That's the feeling I got yesterday when that clip first aired. He's toast and he knows it. It sounds like he's trying to ready his followers for that reality.
The Secret Service had to step in. The threats were broadcast the world over and it had to stop. Period. The sudden change in his tone shows just how seriously out-of-control his campaign was getting.
cowboyneok
· 1 year ago
You can bet the Secret Service had a little come to Jesus talk with the McCain - Palin camp and explained if something bad happens to U.S. Senator Obama or Biden then the fingers will ALL be pointing to their hate filled rallies!
Kcunac
· 1 year ago
I'd also be prepared to bet Sarah responded: 'Oh, jeez, guys, lighten up! We just campaignin' and havin' some fun!'
lov446
· 1 year ago
Kcunac: regarding that phony christian Palin woman; where did her christian values go while she was speaking hate talk about her fellowman?? Typical phony christian. Most don't follow the teachings of Christ, and if they don't at least try to, then they can't be called christian. It is not enough to believe that there is a God; you have to live up to the teachings of Christ to be a "real" christian.
sukabi1
· 1 year ago
you don't have to look any further than the sermons at her "church" to see where she and her "fellow christians*" are coming from...
* please note this is NOT directed at all Christians, but to the specific followers of Palin's "church".
lov446
· 1 year ago
You are so right. I sure agree with that. These type of people remind me of the bible verse that says : Jesus speaking, "you drew near to me with your words, but your heart was far from me, depart!"
lemonyellow
· 1 year ago
I believe the term for people like Palin & Co. is Christianist. Real Christians are not hateful, malevolent people.
lov446
· 1 year ago
You are so right. This is what the bible means when it says," that by their fruits you will know them."
lov446
· 1 year ago
You are so right! Jesus said to "love your enemies" so he would never approve of war that kills so many innocent people! I knew Bush was not a real christian, when he said God told him to go to war with Iraq! Thanks for the reply, Sheila
cowboyneok
· 1 year ago
Governor Sarah Palin doesn't want to sacrifice her own money for her religious pilgrames so she just charges the taxpayers of Alaska for them:
The best piece of political commentary I heard recently was by Lawrence O’Donnell on MSNBC.
He actually predicted a couple days ago that McCain would start to back off these attacks.
He said poll numbers are showing that they're not working, and McCain is the most "impatient" campaigner he's ever seen, always ready to ditch a strategy that's not working.
O"Donnell called it perfectly.
Kcunac
· 1 year ago
When he's not yipping, I feel sorry for him. I do. He destroyed his own legend, whether it was true or not. And to some degrees we need legends.
Then when he is yipping -- or worse she is -- I think: 'You did this. You made these choices. Each of them. You deserve now to enter history discredited and revealed.'
cowboyneok
· 1 year ago
I disagree we need legends. I think we need to realize people are human and can make mistakes. Legends are okay as long as the person is dead and gone, I guess, but we don't need to be worshipping and making living people infallible. That is dangerous. It causes many people to totally abdicate responsibility to that very fallible person they've identified as "their hero."
Kcunac
· 1 year ago
I agree about living legends. I was more thinking about the long game. I, too, prefer my legends safely dead. But where would we be without the men on Mount Rushmore? Or at least without the myth of the men on Mount Rushmore? None of them could get elected to office today, in this climate and with the blogosphere (George Washington's "Cherry Tree" LIE!). But the idea of these men, of what they did and stood for in their time, that is vital to the collective identity of a nation (albeit by degrees... the sentiment means different things to different people.) McCain could have gone down in history as a rare figure. He's sacrificed that now and it's a shame.
lov446
· 1 year ago
Anyone remember the old saying "give them enough rope, and they will hang themselves."
Spunky_Jitters
· 1 year ago
Yup I myself called the Secret Service in Minnesota Friday morning and lo and behold - there he was that evening getting boooed my my fellow Minnesotans for saying basically that Obama is a human. I think the Secret Service got more than just my phone call, and made it known that threatening a sitting Senator is not a good campaign strategy, even if you are covered in FLOP SWEAT HAHAHAHA
azteckamerican
· 1 year ago
What WE have to acknowledge is that there are Americans out there waiting for a radical leader to lead them into a uncontrollable frenzy of hate and madness. When I see these folks at McCain rallies going stir crazy screaming out "terrorist!", "traitor!", and "kill him!", it reminds me of the old black and white photos of those idiots that gathered around the lynching of a man of another color. They don't care if it's true. They don't back up McCain because he reveals 'truths' about Obama. These folks, a scary significant amount of Americans, are just waiting for a radical leader like Palin and McCain to get on a podium and hand them every excuse to hate!
