The other day I lamented John McCain’s between-the-lines apology to Jerry Falwell in the form of his commencement speech at Liberty University. People continue to fawn over McCain as a “uniter not a divider” and miss what seems to me to be the main point: McCain cloaked a naked electoral maneuver in some high-minded language about tolerance.
One of the only reasons I liked McCain before was his willingness to blast Christian extremists. Now with an election on the horizon, it looks like he’ll be holding his tongue and courting their votes. What’s even more disappointing is that someone like Andrew Sullivan, currently this country’s most eloquent and effective foe of the Christian right, can be so taken in by McCain’s cynical “unity” schtick.
Don’t get me wrong: I’m all for tolerance, which is what lefty students at the New School, my alma mater, made a mockery of during McCain’s commencement speech there. See an account of the crowd reaction here at The Corner, the blog of the right-wing National Review. Nicely done, Class of 2006 — you’ve handed the right an opportunity to broad-brush the left as self-righteous boors who can’t shut up for 20 minutes and listen to a speech they disagree with. Too bad there’s so much truth in the accusation.
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