The Tempting Irrational

Voltaire observed that “If God did not exist, it would be necessary to invent him.”   Well, maybe;  he sparked our adolescent conversations late into boozy nights and forty years later we haven’t settled it. But we also feel the need  of Satan, directing frustration and anger at Emmanuel Goldstein, internalizing a picture of Bush taking the form BDS dictates.   We laugh, but the haters’ anger makes us uneasy; we feel the impotency of rational arguments against passionate irrationality.

That disease is one I fear for myself. It is dangerous: to our understanding, our reasoning, and our souls. I don’t want to feel what I’ve seen from the opposition the last few years. I don’t want to simplify & ignore the causes of war, natural catastrophes, history; I don’t want to become conspiratorial; I don’t want to ponder the sexual preferences of a chief justice’s four-year-old or gloat over the young death of someone whose chief fault is representing that opposition. I don’t want to lose my sense of proportionality, always a small enough counterweight to my passions and assumptions. I don’t want to become the worst of them and need to remember most of them are not the worst.

We suspected their speculations were a window on their imaginations, how they saw power’s uses. Positing it done by others, justification comes more easily. Villains relieve the tensions of cognitive dissonance we project our ambitions and motives on others; our gut may know, but we can distract ourselves by accusing another. Understanding this about human nature prompted our wry laughs at Instapundit’s “they told me” links. The Bush invented in fevered imaginations arose to comfort as much as an exercise of wit, justified more than defined.

But when our world is threatened, we prefer simplicity – in times of rapid cultural change, wars and displacement, and, of course, economic uncertainty. A strong man is attractive; we like the balance of a villain. Focused on what we see as a Manichean battle in the present, we may sacrifice country to party, long term to short.   We are all susceptible.   This is most dangerous at the ballot box, that foundation for such a large history.

While I liked bloodyhell’s comments, I hoped they were a bit hyperbolic and shared MD’s worried response. But, they suspect rightly, I fear:  we may be riding toward a perfect storm in this election.

My son-in-law has been visiting; he’s giving a paper at a conference on ’68. He complained some McCain supporters (perhaps abetted by McCain) were lighting dangerous fires. (And that is my conservative son-in-law my optimism about this election is not high.)    Tu quoque doesn’t work when it’s not his hypocrisy but simply his worry.   And  I’m not comfortable  defending those harsh voices.  I thught of his comment  a few hours later as the nightly news showed McCain firmly cautioning a partisan crowd. He did what he needed: he argued Obama was a good man, that he was not “scary.” Indeed, McCain said, he would lead well  not as McCain would, but well. I  was ambivalent, thinking  of remarks quite beyond the pale and long-held Obama positions  ignored  so often. I wanted McCain to fight.  I was irritated: how can he ignore that gulf separating civility and the left? McCain’s response (standing so often beside Lieberman) is that isn’t the left, not the whole left.

Such an acknowledgement seems beyond the imagination of those like Pelosi and Frank, of whom we’ve heard more than was especially helpful lately.    But McCain values his country more than himself; that prompted him to dp  what needed to be done. He is likely to continue to do it. If he loses, he won’t take  to the hills, inspiring  guerrilla warfare  in endless contests. He is right to do this. And Obama is more likely to do it because McCain did. Being a leader isn’t checking to see if the other guy is doing the right thing, just doing it. (And the reason I’ll vote for McCain, even if he makes it hard, is my confidence in his most important priorities.)

Unfortunately, McCain’s best is not likely to be good enough. Obama’s might not be either. A lot of anger has been unleashed by our economic troubles and this hard-fought campaign. And I’m not sure Obama has the historical perspective or the imagination to understand just how deadly that fire might be. If the election is decided in a landslide, Obama will have a strong mandate for programs I believe are destructive, counterproductive, and, well, wrong. But if he does that, the perfect storm may be avoided. Conservatives, believing in the fallibility of man, are less likely to be surprised; taking pleasure in larger institutions and faith from the long term, they are less likely to see this election as apocalyptic.  They won’t  like it and  may grumble, Rush Limbaugh will have more listeners, but I doubt they revolt. I’m not sure it can be avoided if McCain wins in a landslide, for the other side begins with other assumptions. But, then, that’s not likely to happen anyway.  A tight election will fan  brush fires these campaigns (consciously or not) have kindled; with enough oxygen they  have an awful  potency.

If Obama loses, the msm and many of his supporters will blame  racism (we’ve seen hints) and voter suppression. Such interpretations  justify  anger and rationalize  bad behavior McCain’s choices will be constantly second guessed, his motives questioned, shady  registrations justified. Paranoia is likely to rear its ugly head. On the other hand, Acorn’s practices do bring up questions nor does its  funding  or Acorn’s history  comfort.  The belief an election was stolen  tempts  our side, too.

One person sees a sainted community organizer, another a con man. I side with the latter. I conflate Obama’s beliefs & choices with those that caused so much misery in the twentieth century. My fears aren’t groundless but are (I hope) exaggerated. And perhaps  wrong: he has had a chance to understand better than most. After all, his life has moved through a system more ordered and less bloody than that of his father and his father’s family; the system in which he rose is defined by choices at the ballot box and by the most important equality of one man, one vote.

Paranoia is not healthy for partisans, nor for the country. I don’t want to see our country to see the election as unfair or rigged; such doubts  are dangerous. This election, no matter who wins nor how, will set precedents; if close, it will be endlessly lawyered. That may be the only way to ensure validity in future elections.   Still,  we will be walking through dangerous territory to get there. Putting our country and the importance of its unity  above party and above self will be necessary. And perhaps impossible.