Now I am a scared American. Not because of terrorism, but because seeing McCain rallies just slapped me in the face with reality knowing that these folks are just a heartbeat away from unleashing their hate on their fellow Americans. Even at work, these guys scare me. I have 2 friends at work I've known for a little while going rabid over "Obama is a terrorist". I've never known this side of them until now and it's scary. If it's so easy to propagandize these guys I knew that I thought were decent folks, what would they do if someone spoke bad about me? I live in Phoenix. It's bad enough we got Sheriff Joe freaking out the Latino population, but for me to look at my friends at work, that I thought I knew, in a different light really depresses me.
Is this the work of McCain propaganda, or is this just a case of folks always having these ill sentiments just waiting to be unleashed by a politician legitimizing them on a podium? I take the bus to work daily. in the past month there has been 2 instances where I was waiting at the bus stop and a car would drive by screaming "Go back to your country you fucking Mexican!" I'm a proud American. I was BORN in America! Not even McCain can say that! Now these crazy folks are thinking it's now an acceptable mainstream view for them to express their hate. They call it patriotism, I call it an excuse to hate.
Sorry for the long post, but I have a daughter to think about and these hateful people really have me worried. It's been on my mind a lot lately. I go to work and now I look at each one and wonder "who are you really? Are you really my friend?" I shouldn't be having these thoughts in the land of the free. I think of the history of this country, like the day when a church was burned down and I believe it was four little girls that died in that fire due to a hate crime. Today, I see these same people just snapping and clawing at the gates ready to be unleashed. Why must there still be hate in this great country? Are we regressing back to the lynching days? Have we not progressed since then? Are we regressing? Anyways, thanks for letting me vent. I hope we as a nation don't bankrupt our dignity as well. These hateful people CAN'T and MUST NOT WIN!
Laura-In-CC (fka Doodlebug)
· 1 year ago
Excellent post. There ARE too many people in this country just waiting for a reason to hate. I always think of the song from "South Pacific" that John Kerr sings: "You have to be taught to hate." So true.
Bostonian_Queer_in_Dallas
· 1 year ago
It's been seething under everything since the mid sixties and civil rights. They just kept it quiet. And now they feel they have a real ally in Caribou Barbie and it's coming out. I have heard that membership is soaring in the KKK and other such white power organizations. True white trash need a victim to hate to self elevate their own self esteem. And this is galling them to no end...a Negro has the audacity to rise above himself, go to Harvard, and even run for President. Negroes don't do that. They shuffle, they are lazy, they rape white women and know their place. By keeping African-Americans down, they feel good about themselves. That they are somehow superior.
shanobama
· 1 year ago
Thank you for this post. I live in northern Arizona and have lived for a time in Mexico (have an Aztec Xolo dog, too!). I wrote the McCain campaign, I suggest you do the same-or just forward this post to them. As an Independent voter in McCains home state he needs to hear from us. It makes me heartsick how this climate McCain has created is causing people real harm. I was at an Obama meeting and someone said they were 'afraid' to put an Obama bumper sticker on their car!
Dont be afraid, or let these people silence you. As long as you speak in a respectful way, you can call them on this. Inciting violence and making people fearful of exercising their Constitutional right to free speech is WRONG. It is morally and ethically wrong. It is UN-AMERICAN. Bigotry and hate speech are Un-American. We are the great melting pot, a nation of immigrants. Each and every one of us, except for the Native Americans, have direct relations who immigrated to this land for a better life.
Slim Cognito
· 1 year ago
I was wondering the exact same thing. We will never know how many "incidents" the FBI has had to investigate that can be traced directly back to "It was for McCain and the good of our country".
nctodc
· 1 year ago
I don't think it was the Secret Service that talked to McCain, I think it was Colin Powell.
I think Powell, who was up in Alaska testifying as a character witness (ha!) for Sen. Ted Stevens, called McCain and told him to knock it off or he'd come out for Obama.
