Why can't lazy assholes just read an article and post their opinion of it?
On Oct 13, 4:43 am, "[ the last patriotic Republican ]" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > The Terrorist Barack Hussein Obamahttp://www.truthout.org/101208B > Frank Rich believes that, "the McCain campaign has crossed the line > between tough negative campaigning and inciting vigilantism." (Photo: > Reuters) > If you think way back to the start of this marathon campaign, back > when it seemed preposterous that any black man could be a serious > presidential contender, then you remember the biggest fear about > Barack Obama: a crazy person might take a shot at him. > > Some voters told reporters that they didn't want Obama to run, let > alone win, should his very presence unleash the demons who have > stalked America from Lincoln to King. After consultation with > Congress, Michael Chertoff, the homeland security secretary, gave > Obama a Secret Service detail earlier than any presidential candidate > in our history - in May 2007, some eight months before the first > Democratic primaries. > > 'I've got the best protection in the world, so stop worrying,' > Obama reassured his supporters. Eventually the country got conditioned > to his appearing in large arenas without incident (though I confess > that the first loud burst of fireworks at the end of his convention > stadium speech gave me a start). In America, nothing does succeed like > success. The fear receded. > > Until now. At McCain-Palin rallies, the raucous and insistent > cries of 'Treason!' and 'Terrorist!' and 'Kill him!' and 'Off with his > head!' as well as the uninhibited slinging of racial epithets, are > actually something new in a campaign that has seen almost every > conceivable twist. They are alarms. Doing nothing is not an option. > > All's fair in politics. John McCain and Sarah Palin have every > right to bring up William Ayers, even if his connection to Obama is > minor, even if Ayers's Weather Underground history dates back to > Obama's childhood, even if establishment Republicans and Democrats > alike have collaborated with the present-day Ayers in educational > reform. But it's not just the old Joe McCarthyesque guilt-by- > association game, however spurious, that's going on here. Don't for an > instant believe the many mindlessly 'even-handed' journalists who keep > saying that the McCain campaign's use of Ayers is the moral or > political equivalent of the Obama campaign's hammering on Charles > Keating. > > What makes them different, and what has pumped up the Weimar-like > rage at McCain-Palin rallies, is the violent escalation in rhetoric, > especially (though not exclusively) by Palin. Obama 'launched his > political career in the living room of a domestic terrorist.' He is > 'palling around with terrorists' (note the plural noun). Obama is 'not > a man who sees America the way you and I see America.' Wielding a > wildly out-of-context Obama quote, Palin slurs him as an enemy of > American troops. > > By the time McCain asks the crowd 'Who is the real Barack Obama?' > it's no surprise that someone cries out 'Terrorist!' The rhetorical > conflation of Obama with terrorism is complete. It is stoked further > by the repeated invocation of Obama's middle name by surrogates > introducing McCain and Palin at these rallies. This sleight of hand at > once synchronizes with the poisonous Obama-is-a-Muslim e-mail blasts > and shifts the brand of terrorism from Ayers's Vietnam-era variety to > the radical Islamic threats of today. > > That's a far cry from simply accusing Obama of being a guilty-by- > association radical leftist. Obama is being branded as a potential > killer and an accessory to past attempts at murder. 'Barack Obama's > friend tried to kill my family' was how a McCain press release last > week packaged the remembrance of a Weather Underground incident from > 1970 - when Obama was 8. > > We all know what punishment fits the crime of murder, or even > potential murder, if the security of post-9/11 America is at stake. We > all know how self-appointed 'patriotic' martyrs always justify taking > the law into their own hands. > > Obama can hardly be held accountable for Ayers's behavior 40 years > ago, but at least McCain and Palin can try to take some responsibility > for the behavior of their own supporters in 2008. What's troubling > here is not only the candidates' loose inflammatory talk but also > their refusal to step in promptly and strongly when someone responds > to it with bloodthirsty threats in a crowded arena. Joe Biden had it > exactly right when he expressed concern last week that 'a leading > American politician who might be vice president of the United States > would not just stop midsentence and turn and condemn that.' To stay > silent is to pour gas on the fires. > > It wasn't always thus with McCain. In February he loudly > disassociated himself from a speaker who brayed 'Barack Hussein Obama' > when introducing him at a rally in Ohio. Now McCain either backpedals > with tardy, pro forma expressions of respect for his opponent or lets > second-tier campaign underlings release boilerplate disavowals after > ugly incidents like the chilling Jim Crow-era flashback last week when > a Florida sheriff ranted about 'Barack Hussein Obama' at a Palin rally > while in full uniform. > > From the start, there have always been two separate but equal > questions about race in this election. Is there still enough racism in > America to prevent a black man from being elected president no matter > what? And, will Republicans play the race card? The jury is out on the > first question until Nov. 4. But we now have the unambiguous answer to > the second: Yes. > > McCain, who is no racist, turned to this desperate strategy only > as Obama started to pull ahead. The tone was set at the Republican > convention, with Rudy Giuliani's mocking dismissal of Obama as an > 'only in America' affirmative-action baby. We also learned then that > the McCain campaign had recruited as a Palin handler none other than > Tucker Eskew, the South Carolina consultant who had worked for George > W. Bush in the notorious 2000 G.O.P. primary battle where the McCains > and their adopted Bangladeshi daughter were slimed by vicious racist > rumors. > > No less disconcerting was a still-unexplained passage of Palin's > convention speech: Her use of an unattributed quote praising small- > town America (as opposed to, say, Chicago and its community > organizers) from Westbrook Pegler, the mid-century Hearst columnist > famous for his anti-Semitism, racism and violent rhetorical excess. > After an assassin tried to kill F.D.R. at a Florida rally and murdered > Chicago's mayor instead in 1933, Pegler wrote that it was 'regrettable > that Giuseppe Zangara shot the wrong man.' In the '60s, Pegler had a > wish for Bobby Kennedy: 'Some white patriot of the Southern tier will > spatter his spoonful of brains in public premises before the snow > falls.' > > This is the writer who found his way into a speech by a potential > vice president at a national political convention. It's astonishing > there's been no demand for a public accounting from the McCain > campaign. Imagine if Obama had quoted a Black Panther or Louis > Farrakhan - or William Ayers - in Denver. --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ Thanks for being part of "PoliticalForum" at Google Groups. For options & help see http://groups.google.com/group/PoliticalForum * Visit our other community at http://www.PoliticalForum.com/ * It's active and moderated. Register and vote in our polls. * Read the latest breaking news, and more. -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
