Last night as I wrote about recent incidents on the campaign trail, I wondered if perhaps I was over reaching in my conclusions that McCain and Palin would be complicit in any act of violence perpetrated against Obama before (or frankly, after) the election. They hear what their supporters are saying. . . . “Terrorist” . . . “Kill him!” . . . “Treason!”
Today, I’m disappointed, but not surprised, to find much of the blogosphere that I follow is writing in the same vein. McCain and Palin are essentially inciting a lynch mob by reinforcing and reiterating and emphasizing that Obama is different and Obama is the Other. They stretch weak connections to be able to say Obama is cavorting with terrorist, when McCain and Palin have more direct ties to terrorism themselves.
Baratunde Thurston of Jack & Jill politics has reached the same conclusions (emphasis mine):
But the current political environment does not excuse remaining silent when a candidate for president is referred to as a “terrorist” in your presence. A desire to win does not excuse remaining silent during a threat on the life of a U.S. Senator at one of your rallies. There are no excuses for evil such as this. John McCain and Sarah Palin, the GOP and all who support them have lost all rights to legitimate argument. They are liars. They are wrong. They are evil. Yes, evil. They are one small step short of inciting violence at their rallies. They are letting physical threats go unchallenged.
I was at Obama’s rally at Independence Square in Philadelphia back in April. When he mentioned Hillary Clinton’s name, the crowd booed, and he told them to stop. Barack Obama intervened when his supporters booed his opponent. He called for civility. Yet, when faced with supporters who label senators terrorists and call for their assassination, John McCain and Sarah Palin said nothing.
This is how evil spreads, from domestic violence to genocide. People in a position to stop it choose to do nothing.
And when zealots shouts “Terrorist” . . . “Kill him!” . . . “Treason!,” McPalin chooses to hear no evil. They refuse to draw a line in the sand for their supporters, because they’re providing the fodder that leads some unhinged individuals to those dangerous conclusions. The finish line is so close, and if they can push just a bit harder in the last lap. . .
There’s an unattributed saying, “Character is what you are in the dark.” We are seeing dark days in the month leading up to the November election. An election that is set to turn the page on 8 years of administration that daftly and proudly ushered forth America’s decline in the world and under whose watch created the perfect economic storm hailing down upon us. In November we can choose to continue the decline or begin the slow process of rebuilding our nation and its standing in the world.
UPDATE 10/10: The crowds that attend McPalin events are growing more vitriolic by the day.
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Good post. The violence and hate that is stirred up at a Palin/McCain rally is reminiscent of what Hitler did in Germany… get the masses the angry and blame someone and in Hitler’s case it was the Jews. In McCain and Palin’s case, it is free thinking liberals, Democrats and Independents that support Obama for president.