Kcunac
· 1 year ago
If it was, he sure came up with an elaborate cover, endorsing Ted Stevens and all while secretly pushing a -- what, decency? sanity? -- agenda.
sukabi1
· 1 year ago
doubt it... I think the folks in his own party (running for re-election) have let him know that they were going to disavow his campaign if he didn't reel it in... as well as the SS stepping in and "having a chat" with him (which likely happened in a very CLEAR, IT'S NOT OPEN FOR DISCUSSION manner Thursday after his last "event" hit the national news)...
Folks from both parties have spent the last almost week publicly warning him to back off the rhetoric, and he didn't.... until yesterday... which means that they've been privately telling him to knock it off for a lot longer...
High Crimes & Misdemeanors
· 1 year ago
Highly unlikely, powell has no shred of decency.... and the fact he was up praising stevens tells you that.... powell is a traitor to the United States; lying the US into an ILLEGAL OCCUPATION is a text book definition of traitor.
lemonyellow
· 1 year ago
I'm a longtime Obama supporter who also once had a modicum of enthusiasm for John McCain – back in 2000.
As I now see him call for respect of Obama, I see less the duplicitous, dishonest man that McCain has allowed himself to become. Instead, giving him the benefit of the doubt, of course – maybe even seeing him as a pitiable figure who has been unable to control his unquenchable thirst for the presidency – I now see a man who is in full conflict with himself.
On one hand, he wants so badly to be president that he has agreed to any Rovian tactic, including the demonizing of Obama; on the other hand, there is a man who really never wanted to stoop to gutter tactics, a man who, since he is now not gaining by these tactics, now allows his more fair-minded side to prevail.
Either that or he now realizes that these tactics might result in violence, for which he would be seen as responsible and with which he would forever be associated.
Gridlock
· 1 year ago
... yeah, or its a tactic.. spend a long-as time spewing the 'Obama = terrorist' bull, and then when your supporters get rabid enough to actually start screeching death threats (which you didn't have a problem with 2 damn days ago) you suddenly ask them to stop and be nice, probably at the behest of the media or some other power.
By that point the damage has already been done, but you look like LESS of an asshole.
I'm sorry, how can you give this *person* the benefit of the doubt? HE HAS LIED ALMOST 100% OF THE TIME SINCE THE START OF THIS CAMPAIGN. He, thus far, has had no problem stooping low enough to make even Rove squirm and you want to give him the benefit of the doubt when he all of a sudden figured out that his nutjob nazi followers are probably bad press?
Seriously?
lemonyellow
· 1 year ago
Didn't mean to imply that I give him the benefit of the doubt. Was making a rhetorical statement... "If you gave him the benefit of the doubt..."
The other day someone asked me if I didn't feel sorry for Palin, as she had fallen into a role way over her head. I responded, I don't feel sorry for anyone so arrogant and destructive, regardless of where she finds herself. Same for McCain. Even in understanding it as a matter of internal conflict, I don't fell sorry for him, I don't condone what he has done for a second. He is responsible for his own actions and must endure the consequences.
GrMtGirl3
· 1 year ago
"Either that or he now realizes that these tactics might result in violence, for which he would be seen as responsible and with which he would forever be associated." I DON'T THINK IT WAS HIS IDEA . . . I BELIEVE HE WAS TOLD TO SIMMER THINGS DOWN BECAUSE THE FEAR OF PHYSICAL HARM WAS BECOMMING MORE OBVIOUS . . . . THANKS TO HIS ADS AND PALIN.
They were empty words . . . this man has no shame . . . just an unsatiable hunger for power.
Chris From Maine
· 1 year ago
McCain will have a lot of rebuilding of his image to do after he returns to the Senate. This is the first step in that.
That woman however.. the "Obama is an arab" one.. she is scary to me, because I bet that most Republicans believe he is.
Also the McCain strategy of saying "terrorist" and Obama in the same sentence is putting some thoughts in people's minds that could lead to a tragedy and a trauma. I dont know if he really realizes the insanity of his supporters.
Kcunac
· 1 year ago
He doesn't need to. Karl Rove did that for him. There's only one way for him to rebuild his image after this is all over and that's if his critics -- his fellow politicians -- suddenly let bygones be bygones because it was 'just the heat of the campaign.' Sorry, this time it was too much to be shrugged off once the war is over. At a minimum, John McCain should be gently disdained for the rest of his days. He did not act like a patriot. He did not act like a gentleman. He re-enacted Sherman's march to the sea with a low rent Eva Peron on drums. Perhaps it can be forgiven but it must not be forgotten and if the Senate collegiately wraps arms around him when the guns of campaigning go quiet, I throw up my hands. John McCain has become a disgrace.
