Political divisiveness

I've been complaining to friends for a few weeks now about how irritated I am by the divisive language Republicans seem to be using lately: Palin talking about the "real" America, McCain's advisor talking about the "real" Virginia, McCain's well-intentioned but ill-phrased explanation that Obama isn't an Arab, he's a decent man, and so forth. I particularly hate it because it comes from the candidates and their advisors, which gives it a stamp of approval.

Just to be clear, then: I also disapprove of this kind of divisive talk from the left. I could go through it point by point, but it's so not worth the effort. (I will note that it originated, as far as I can tell, around 2005, at which time it included "We get Eliot Spitzer; you get Tom DeLay", at a time that having Attorney General Spitzer on your side was a good thing. Just goes to show.) I've commented as much as I really feel I need to over there, though it might be worth noting that, according to these charts, California voted Republican in every election from 1952 to 1988 other than the Johnson landslide of 1964.

Let me also state that Ms. Loquacious is a delightful person who I'm always pleased to see at conventions. Don't go posting in her comments, or mine, about how she's a terrible person for posting this. For that matter, as far as I know, I'd enjoy sitting down to cosolve a crossword with Sarah Palin, too. But the us-vs.-them has to stop, from all sides.

Update: responses to divisiveness

I posted earlier this morning about my distaste for divisive rhetoric. Some commenters seemed to think that I was advocating that, in response to that kind of rhetoric on the right, people on the left should "be silent [or] join hands and sing Kumbaya". Thanks to Tablesaw, I can give an example of the right kind of response, which is neither mean-spirited nor silent:

At a defining moment like this, we don't have the luxury of relying on the same political games and the same political tactics that are used every election to divide us from one another and make us afraid of one another. With the challenges and crises we face right now, we cannot afford to divide this country by class or region; by who we are or what policies we support.

There are no real or fake parts of this country. We are not separated by the pro-America and anti-America parts of this nation - we all love this country, no matter where we live or where we come from. There are patriots who supported this war in Iraq and patriots who opposed it; patriots who believe in Democratic policies and those who believe in Republican policies. The men and women from Virginia and all across America who serve on our battlefields may be Democrats and Republicans and Independents, but they have fought together and bled together and some died together under the same proud flag. They have not served a Red America or a Blue America - they have served the United States of America.

We have always been at our best when we've had leadership that called us to look past our differences and come together as one nation, as one people; leadership that rallied this entire country to a common purpose - to a higher purpose. And I am running for President of the United States of America because that is the country we need to be right now.

(TS inadvertantly linked to a speech from two years ago about religion in American politics, which is also fascinating reading, and is also marvelously moderate in its tone.)