Topic category:  Government/Politics

Civility is desirable, but truth is more desirable.

Dr. Martin Luther King famously dreamed of an America where people would be judged based on the content of their character, not their color, not one in which the truth about people is ignored in the name of civility. Parts of his "I have a dream" speech were candid, NOT civil.

For example:

"I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice."

"I have a dream that one day, down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of 'interposition' and 'nullification' -- one day right there in Alabama little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers."

Charging that people are unjust, oppressive and/or viciously racist is not civil, but that doesn't mean it should not be said.

Judging the content of character requires scrutiny. Lies and cover ups must be exposed, not ignored in the interest of civility.

John McCain made news by describing President Obama a patriot who is worthy to be President of the United States and declaring that "the claim of the human heart to the dignity we are enjoined by God and our founding ideals to respect in one another" demands "empathy and mutual respect on all sides of our politics, and in the media" in an op ed for the Washington Post (www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/01/14/AR2011011403871.html?hpid=topnews).

McCain:

"President Obama gave a terrific speech Wednesday night. He movingly mourned and honored the victims of Saturday's senseless atrocity outside Tucson, comforted and inspired the country, and encouraged those of us who have the privilege of serving America. He encouraged every American who participates in our political debates - whether we are on the left or right or in the media - to aspire to a more generous appreciation of one another and a more modest one of ourselves.

"The president appropriately disputed the injurious suggestion that some participants in our political debates were responsible for a depraved man's inhumanity. He asked us all to conduct ourselves in those debates in a manner that would not disillusion an innocent child's hopeful patriotism. I agree wholeheartedly with these sentiments. We should respect the sincerity of the convictions that enliven our debates but also the mutual purpose that we and all preceding generations of Americans serve: a better country; stronger, more prosperous and just than the one we inherited. "We Americans have different opinions on how best to serve that noble purpose. We need not pretend otherwise or be timid in our advocacy of the means we believe will achieve it. But we should be mindful as we argue about our differences that so much more unites than divides us. We should also note that our differences, when compared with those in many, if not most, other countries, are smaller than we sometimes imagine them to be.

"I disagree with many of the president's policies, but I believe he is a patriot sincerely intent on using his time in office to advance our country's cause. I reject accusations that his policies and beliefs make him unworthy to lead America or opposed to its founding ideals. And I reject accusations that Americans who vigorously oppose his policies are less intelligent, compassionate or just than those who support them."

No wonder McCain lost to Obama in the 2008 presidential election.

Yes, I ultimately supported McCain in 2008, but I did not have illusions about him.

In "Voters: Scrutinize Instead of Swallow Obama Lies" (October 19, 2008) (www.webcommentary.com/php/ShowArticle.php?id=gaynorm&date=081019) I wrote:

"The groundwork for disaster had been laid by the Democrats earlier, with the Community Redevelopment Act, ACORN, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and, of course, Congressional Democrats blocking Republican efforts to put Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac under United States Treasury Department supervision.

"Let's be realistic: McCain won't win the presidential [election] himself.

"Others must win it for him, for America's sake."

That did not happen, due to McCain's illusions, lots of wishful thinking about Obama and the liberal media establishment's determined promotion of Obama.

Yes, "Americans who vigorously oppose Obama's policies are" NOT "less intelligent, compassionate or just than those who support them."

But Obama's "policies and beliefs" DO "make him unworthy to lead America" AND "opposed to its founding ideals" and Americans need to learn the truth instead of to keep hopeful childish illusions.

Patriot is defined as "a person who vigorously supports his country and its way of life" (www.thefreedictionary.com/patriot), NOT a person who supports fundamental transformation of his (or her) country.

When Michelle Obama said that at last she was proud of her country because her husband's presidential candidacy was going well, she was telling the truth.

But Obama himself was not telling his truth during his presidential campaign and the liberal media establishment was affording him protection instead of scrutiny.

In "Does NYT Know MORE About Obama/ACORN?" (October 20, 2008) (www.webcommentary.com/php/ShowArticle.php?id=gaynorm&date=081020), I warned:

"Would The New York Times NOT report some things voters should know and instead spin for Obama, whitewash the Obama/Ayers relationship and run scurrilous stories about the McCains?

"Is the Pope Catholic?

"It's no surprise that The New York Times is backing the Obamas and battering the McCains.

"It's no surprise that McCain's alliance with The New York Times on campaign finance reform has turned out to be a boon for The New York Times and a burden for McCain.

"And it's no surprise that The New York Times has been handling the Obama/ACORN relationship the way it has.

"Election Day 2008 is nearly upon us.