GrMtGirl3
· 1 year ago
AMEN TO ALL . . . He has not even been in the senate since July . . . realistically he's cooked his goose on both careers. Add up the poor pick of VP and her venomous mouth attempting th stir people to the point of harm. HE DEFINITELY LOST ANYTHING HE ONCE WAS RESPECTED FOR
shanobama
· 1 year ago
I think the Secret Service had a chat with McCain. Otherwise he would not be taking this tact. Lets see if the Apocalypstick has to defend Obama....then we will know for sure.
She is the one who is turning these rallies into White Supremacist meeting. Lets see if Bible Spice has to do some 'straight talk' about Obama.
btw, I sent an email to all my RW friends congratulating them for the 'effectiveness' of their email LIES and smears.
They need to know they are part of the problem every time they forward one of those disgusting emails. They are guilty of misleading the public, lying to the electorate, and slander of a great American in Mr. Obama.
They should be ashamed every time they hit that send button....I suggest others do the same if they are on a right wing email list. Tell them they are hate mongering. McCain/Palin look more and more like George Wallace each week
tlsintx
· 1 year ago
hey, thanks limbaugh and beck and hannity and coulter and dobson and perkins and palin and mccain for all your years of lying, sleazy, racist, hateful rhetoric. your minions have learned well and here they are, finally out in the open for the world to see. you must be so very proud. what a disgrace.
RobertSanDimas
· 1 year ago
McCain prefaces one of his complimentary comments about Obama, saying, "I have to tell you this...," meaning "I don't really mean this but I am forced (probably by the Sec. Serv.) to tell you...." Jeez, I've become such a cynic over all this. Can't wait til it's over.
henrythefifth
· 1 year ago
Good call on the Secret Service talk...we know that no one in the McCain campaign would tell him to settle down.
dula
· 1 year ago
For 30 years, Neocons have fanned the flames of hatred in order to win elections by appealing to their ignorant base. They have created a monster that won't be silenced so easily. It's a shame that it is only when a presidential nominee is the recipient of attack that the public is outraged. Why the shock though? We are a mean-spirited and judgmental People. Republicans have been inciting violence against Gays for longer yet the ordinary American couldn't care less.
dula
· 1 year ago
...and not only Republicans; Democratic people of The Church(especially the Black Congregations...somehow they didn't learn the lesson of discrimination when it was directed at them...what? They were considered 3/4 human once and now they want to pass that on to Gays so they can feel better about themselves?) have incited violence against Gays by calling them sick, sinful, and perverted...putting a target on the backs of every GLBT person in the nation. In every election cycle there is some part of the country that tries to decide if the GLBT Community are fully human enough to be allowed full Civil Rights. I cringe whenever I hear a Politician talk about "The good people of the United States"...What an effing joke!
sukabi1
· 1 year ago
here's a thought.... the Secret Service has been investigating a couple incidents of McCain supporters who shouted "Kill Him" , "terrorist", and "traitor" at McCain / Palin rallies.... and there is pretty good evidence that at least a few of the more vocal folks at his rallies are plants.... what if in the course of their investigations they've found that the folks yelling "Kill Him" ect. were actually paid by the McCain camp...
That makes the McCain camp DIRECTLY responsible for anything that might happen as a result.... and would explain his sudden 180 yesterday in "defending Obama's decency" at his last "event" --- all the while looking like he just had to eat a shit sandwich...
aquarius2
· 1 year ago
Oh for god's sake, it didn't sound like a concession speech. Someone or a lot of someone's probably had a "chat" with McCain giving himt he cold hard facts of what could happen if he continued along those paths of hatred and just who would be responsible., McCain.
Think about it, if something happened to Obama there would be an uprising the likes of which have never been seen before in this country.
PeteWa
· 1 year ago
McCain is a man without honor, and a coward. As are the drooling rabid dogs that show up at his rallies.
WatchmanD
· 1 year ago
This was not a Freudian slip, but I do believe we can be on an official Fat Lady Watch. The Fat Lady has been seen entering the buiding.
timolo08
· 1 year ago
Agreeing with Dula, but with changing "Neocons" to the Republican Party. This is the "base" in its uncut form and Mc is on the hook for finally bringing them out into the daylight. We actually owe him a debt of gratitude. These are the people we have been reading about, the people who have been voting against their own best interests for years.
Thank you John.
