Barack Obama and Yitzhak Rabin

In the months before Yitzhak Rabin was assassinated, he was the target of numerous vitriolic demonstrations, during which he was labeled a liar, a traitor, and a coddler of terrorists. Bibi Netanyahu, his opponent at the time, did little, or nothing, to tamp down the anger of the crowds. We know how that story ended. Those demonstrations, and the anger hurled at Rabin, created the climate for what might be considered the worst day in Israeli history, and one from which the country has not recovered.

John McCain did the right thing by calling out demonstrators and defending Barack Obama's decency last week. But we should see that continually. And Sen. McCain, how about instructing your running mate on the fundamentals of decency as well? I'm not suggesting something terrible is in the offing. But the anger of these crowds is a dangerous thing to democracy. Thank God, if nothing else, for the United States Secret Service.

This article available online at:

http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2008/10/barack-obama-and-yitzhak-rabin/8931/