeches, which I used to watch and feel like there was no one who could speak like that anymore-those speeches are now something we’re a part of. Because Barack is on that level. He’s that kind of leader.
The “Media Cycle” has fallen completely for the tabloid news of McCain’s running mate, but the real news is Obama. I was struck, during the speech, by his many references to being his brother’s keeper. Such as this one:
What — what is that American promise? It’s a promise that says each of us has the freedom to make of our own lives what we will, but that we also have obligations to treat each other with dignity and respect.
It’s a promise that says the market should reward drive and innovation and generate growth, but that businesses should live up to their responsibilities to create American jobs, to look out for American workers, and play by the rules of the road.
Ours — ours is a promise that says government cannot solve all our problems, but what it should do is that which we cannot do for ourselves: protect us from harm and provide every child a decent education; keep our water clean and our toys safe; invest in new schools, and new roads, and science, and technology.
Our government should work for us, not against us. It should help us, not hurt us. It should ensure opportunity not just for those with the most money and influence, but for every American who’s willing to work.
That’s the promise of America, the idea that we are responsible for ourselves, but that we also rise or fall as one nation, the fundamental belief that I am my brother’s keeper, I am my sister’s keeper.
That’s the promise we need to keep. That’s the change we need right now.
In the view of Barack Obama’s view, the role of government is to be a caring sibling. And it began to dawn on me that he was contrasting McCain’s view with his own, and that McCain is-Cain, in the story of Cain and Abel.
Cain tills the fields; he is a farmer. Abel is a shepherd. After a period of time, they both produce offerings to God, but Abel’s is preferred. Cain becomes angry-and God tells him:
“Why are you so distressed,
and why is your face fallen?
Surely, if you do right,
There is uplift.
But if you do not do right,
sin couches at the door;
its urge is toward you,
yet you can be its master.”
But we know what happens next-Cain says, come, let’s go to the field, and kills his brother. And when God asks where his brother is, Cain says, “I do not know. Am I my brother’s keeper?”
This is interesting on many levels to me. First, that McCain’s name is so closely related to Cain. And second, that this attitude: become jelous, steal, rob, murder, and then deny it all, even to your own God, is a perfect metaphor for Republican policy. Unapologetically pillage from the poor, and then, when held accountable, deny it all.
The next part of the story is also interesting. God banishes Cain, and says that he will no longer till the soil in a fertile land-he will wander the earth. Cain says, but how will I be protected? And God tells him he will be protected. So, just as we find in our modern times, the murderer, the war criminal, is given a reprieve, while the poor serve jail time for petty crimes. In secret prisons, detainees are tortured and held without trial, but corporate crime is pardoned, companies that have committed financial crimes are floated by the government.
It is the government’s responsibility to help those in need. It is one of the measures of a successful society that they care for the poor and the widows. For McCain, for the republicans, the view is: It’s not my responsibility. I killed my brother, but am I my brother’s keeper?
What’s in a name? Fox News tried their level best to slander Barack because of his unusual name. But McCain’s name is damning: it represents him perfectly. Mc-for the McDonald-corrupt world we live in, and Cain, for his willingness to commit murder and absolve himself of all guilt. For his shameful change of policy on fundamental issues, like torture, like campaign finance reform. For shame, John McCain. For shame.