The sad thing is they are angry at the wrong person.
dad
· 1 year ago
get the fork.
tlsintx
· 1 year ago
great post re: why all the surprise about rabid wingnut GOPers? they've been feeding from the hate trough for years...
What is the real motivation towards meekness? I agree that the Secret Service put a little bug in Johnny McC's ear. From a legal standpoint I think he was about the be arrested. Earlier in the week the campaign was being mildly criticized for "whipping up" emotion. By mid week the campaign was being more harshly criticized for "rising anger and hate." By the end of the week the campaign was directly accused of "inciting violence;" just shy of the federal crime of "inciting a riot." I was curious and looked up at http://www.lawyers.com/ask_a_lawyer/q_and_a_arc.... This is what I found?
Q. What does the charge inciting a riot mean and what will happen?
-- Anonymous
A. Under federal law, a riot is a public disturbance involving an act of violence by one or more persons who are assembled in a group of at least three people. The act of violence must be one that presents a clear and present danger of injury to another person or damage to another person\\\'s property. Threatening to commit a violent act in such a group situation that could injure another person or damage property is also considered a riot if one of the persons in the group has the ability at the time to carry out the threatened violence. Inciting a riot applies to a person who organizes, encourages, or participates in a riot. It can apply to one who urges or instigates others to riot. It does not apply to someone who merely advocates ideas or expresses beliefs, if those ideas and beliefs do not involve advocating violence.
The federal crime of inciting a riot carries a possible penalty of up to five years in prison a fine.
Kcunac
· 1 year ago
In Alaska we call all that Saturday night. But it's OK 'cause we get forgiveness at church in the mornin'!
whomod
· 1 year ago
honestly, I find the tone of that entire event not so much maddening as I do, sad. I've seen this again and again in footage of McCain rallies and on he faces of his supporters. They're genuinely scared. Because they believe all the smear b.s that the right puts out there. They don't understand that these are political tactics designed to sow doubt. They truly believe that Obama is Muslim. The believe that this means that he'll destroy America from within. They believe he's "socialist" or "communist" or just 'not white" and that means the end of "freedom" or even just white supremacy. They swallow this stuff hook line and sinker and that's what's so dangerous about this climate.
What i'm also struck by, following up on this racial element is the almost complete lack of diversity I see in McCain crowds. And i don't mean just along racial lines necessarily. I see hardly any diversity even as far as Caucasians are concerned. It's all just an almost homogeneous sea of fair haired WASP whites with little exception. Which I just find odd given that America doesn't look like that anymore. Not even in "white America". It just seems that there is this fear among that crowd that they're coming to this realization as well and Obama just crystallizes that..
As they see their candidates fortunes sink like a stone, they're getting desperate, angry and scared that they need to take matters into their own hands or MORE needs to be done to save our country from this guy who in the words of the MCcain ads, "is not one of us". yeah, some of it is racist, and i do feel that is racist code for "non white" but to others, it's just code for him being aligned with Osama Bin Laden. And those dots were put out there for people to connect. With Bill Ayers, then by emphasizing his middle name and suggesting he's dangerous.
And look at that footage. Deep down, despite what McCain has set loose upon us, I saw almost an alarm in him that this fear was so deep and palatable in this crowd. That they genuinely "bought into it". And that they're genuinely afraid of Obama. I think he saw the monster his staff created and I'm just wondering if he's recalling 2000 and what was done to him. Hence his need now not so much to defend Obama but to set his misled followers a bit more straight about the fact that he's not Arab, he's not a terrorist, he's not to be afraid of. He's just an opposition candidate with different political ideas.
This is the danger of all that AM talk radio shit. That these people are that trusting and place so much faith in people who are just doing political hit jobs that they themselves are the terrorists that they claim Obama pals around with. terrorism as you know is instilling fear in a populace for political ends. And if something does end up happening to obama, I think it's safe to say that you can lay some of the blame right at the McCain Palin doorstep and with the far right demagougery on the right wing echo chamber.
mcqatak
· 1 year ago
You're right! This is a great sadness for "U.S." There have been several moments over the past week or so that exemplify the degree of sadness I'm talking about.
The first serious moment for me came during the debate / town hall. Watching JM wander around the stage reminded me of the lonely experience of looking for something knowing that it's probably, hopelessly lost. Also when he said, "I'll get him. I'll get him. I know how to get him." He seemed to be pleading for the car keys promising not to lose them or cause an accident.
