Palin plays the fear card on Iran

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Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin was slated to give a speech at today’s rally sponsored by New York Jewish groups protesting Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s visit to the United Nations General Assembly. The organizers of the event canceled her appearance to avoid the appearance of partisanship. (New York Sen. Hillary Clinton was also scheduled to talk but backed out last week after learning Palin had been added to the line of speakers.)

Palin’s scheduled remarks, published today in the New York Sun, are in some ways fairly predictable. Yet in addition to the standard calls to support Israel and stop Iran from developing nuclear weapons, the vice presidential nominee’s speech is peppered with phrases guaranteed to hit the fear button in the Jewish community — “Final Solution”, “Never Again,” and “Holocaust.” The close of Palin’s speech offered this:

Senator McCain has made a solemn commitment that I strongly endorse: Never again will we risk another Holocaust. And this is not a wish, a request, or a plea to Israel’s enemies. This is a promise that the United States and Israel will honor, against any enemy who cares to test us. It is John McCain’s promise and it is my promise.”

As, I said last week, I don’t think for a second that Iran is experiencing, or will experience, a change of heart when it comes to Israel or the United States. But anytime a politician uses the vocabulary of fear in this manner to incite solidarity, I get extremely wary.