The Great American Earache, Jr.

   John Elliott Rankin (1882-1960) represented Mississippi's 1st Congressional District in the House of Representatives from 1921-1953. In his day, Rankin was without question the most narrow-minded, racist member of that body . . . and that's saying one whole heck of a lot.  Rankin was what one might call an "equal opportunity bigot."  He hated Jews and Blacks with an equal passion, and made no bones about  it.  His Congressional speeches were invariably laced with lies, half-truths and obnoxious racist epithets; so much so that one artful wag nicknamed him "The Great American Earache."  As a member of the notorious House Un-American Activities Committee Rankin came under fire for failing to investigate violence and murder perpetrated by the Ku Klux Klan. "After all," Rankin said on the House floor, "The KKK is an old American institution." When Rankin was taken to task by columnist Walter Winchell, "The Great American Earache" dismissed Winchell (Winschel) as "The little Kike."  When Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. was elected to the House in 1944, Rankin repeatedly referred to him as "The nigger from New York." Powell was so incensed that he rose  to say "The time has arrived to impeach Rankin, or at least expel him from the party. " The House did neither.

   On June 4, 1941, New York Representative M. Michael Edelstein engaged Rankin in a colloquy.  In a debate over whether or not America should become engaged in the war in Europe, Edelstein argued for intervention.  Rankin then rose and charged that the pro-interventionist faction was being "orchestrated, financed and led by a little group of our international Jewish brethren."  Incensed, Edelstein immediately went on the attack and accused the "Gentleman from Mississippi" of "demagoguery and hate mongering."  His voice rising with emotion, Edelstein cried out, "Mr. Speaker, Hitler started out by speaking about 'Jewish brethren' and 'international bankers.' The last speaker speaking about international bankers coupled them with our 'Jewish brethren'. . .  I deplore the idea that any time anything happens . . . men in this House . . . attempt to use the Jews as their scapegoat."

  At this point, Edelstein began to sway, his face quickly losing color.  Nonetheless, he continued on to his peroration: "I say it is unfair, and I say it is un-American.  All men are created equal, regardless of race, creed or color; and whatever a man be, Jew of Gentile, he may think what he deems fit."  Edelstein staggered from the House floor, collapsed in the Capitol lobby, and within seconds died of a massive heart attack -- murdered, some say, by John Rankin, "The Great American Earache."

   In finishing the newest edition of The Congressional Minyan: The Jews of Capitol Hill, I of course did a "touch up" on Rep. Edelstein's entry.  During the several days I was "hanging out" with Edelstein, I watched as angry, sometimes gun-toting "birthers" and assorted irate, fearful Americans screamed at the top of their lungs, proclaiming that our president is an "alien," a "racist," a "socialist" and  that he and the Democrats are "dedicated to tearing this country down and imposing Islamic law."

   I found myself wondering if these could be John Rankin's great grandchildren.

   And then along came South Carolina Representative Joe Wilson.  He is, of course, the fellow who had the temerity and cosmic bad taste to cat-call "YOU LIE" to President Obama as our Chief Executive was addressing a joint session of Congress on the status of Health Care reform in America.  For his efforts -- and despite his extremely lukewarm, halfhearted apology -- I hereby bestow on him the honorary appellation:

    The Great American Earache, Jr.
Inhonesto Causa

   One might argue that Wilson's two-word tirade is in no way comparable to the hate-filled invective of his "appellation-sake," John Rankin.  Then again, Rankin's ravings weren't broadcast for the entire world to see and hear . . . over and over and over again; neither the technology nor the desire existed in 1941. Back then, the country was faced with many crucial problems and issues, all of which demanded  critical examination and response -- from Congress, the media, from the people themselves.  It simply was not in the cards to waste precious time either defending or condemning Rankin's hate-filled invective. That was a side-show America could ill afford at the time.  True, Rankin should have had his sorry tuches kicked all the way back to Tupelo. But the fact of the matter is that he remained in Congress for another decade, at which time he ran for the Senate, coming in 5th in a five-man race with a mere 13% of the vote.  He had been marginalized, and spent the last decade of his career being mostly ignored.  That was the 1940s, a time when a bigot like John Rankin was barely a sidebar, let alone a story.

    2009 is of course, a different story.  A fool like Joe Wilson is the story. Now we have tens of dozens of media outlets all competing for a slice of the audience -- an audience they consider as customers and consumers first, and only then, as citizens. They are more than happy to put the name, face and tirade of Wilson on TV and invite him on their talk shows . . . or spend the better part of a day writing about him for a weekly Blog article. 

   Shame on us all!

   How to reform health care; what to do about the economy, the environment and Afghanistan -- these are the issues that matter, not a Brobdingnagian bigot like Joe Wilson. Yes, what he did was terribly wrong.  He showed consummate disrespect for the President of the United States.  But then again, so did a majority of the Republicans sitting on their hands in the House last Wednesday night -- some sneering, others snoring, some even texting.  As a result, much of what President Obama said has already been forgotten -- or worse, misreported or mis-characterized.  President Obama says, "Insurance executives don't do this because they are bad people; they do it for profits;" Hannity reports, "The president said 'Insurance executives are bad people.'" May we say here and now that Hannity lies?  Rush Limbaugh proclaims that the only thing Rep. Wilson did wrong was in offering an apology!  Isn't it obvious that Limbaugh will stir up any pot or kettle he finds for the sake of ratings?

   So much of what passes for dialogue and discourse these days is anything but. We have reached a point where for many, incivility is courage, prevarication is patriotic, and the First Amendment guarantee of free speech is absolute[ly] for those with whom you agree.

   Enjoy your new nickname for the while, oh "Great American Earache, Jr."  It is my sincere wish that you achieve irrelevance even quicker than your appellation-sake.

   And that we get back to the true challenges at hand. . .   

©2009 Kurt F. Stone

En passant: For those who found Rankin v. Edelstein of interest, please know that the new edition of The Congressional Minyan: The Jews of Capitol Hill -- which will be out shortly -- has nearly 200 such stories drawn from the Halls of Congress. It is published by Rowman & Littlefield.

Comments

[Judi]

So only the names change? I do think the vitriol is more dangerous now because of the lying bigots such as Limbaugh,Savage,Coulter etc.having such a large audience of morons to egg on. Is it not treason to try and get the President of the United States assassinated?

[Alan Weiss]

I'll go along with that!