The second moment came when he was speaking at a rally and said, "my fellow prisoners." I often mute sound and watch the expressions of the candidates and the crowd. Watching the faces of Sarah Palin, Megan McCain, and several of the crowd wince and look around to see if anyone else noticed what JM had just said was painful. It was an incredible glimpse into the reality that they know they are always teetering on the brink of disaster.
The third moment came on Friday night when JM had to tell an individual supporter, the audience at large, and the American people the TRUTH! JM said, "He is a decent person and a person who you do not have to be scared as president of the United States."
In this sad display, I saw a lack of judgment based on the experiences of JMs failed 2000 presidential run. I saw a lack of wisdom based on the history of our country (diversity IS NOT unAmerican and unpatriotic). I saw a man who simply " ... didn't decide to run for President to start a national crusade for the political reforms I believed in or to run a campaign as if it were some grand act of patriotism. In truth, I wanted to be President because it had become my ambition to be President. I was sixty-two years old when I made the decision and I thought it was my one shot at the prize." -Senator John McCain Excerpt from his book: "Worth the Fighting For: A Memoir" (2002)
Did the old woman at the end of the clip say Obama is an ARAB?
Milli
· 1 year ago
McCain is so disoriented right now. I don't think he knows the half of what his own campaign is doing behind his back. If he doesn't use the internet and has vultures keeping him isolated, how the hell would find out about these threats? I'm not letting McCain himself off the hook for his campaign's dirty behavior, but I think there are truly cruel people in there who are guiding the campaign straight to hell. I'm afraid of McCain, but I'm more afraid of the ones in the backround. They are truly trying to bring is into Germany in the 1930's.
I think these threats of violence were spurned by plants. I mean McCain's rallies were practically empty just a month ago. What changed?
skeptic
· 1 year ago
I had the same thought that the Secret Service intervened and said, "Whoa". They have a duty to protect all of these candidates and all this rabble rousing just makes it harder for them.
All Comments
The Secret Service had to step in. The threats were broadcast the world over and it had to stop. Period. The sudden change in his tone shows just how seriously out-of-control his campaign was getting.
* please note this is NOT directed at all Christians, but to the specific followers of Palin's "church".
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081011/ap_on_el_pr...
I think they both just learned that their bullshit attacks won't work in Minnesota, so they're trying a new tack.
Why am I not surprised?
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/10/10/191152...
The best piece of political commentary I heard recently was by Lawrence O’Donnell on MSNBC.
He actually predicted a couple days ago that McCain would start to back off these attacks.
He said poll numbers are showing that they're not working, and McCain is the most "impatient" campaigner he's ever seen, always ready to ditch a strategy that's not working.
O"Donnell called it perfectly.
Then when he is yipping -- or worse she is -- I think: 'You did this. You made these choices. Each of them. You deserve now to enter history discredited and revealed.'
Now I am a scared American. Not because of terrorism, but because seeing McCain rallies just slapped me in the face with reality knowing that these folks are just a heartbeat away from unleashing their hate on their fellow Americans. Even at work, these guys scare me. I have 2 friends at work I've known for a little while going rabid over "Obama is a terrorist". I've never known this side of them until now and it's scary. If it's so easy to propagandize these guys I knew that I thought were decent folks, what would they do if someone spoke bad about me? I live in Phoenix. It's bad enough we got Sheriff Joe freaking out the Latino population, but for me to look at my friends at work, that I thought I knew, in a different light really depresses me.
Is this the work of McCain propaganda, or is this just a case of folks always having these ill sentiments just waiting to be unleashed by a politician legitimizing them on a podium? I take the bus to work daily. in the past month there has been 2 instances where I was waiting at the bus stop and a car would drive by screaming "Go back to your country you fucking Mexican!" I'm a proud American. I was BORN in America! Not even McCain can say that! Now these crazy folks are thinking it's now an acceptable mainstream view for them to express their hate. They call it patriotism, I call it an excuse to hate.
Sorry for the long post, but I have a daughter to think about and these hateful people really have me worried. It's been on my mind a lot lately. I go to work and now I look at each one and wonder "who are you really? Are you really my friend?" I shouldn't be having these thoughts in the land of the free. I think of the history of this country, like the day when a church was burned down and I believe it was four little girls that died in that fire due to a hate crime. Today, I see these same people just snapping and clawing at the gates ready to be unleashed. Why must there still be hate in this great country? Are we regressing back to the lynching days? Have we not progressed since then? Are we regressing? Anyways, thanks for letting me vent. I hope we as a nation don't bankrupt our dignity as well. These hateful people CAN'T and MUST NOT WIN!
