Lots of Obama's supporters get frustrated with him when he does not punch back. They dream and write mock negative ads on daily kos. Pundits write that the test of this campaign now is weather Obama can throw a punch; not whether he can take one. I, too, have wondered if Obama can throw the roundhouse punch.
And then today, after watching the KO's Special Comment on Countdown, I realized the depth of Obama's genius and the brillance of his campaign. He is using non-violent tactics to expose the insanity and violence of Hillary's campaign. It worked once and I believe it will work again.
The Theory Of Non-Violent Action
As you folks know, Ghandi used non-violence to free India. The best example of how it works is a scene from the movie Ghandi. Ghandi was protesting something and defying the government by throwing stuff into a fire. The first time Ghandi threw things into a fire, a government guard hit him with brutal force and staggered him. Ghandi got up and threw stuff into the fire again. And again the guard hit him again with great force. Ghandi, clearly very badly hurt, tried with what little strength he had left to approach the fire a third time. This time the guard hestiated. The guard's face revealed that he knew that what he is doing in the name of the goverment was unjust. The guard hit Ghandi anyway the third and last time, but he do so knowing that Ghandi was just and the government was unjust.
Ghandi explained that non-violence relies upon the humanity of the oppressor and those that sit idlely by while other are being oppressed. Ghandi, ultimately, bet on the humanity of the British to reject the oppression and he won.
Martin Luther King was another great advocate of non-violence. He realized that nightly news TV reports of black beaten and harmed while protesting for equal whites would sway more moderate Northern public opinion. The civil rights movement then relied upon the humanity of white America to see the injust and inhumanity of its treatment of blacks.
And the genius of MLK is that he relied upon American's founding documents of his movement. He asked Americans to give only that was promised in the constitution and the Declaration of Independents. And, like Ghandi, MLK bet on the decency of those who had the power to effect change on his behalf.
How Barack Has Successfully Used Non-Violence Against Hillary
Do you remember all the nasty-post New Hampshire stuff? Bill calling Barack a fairy tale. Hillary lying about his choice record. Hillary saying that MLK did not matter, but LBJ did. Bill downplayed the South Carolina win, noting that Jesse Jackson won the state twice.
And what happened? Barack did push back some, but he did not launch his own unilateral attacks on new subjects. He NEVER, NEVER matched the Clintons' uglyness. What happened was that suddenly part of the Democratic establishment broke for Obama. The Kennedy endorsement came as a direct result of Hillary's violent and uncalled for attacks against Obama. By attacking Obama in vile and unfair ways, and by Obama not launching his own new attacks, Obama was betting that humanity of the democratic voter and the democratic establishment will vote for him. Hillary like the guard in Ghandi punches Obama again and again and in the process reveals her own inhumanity and the justness of Obama's position.
Hillary's Recent Conduct, the Ferraro comment, And Obama Non-Violent Response
As you know, Hillary recently went on 60 Minutes and to take Obama "at his word" that he is not a muslim. I do not remember any pointed reply from Obama for this nasty gambit by Hillary. And Ferraro make her nasty remarks and Obama did not call it racist (which it was) but simply said it made no sense.
On one level, it seems that Barack's reply has not only be mesaured, but arguable too tepid. Yet, there is a genius to his conduct. Obama knows that there will be serious backlash to Hillary's attack and that others will see the injustice of what is going on and take down Hillary for him.
KO's Special Comment on Countdown I think is the front end of this wave against Hillary. My guess is the Sunday talk shows will be awash with negative comments about Ferraro and how Hillary handled it. I think the Superdelegates see the injustice of what is going on and they too will weigh in for him. Not as early as perhaps as we would like, but decisively after the last primary on June 3rd.
I think Obama is betting on the decency of democrats everywhere and the Superdelegates, in particular, to do what is right and just and let him have the nomination that he will win by earning the most pledged delegates. In the end, Hillary's attack machine will be like the firehoses of Bull Connor, it will not kill Obama's movement, it will build it further.
So, Obama is taking a different tact to respond to political attacks on purpose and I think it is working. I wonder if he is familar with this quote of Ghandi:
"You must be the change you want to see in the world."
Mahatma Gandhi