From Mel Brook's Blazing Saddles:
Gabby Johnson: [shouting] The sheriff's a ni**er.
[the last word is lost in the peal of a church bell]
Harriett Van Johnson: What did he say?
Dr. Sam Johnson: He said the sheriff is near.
[Dr. Sam Johnson, with laurel wreath in hand, greets new sheriff Bart by reading his prepared remarks, not realizing that Bart is black]
Howard Johnson: As chairman of the welcoming committee, it's a pleasure to present a laurel and hearty handshake to our new
[finally looks up]
Howard Johnson: ...ni**er.
I'm going to make the argument that the 'ridiculous' Greek temple/column story is in fact a brilliant attempt at a dog whistle, from the propagandists who brought us the Willie Horton ad.
Most racists vigorously deny that they are racists. This much is uncontroversial. It isn't polite to speak in racist terms in polite society, either. What isn't so obvious is that most racists, outside of the 'out of the closet' KKK types, do not believe they are racists. Anything that reminds them that they are in fact racists causes cognitive dissonance, and will make them... uncomfortable.
So how do you point out the obvious (Barack Obama is an unpresidential-looking* young black man; John McCain looks born to the part--- HE's OLD AND WHITE, DAMMIT!), without making closet or 'weak' racists (your target demographic) uncomfortable? You rely on some psychological tricks. Just to get the point across, you make sure your little tricks incorporate something that causes a strong gut reaction, namely the symbols and visual imagery people don't see outside the office of President, into your dog whistle. And you do it in a way that people talk about it without making each other uncomfortable.
*Actually, he looks pretty damn Presidential to me ;)
There's a reason people like Bush and McCain use that sort of imagery at this type of event, in any case. It's to associate the nominee with the symbolism of the presidency, so as to create that emotional link between the candidate and presumptive office-holder, and the office itself. Now, there is a battle going on in America right now, between a whole bunch of people who don't mind linking Barack Obama with the office of the Presidency, and a whole bunch of people for whom this is unthinkable. For whom anything, including a third term for Bush, is preferable... It was no accident that the Obama campaign chose just such a backdrop. They know this is the battle. People vote with their guts, and Barack has to get people's guts accepting that image: Black Man standing behind the podium, with a Presidential Seal, and Greek columns in the background. For a segment of the population, this is simply never going to happen. But these aren't the people Obama wants to reach; he wants the undecideds, those who were perhaps raised in racist households, but don't have the personal commitment to the cause, so to speak.
Why a dog-whistle? Well, racists can't very well gather at the water-cooler, or speak in polite society, in the terms Mel Brooks used in Blazing Saddles. So how do you get people talking about racism without using racist terms? Even 'presumptuous' is too close to 'uppity' for comfort, and the propagandists know it. But GREEK TEMPLE isn't. That phrase, til now, had no emotional baggage. Well, they're trying their damnedest to change that. The story broke when it did so that every propaganda outlet in the US will make sure to have a leading or a front-page story with an image of Barack Obama with Greek columns in the background. And all over the country, tomorrow, racists will repeat that phrase, GREEK TEMPLE, as a dog-whistle call to say, in effect, the Democrats have nominated an UPPITY NE**O to be the next POTUS. Now, fellow-American, are we going to let that happen? This way, the whole denial and cognitive dissonance of racism may be bypassed, to some degree, and people in polite society can openly discuss how 'ridiculous' Barack Obama looks in front of a GREEK TEMPLE.
It's not perfect. But, it's free. And it just keeps on giving, because John McCain can stand in front of an identical set and accept the nomination of the Republican Party, and that buys him a whole lot more airtime of himself standing in front of those same symbols that so many view as quasi-sacred, and let people look at him, the Great White Hope, looking so damned Presidential (didn't he buy an ad tonight for that very purpose, minus the GREEK TEMPLE backdrop?), and have propagandist after propagandist compare this to an identical photograph of Barack Obama, standing in front of a GREEK TEMPLE, looking so very, very, black.
I'm betting $20 to any takers that we can catch the propagandists digitally darkening Obama's face when they make the comparison.