I wrote the McCain campaign, I suggest you do the same-or just forward this post to them. As an Independent voter in McCains home state he needs to hear from us. It makes me heartsick how this climate McCain has created is causing people real harm. I was at an Obama meeting and someone said they were 'afraid' to put an Obama bumper sticker on their car!
Dont be afraid, or let these people silence you. As long as you speak in a respectful way, you can call them on this. Inciting violence and making people fearful of exercising their Constitutional right to free speech is WRONG. It is morally and ethically wrong. It is UN-AMERICAN. Bigotry and hate speech are Un-American. We are the great melting pot, a nation of immigrants. Each and every one of us, except for the Native Americans, have direct relations who immigrated to this land for a better life.
I think Powell, who was up in Alaska testifying as a character witness (ha!) for Sen. Ted Stevens, called McCain and told him to knock it off or he'd come out for Obama.
Folks from both parties have spent the last almost week publicly warning him to back off the rhetoric, and he didn't.... until yesterday... which means that they've been privately telling him to knock it off for a lot longer...
As I now see him call for respect of Obama, I see less the duplicitous, dishonest man that McCain has allowed himself to become. Instead, giving him the benefit of the doubt, of course – maybe even seeing him as a pitiable figure who has been unable to control his unquenchable thirst for the presidency – I now see a man who is in full conflict with himself.
On one hand, he wants so badly to be president that he has agreed to any Rovian tactic, including the demonizing of Obama; on the other hand, there is a man who really never wanted to stoop to gutter tactics, a man who, since he is now not gaining by these tactics, now allows his more fair-minded side to prevail.
Either that or he now realizes that these tactics might result in violence, for which he would be seen as responsible and with which he would forever be associated.
By that point the damage has already been done, but you look like LESS of an asshole.
I'm sorry, how can you give this *person* the benefit of the doubt? HE HAS LIED ALMOST 100% OF THE TIME SINCE THE START OF THIS CAMPAIGN. He, thus far, has had no problem stooping low enough to make even Rove squirm and you want to give him the benefit of the doubt when he all of a sudden figured out that his nutjob nazi followers are probably bad press?
Seriously?
The other day someone asked me if I didn't feel sorry for Palin, as she had fallen into a role way over her head. I responded, I don't feel sorry for anyone so arrogant and destructive, regardless of where she finds herself. Same for McCain. Even in understanding it as a matter of internal conflict, I don't fell sorry for him, I don't condone what he has done for a second. He is responsible for his own actions and must endure the consequences.
I DON'T THINK IT WAS HIS IDEA . . . I BELIEVE HE WAS TOLD TO SIMMER THINGS DOWN BECAUSE THE FEAR OF PHYSICAL HARM WAS BECOMMING MORE OBVIOUS . . . . THANKS TO HIS ADS AND PALIN.
They were empty words . . . this man has no shame . . . just an unsatiable hunger for power.
That woman however.. the "Obama is an arab" one.. she is scary to me, because I bet that most Republicans believe he is.
Also the McCain strategy of saying "terrorist" and Obama in the same sentence is putting some thoughts in people's minds that could lead to a tragedy and a trauma. I dont know if he really realizes the insanity of his supporters.
He has not even been in the senate since July . . . realistically he's cooked his goose on both careers. Add up the poor pick of VP and her venomous mouth attempting th stir people to the point of harm.
HE DEFINITELY LOST ANYTHING HE ONCE WAS RESPECTED FOR
She is the one who is turning these rallies into White Supremacist meeting. Lets see if Bible Spice has to do some 'straight talk' about Obama.
btw, I sent an email to all my RW friends congratulating them for the 'effectiveness' of their email LIES and smears.
They need to know they are part of the problem every time they forward one of those disgusting emails. They are guilty of misleading the public, lying to the electorate, and slander of a great American in Mr. Obama.
They should be ashamed every time they hit that send button....I suggest others do the same if they are on a right wing email list. Tell them they are hate mongering. McCain/Palin look more and more like George Wallace each week
That makes the McCain camp DIRECTLY responsible for anything that might happen as a result.... and would explain his sudden 180 yesterday in "defending Obama's decency" at his last "event" --- all the while looking like he just had to eat a shit sandwich...