"The New York Times obviously wants Obama to be elected President.

"But timely voter appreciation of the Obama/ACORN relationship and the fact that Obama brazenly lied about it in the last presidential debate will thwart the will of The New York Times and put an end to Obama's presidential aspirations.

"Obama during the last of the three presidential debates:

'...with respect to ACORN, ACORN is a community organization. Apparently what they've done is they were paying people to go out and register folks, and apparently some of the people who were out there didn't really register people, they just filled out a bunch of names.

'It had nothing to do with us. We were not involved. The only involvement I've had with ACORN was I represented them alongside the U.S. Justice Department in making Illinois implement a motor voter law that helped people get registered at DMVs.'

"That was NOT Obama's only involvement with ACORN, and he very well knows it.

"ACORN (the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now) is Obama's Achilles heel.

"Capital Research Center began its report on a recent Obama campaign tactic to help ACORN ('Obama Demands Probe of Investigators Probing Criminal Group ACORN,' October 18, 2008, by Matthew Vadum) with an old Communist saying, 'Accuse your enemy of what you are doing.'

"It can be an effective tactic, especially when the self-described 'newspaper of record' does not deem the whole truth 'news fit to print.'

"Vadum:

'ACORN has friends in high places.

'Barack Obama’s campaign is –strangely enough– demanding that a special prosecutor look into the investigations of the massive vote fraud that is being perpetrated by the radical group ACORN to determine if the investigations are politically motivated.'"

Obama allies are claiming that since ACORN filed for liquidation in bankruptcy on Election Day 2010, ACORN should not be investigated by the now Republican-controlled House of Representatives.

That's inane.

Obama cleverly used a shooting tragedy (and sloganed tee shirts and a Jumbotron applause signal) to promote his re-election campaign and mute (or it least tone down) criticism of him and McCain repeated his 2008 election mistake of treating a sly stealth socialist closely tied to the likes of ACORN and SEIU as an admirable fellow worthy to be President. See "Obama, ACORN and Stealth Socialism" by ACORN whistleblower Anita MonCrief (http://hotair.com/archives/2010/05/29/obama-acorn-and-stealth-socialism-dire-domestic-threat/).

That's pathetic.

America needs the truth about Obama much more than civility. Obama too should be judged on the content of his character, and the truth can make Obama a one-term president and mitigate the damage done by his election and promotion of a radical agenda.

Michael J. Gaynor

Biography - Michael J. Gaynor

Michael J. Gaynor has been practicing law in New York since 1973. A former partner at Fulton, Duncombe & Rowe and Gaynor & Bass, he is a solo practitioner admitted to practice in New York state and federal courts and an Association of the Bar of the City of New York member.

Gaynor graduated magna cum laude, with Honors in Social Science, from Hofstra University's New College, and received his J.D. degree from St. John's Law School, where he won the American Jurisprudence Award in Evidence and served as an editor of the Law Review and the St. Thomas More Institute for Legal Research. He wrote on the Pentagon Papers case for the Review and obscenity law for The Catholic Lawyer and edited the Law Review's commentary on significant developments in New York law.

The day after graduating, Gaynor joined the Fulton firm, where he focused on litigation and corporate law. In 1997 Gaynor and Emily Bass formed Gaynor & Bass and then conducted a general legal practice, emphasizing litigation, and represented corporations, individuals and a New York City labor union. Notably, Gaynor & Bass prevailed in the Second Circuit in a seminal copyright infringement case, Tasini v. New York Times, against newspaper and magazine publishers and Lexis-Nexis. The U.S. Supreme Court affirmed, 7 to 2, holding that the copyrights of freelance writers had been infringed when their work was put online without permission or compensation.

Gaynor currently contributes regularly to www.MichNews.com, www.RenewAmerica.com, www.WebCommentary.com, www.PostChronicle.com and www.therealitycheck.org and has contributed to many other websites. He has written extensively on political and religious issues, notably the Terry Schiavo case, the Duke "no rape" case, ACORN and canon law, and appeared as a guest on television and radio. He was acknowledged in Until Proven Innocent, by Stuart Taylor and KC Johnson, and Culture of Corruption, by Michelle Malkin. He appeared on "Your World With Cavuto" to promote an eBay boycott that he initiated and "The World Over With Raymond Arroyo" (EWTN) to discuss the legal implications of the Schiavo case. On October 22, 2008, Gaynor was the first to report that The New York Times had killed an Obama/ACORN expose on which a Times reporter had been working with ACORN whistleblower Anita MonCrief.

Gaynor's email address is gaynormike@aol.com.