Common Ground

Before I head off for a late summer vacation, I’d like to point out two notable op-eds appearing in today’s NYT. One is by Nicholas Kristof, who, after mentioning opposition to the Islamic center in lower Manhattan, goes on to discuss “earlier waves of intolerance in American history,” not out of hatred or bigotry, but fear.

The second piece well worth reading is by renowned historian Taylor Branch, who reviews last week’s highly publicized Glen Beck rally in Washington D.C. In the run-up to the event, there was much criticism of Beck from liberal quarters, who resented that he was wrapping himself in the mantle of the civil rights movement. But Beck’s speech that day, as Branch interprets it, didn’t play out the way Beck’s critics imagined it would.

Rather, Branch points out some interesting parallels between the famed march on Washington in 1963 and Beck’s commemorative rally, including this historical context:

Fear is a hazard of great endeavors to bridge political differences. In 1963, racial apprehension before Dr. King’s rally drove the federal government to furlough its workers for the day. The Pentagon deployed 20,000 paratroopers. Hospitals stockpiled plasma. Washington banned sales of alcohol, and Major League Baseball canceled not one but two days of Senators baseball, just to be safe. When the march of benign inspiration embarrassed these measures, opponents still insisted that the civil rights bill would enslave white people.

Since that momentous day, Branch writes, “the search for common ground has not gotten any easier.” Noting that Beck’s speech last week might presage a new chapter in Beck’s life (perhaps a less politically incendiary one?) Branch observes:

Glenn Beck calls himself a damaged product of family tragedy, failed education and past addiction “” mercurial and unsure, like many of his hard-pressed audience. He may never follow through from his “new starting point” into constructive politics. Even so, he made peace for one day with the liberal half of the American heritage. That is a good thing. Our political health, in the spirit of Dr. King’s march, requires thoughtful and bold initiatives from all quarters.

See you sometime late next week.  I won’t be able to monitor this thread closely, if much at all for long periods. So I’m going to trust that civility will reign in my absence. Be careful about including more than one link in any comment or you might end up in a lengthy moderation. Happy end of summer.