Think about it, if something happened to Obama there would be an uprising the likes of which have never been seen before in this country.
As are the drooling rabid dogs that show up at his rallies.
Thank you John.
The sad thing is they are angry at the wrong person.
http://www.SmirkingChimp.com/thread/17826
Q. What does the charge inciting a riot mean and what will happen?
-- Anonymous
A. Under federal law, a riot is a public disturbance involving an act of violence by one or more persons who are assembled in a group of at least three people. The act of violence must be one that presents a clear and present danger of injury to another person or damage to another person\\\'s property. Threatening to commit a violent act in such a group situation that could injure another person or damage property is also considered a riot if one of the persons in the group has the ability at the time to carry out the threatened violence.
Inciting a riot applies to a person who organizes, encourages, or participates in a riot. It can apply to one who urges or instigates others to riot. It does not apply to someone who merely advocates ideas or expresses beliefs, if those ideas and beliefs do not involve advocating violence.
The federal crime of inciting a riot carries a possible penalty of up to five years in prison a fine.
What i'm also struck by, following up on this racial element is the almost complete lack of diversity I see in McCain crowds. And i don't mean just along racial lines necessarily. I see hardly any diversity even as far as Caucasians are concerned. It's all just an almost homogeneous sea of fair haired WASP whites with little exception. Which I just find odd given that America doesn't look like that anymore. Not even in "white America". It just seems that there is this fear among that crowd that they're coming to this realization as well and Obama just crystallizes that..
As they see their candidates fortunes sink like a stone, they're getting desperate, angry and scared that they need to take matters into their own hands or MORE needs to be done to save our country from this guy who in the words of the MCcain ads, "is not one of us". yeah, some of it is racist, and i do feel that is racist code for "non white" but to others, it's just code for him being aligned with Osama Bin Laden. And those dots were put out there for people to connect. With Bill Ayers, then by emphasizing his middle name and suggesting he's dangerous.
And look at that footage. Deep down, despite what McCain has set loose upon us, I saw almost an alarm in him that this fear was so deep and palatable in this crowd. That they genuinely "bought into it". And that they're genuinely afraid of Obama. I think he saw the monster his staff created and I'm just wondering if he's recalling 2000 and what was done to him. Hence his need now not so much to defend Obama but to set his misled followers a bit more straight about the fact that he's not Arab, he's not a terrorist, he's not to be afraid of. He's just an opposition candidate with different political ideas.
This is the danger of all that AM talk radio shit. That these people are that trusting and place so much faith in people who are just doing political hit jobs that they themselves are the terrorists that they claim Obama pals around with. terrorism as you know is instilling fear in a populace for political ends. And if something does end up happening to obama, I think it's safe to say that you can lay some of the blame right at the McCain Palin doorstep and with the far right demagougery on the right wing echo chamber.
The first serious moment for me came during the debate / town hall. Watching JM wander around the stage reminded me of the lonely experience of looking for something knowing that it's probably, hopelessly lost. Also when he said, "I'll get him. I'll get him. I know how to get him." He seemed to be pleading for the car keys promising not to lose them or cause an accident.
The second moment came when he was speaking at a rally and said, "my fellow prisoners." I often mute sound and watch the expressions of the candidates and the crowd. Watching the faces of Sarah Palin, Megan McCain, and several of the crowd wince and look around to see if anyone else noticed what JM had just said was painful. It was an incredible glimpse into the reality that they know they are always teetering on the brink of disaster.
The third moment came on Friday night when JM had to tell an individual supporter, the audience at large, and the American people the TRUTH! JM said, "He is a decent person and a person who you do not have to be scared as president of the United States."
In this sad display, I saw a lack of judgment based on the experiences of JMs failed 2000 presidential run. I saw a lack of wisdom based on the history of our country (diversity IS NOT unAmerican and unpatriotic). I saw a man who simply " ... didn't decide to run for President to start a national crusade for the political reforms I believed in or to run a campaign as if it were some grand act of patriotism. In truth, I wanted to be President because it had become my ambition to be President. I was sixty-two years old when I made the decision and I thought it was my one shot at the prize." -Senator John McCain Excerpt from his book: "Worth the Fighting For: A Memoir" (2002)
http://www.americablog.com/2008/10/witness-hate...
I think these threats of violence were spurned by plants. I mean McCain's rallies were practically empty just a month ago. What changed?