Note: This issue has been greatly overtaken by events, no longer seeming of much importance amid financial-sector meltdown. But your humble Blog Goliard was happy enough with this stab at speech-writing that he’s proudly featuring it on his blog anyhow.

In a national campaign, a certain amount of uncivil behavior and dirty tricks are inevitable; and in most circumstances, it is wise to avoid dwelling on or complaining about such affronts. And so Senator McCain was right to gracefully shrug off the Code Pink infiltrators who interrupted his convention address; and there was good reason for him to have continued to let the “ground noise” pass up till now.

But there comes a point when an opposing campaign must be called out for its supporters’ thuggish and anti-democratic behavior…especially when it has done more to encourage than discourage such. In this writer’s view, the point came this week, with McCain’s campaign appearances again being cut short due to the candidate being shouted down, and the renewed use of the “Obama Action Wire” to silence critical voices on the airwaves.

For Senator McCain to address this problem will be tricky. For one thing, the specter of McCain-Feingold will loom behind any clarion call of his on behalf of free speech. For another, his surrogates’ recent whining about sexism, real and imagined, already threatens to neutralize his opponent’s weakness in the area of thin-skinned complaining. McCain will need to denounce the trend of hooliganism perpetrated in Obama’s name while strenuously avoiding the appearance of whining about the unfairness and indignity of it all.

The following text is offered to Senator McCain in hopes that it may help him in this difficult but increasingly necessary task.

“My friends, politics is a rough business, and I expect the other side to fight hard. They have every right to, and I respect that. They’re going to take shots at me and at my running mate that I don’t like. But if you’re running for national office, you’ve got to be prepared to take it…from the opposing campaign and from the press.

“When their attacks are unfair, or wrong, or just plain disgusting, we’ll point that out. We’ve been pretty busy pointing it out lately. We’ll criticize and rebut; but what we won’t do is try to prevent Senator Obama and his supporters from speaking their minds.

“Why would we, when the more they talk, the more they help us out?

“But more importantly, my friends, we must uphold the principle that everyone gets to say their piece. It’s far more than good manners. It’s one of the foundations of this great democracy of ours.

“Now the right to free speech is not unlimited. There are rules that must be followed, especially in a federal campaign. But so long as someone is within those rules, he or she absolutely has the right to speak and be heard.

“I am committed to these principles. My campaign is committed to these principles.

“I wish the same could be said for the other side.

“You will recall that several of Senator Obama’s supporters broke into our Republican convention. They tried to rush the stage during my running mate’s address. They interrupted and tried to derail my acceptance speech. I didn’t appreciate that much; but I didn’t dwell on it at the time. I hoped it would be an isolated event.

“But it wasn’t. Senator Obama’s supporters have appeared at my events across this country, not just to peacefully protest my continued existence, as is their right…but to shout down me and Governor Palin and our friends. Apparently they don’t believe I have a right to speak at my own rallies, and make my case to the American people.

“I can only imagine the fit they’re going to have when I win this race. They really don’t believe I have a right to do that.

“Now I don’t think Senator Obama personally ordered his supporters to do these things. But because they are doing it in his name, he has a responsibility to denounce them and ask them to stop. Not for my sake—I can handle people yelling at me—but because Senator Obama is right when he says that politics has gotten too ugly, too poisonous, too disrespectful, and we need to fix it. Honor demands that he now back up his fine words with strong, clear action; and so I have confidence that he will.

“While he’s at it, Senator Obama should have a word with his own staff. They have been using their “Obama Action Wire” to try to shut down debate on radio and television. When someone they don’t like is scheduled to appear on a talk show, an “Action Wire” message goes out. I’ve seen these messages myself—on a BlackBerry, in case you were wondering. I’ve seen how they slander their targets, in terms that would be vile if they weren’t so ridiculous. I’ve seen how they call on supporters to help drive these people off the airwaves, for having committed the sin of criticizing Senator Obama.

“When there’s a political advertisement that hurts their feelings too much, an “Obama Action Wire” goes out then too, calling on supporters to help bully stations into refusing to run it. The Obama campaign has even threatened criminal prosecution of people who produce perfectly legal ads they don’t like.

“My friends, this is wrong, and if Senator Obama is the man of decency and fairness he claims to be, he will put a stop to this anti-democratic behavior by his campaign, and stop it now.”