Sleepycatz

It’s 3 Am and Monsters Are Under My Bed

When I first saw Hillary Clinton’s 3:00 Am ad, I found it annoying. As I’ve considered it over the past week, however, I now believe it (and the strategy behind it) are opposed to everything this election means to Democrats and progressives.

For nearly seven years we have been told to fear: fear everything from shoeless foot soldiers preparing to bring down the tallest building in North America to incompetent terrorists threating to deliver pizza to a heavily armed military base, and mapless idiots under the delusion they could blow up an airport. The message generated by the administration’s perpetuation of fear is a simple one: follow us or die. By employing the same nebulous enemy or critical situation, the Clinton ad perpetuates the same fear based arguments made by the current administration. The ad utilizes the middle of the night phone call to engender a foreboding threat emerging from unknown darkness. The visual queues of the ad suggest that we –innocent child-like– Americans are asleep and thus oblivious to the threats that surround us. Instead of trying to educate Americans, or ask them to extend their understanding of the real threats that face America, the Clinton campaign has told us (in this ad) to stay asleep, to simply count on a ‘leader’ to protect and shelter us — like a worried parent. It is the personification of the president as protector and guardian. This is no different from the current administration’s arguments that it must torture, spy, and deceive in order to protect us. The price for this bargain of security is unquestioned loyalty. The mantra “we’ll keep you safe, but don’t ask how or why” is constantly implied and reinforced by accusations of naiveté and disloyalty by those defending the bargain.

It is imperative that our political leaders begin treating the American people as adults deserving of information and explanation, instead of tired children hiding under their covers from monsters. Ms. Clinton seems bent on pursuing the latter course and eager to battle with John McCain over which of them will be the more protective parent to the napping cherubs they envision the populace to be.

This entry was posted by sjk on Wednesday, March 5th, 2008 at 21:02 and is filed under Politics. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.