Jim Taylor’s Weblog

Wednesday March 5, 2008

Crisis of imagination

There\’s been a spate of news items recently, speculating about security precautions for U.S. presidential hopeful Barrack Obama.
        The U.S. administration apparently provides more security for Obama than for any other candidate, including Hilary Clinton.
        It\’s feared that Obama\’s growing popularity could make him a target for assassination. Commentaries recall the shooting of Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr., forty years ago. Some go back further, to invoke the ghost of John F. Kennedy.
        But, you might notice, no one suggests that John McCain is in any danger of being assassinated.
        I\’m amazed – and saddened – that no political analysts seem capable of connecting the dots of their own ruminations.
        Intelligence agencies, in both the U.S. and Canada, keep a close watch on labour leaders, academics, and politicians who question conventional wisdom.
        But it should be clear that the real risk is not from the radical left but from the rigid right. From Timothy McVeigh to the hijackers of 9/11, the people most likely to resort to violence come from the conservative side of the political spectrum.
        Many would qualify as religious fundamentalists. But that\’s not a fair characterization. Because fundamentalism is not limited to religion. It also applies to politics, economics, and the right to carry guns.
        Isn\’t it interesting that the people who most vigorously defend a constitutional right to bear arms are also the least likely to defend constitutional rights to free speech?
        Besides, not all fundamentalists are extremists. To be accurate, Christian fundamentalism is a commitment to five foundational principles – not one of which endorses violence.