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Palin Supporter On Obama: "Kill Him"
Multiple TPM Readers are flagging this blood-curdling moment at a Sarah Palin rally in Pennsylvania today, courtesy of the Times-Tribune:
Chris Hackett addressed the increasingly feisty crowd as they await the arrival of Gov. Palin.Each time the Republican candidate for the seat in the 10th Congressional District mentioned Barack Obama the crowd booed loudly.
One man screamed "kill him!"
No word on whether Hackett, who was -- ahem -- warming up the crowd for Palin, suggested that this isn't really considered acceptable political rhetoric.
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Do they think this is funny now? Surely at least a small part of this man's tongue was in his cheek. Surely.
October 14, 2008 2:25 PM | Reply | Permalink
correction: his forked tongue
October 14, 2008 3:24 PM | Reply | Permalink
I'm afraid you might be wrong. Very afraid.
October 14, 2008 3:42 PM | Reply | Permalink
We have started an online petition - http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/Obamashield/index.html
The Petition for the Immediate Abandonment of Incendiary Rhetoric
October 14, 2008 3:45 PM | Reply | Permalink
I remember the 90s all too well to think that there was anything "tongue in cheek" about that statement. We can only hope that the Secret Service is going to investigate and prosecute this jackass.
And we can also hope that the media will bring as much scrutiny to bear on Palin and her coterie of inciters.
October 14, 2008 4:48 PM | Reply | Permalink
Wrong. So wrong.
October 14, 2008 2:25 PM | Reply | Permalink
The point isn't the people in the crowd, or what they say, even though the McCain campaign has done an outstanding job of confusing the media about this.
The point is that no prominent Republican has responded negatively when the outrageous response occur.
Contrast their sleazy behavior with Obama's behavior from yesterday "no, no, we don't need that" in response to booing at the mention of Mccain's name.
October 14, 2008 2:26 PM | Reply | Permalink
Amazing that no Republicans have spoken out against this as they were the first to condemn Muslim leaders for not speaking out against 9-11. I am now condemning all Republican leaders
October 14, 2008 2:55 PM | Reply | Permalink
It really is amazing. I mean, don't the Repubs have a bad enough reputation as is? They really are going for the lowest denominator in this election. It's like they don't want to be a major party anymore.
October 14, 2008 4:02 PM | Reply | Permalink
Absolutely disgusting.
October 14, 2008 2:27 PM | Reply | Permalink
These people are the worst our country has to offer, including their vapidly ignorant race-baiting leaders.
http://pufferfish.typepad.com/
October 14, 2008 2:30 PM | Reply | Permalink
Are we at the point where the secret service will start stepping in when stuff like this happens? McCain's campaign has repeatedly shown they're willing to let statements like this stand with no action, so somebody is going to have to do something.
These hateful people were there all along, but they've now been given a voice and some encouragement to spew their bile. It only takes a few of them to incite more on-the-fence folks to grab their own pitchforks.
October 14, 2008 2:30 PM | Reply | Permalink
The Secret Service has already intervened - that's the only conceivable explanation for McCain backing down at rallies last week.
There's no confirmation because the Secret Service never, EVER, discusses protection matters.
As someone on this board said last week, Obama is the Secret Service's Super Bowl. They are pulling out all the stops and will not hesitate to do whatever it takes to protect him.
They are investigating the "Kill him!" shout from week before last and I'm sure they're already on this one.
And just because Palin's detail is tasked with protecting her doesn't mean they're not going to report threats to Obama or any other protectee.
October 14, 2008 3:45 PM | Reply | Permalink
True. I'm sure they are checking out every incident.
Any idea if the excuse "I mean 'kill him' like when salespeople say 'we're gonna kill the competition.'" would fly in this case? I don't know what level of threat they take would take incidents like this.
October 14, 2008 3:58 PM | Reply | Permalink
With the kind of hatred and racism they have been spewing the guy probably really meant kill him. Very frightening.
October 14, 2008 4:03 PM | Reply | Permalink
Do you think telling the squad of machine gun brandishing commandos at the airport that "the bomb" you were referring to was the in-flight movie would keep you from being indicted? Same thing.
October 14, 2008 4:23 PM | Reply | Permalink
I know I know. But do you actually know this is how it's treated? When it comes to the USSS, all I know is that you don't threaten. What kind of gray area is there? Or is there any gray at all?
(sorry, I'm really curious about this and want it cut and dried)
October 14, 2008 4:40 PM | Reply | Permalink
Yellow Dog & Sardonic Optimist:
I wouldn't necessarily expect righteous actions by the Secret Service. If it is like all of the other government departments and agencies then it has been purged, co-opted, and corrupted by the current illegitimate and criminal regime.
Remember Obama’s first trip to Dallas as a candidate and the Secret Service mysteriously quit screening, scanning, and checking containers of those going into the venue (stadium).
It was eerily similar to the "you tube" video of the Secret Service immediately prior to JFK's assassination when they inexplicably pulled the agents off Kennedy's car. Prior to Kennedy’s open car beginning its route, they had abandoned virtually all of their standard procedures (such as closing all open windows on the route) used to ensure protection of the president.
I don't know if the current Secret Service is trustworthy, but I wouldn't count on it.
Peace,
JK
October 14, 2008 9:42 PM | Reply | Permalink
It was eerily similar to the "you tube" video of the Secret Service immediately prior to JFK's assassination when they inexplicably pulled the agents off Kennedy's car. Prior to Kennedy’s open car beginning its route, they had abandoned virtually all of their standard procedures (such as closing all open windows on the route) used to ensure protection of the president.
_____
There's been a whole load of horseshit made up by the assassination "conspiracy" cottage industry about what happened in Dallas on 11/22/63. Obviously whether such is true or not isn't important to some.
That one ISN'T true.
October 16, 2008 1:51 AM | Reply | Permalink
To JNagarya:
Your reply: "That one ISN'T True" to my Comment (a couple of days ago) pointing out the worrisome the similarity between the strange withdrawal of screening (of people and containers) at Obama's stadium venue in Dallas this year vs. the Secret Service agents being pulled off JFK's car seconds prior to his assassination.
The incident with JFK is obvious and on video tape: See (YouTube dot com/watch?v=XY02Qkuc_f8.
Emery (sp??) Roberts, agent in charge is clearly seen ordering the agents off their standing platforms on JFK's car against their protests.
The Obama incident was widely reported by the networks at the time. A simple Google search would document that for you.
Why your insults and vehement denial??
Peace, JK
October 17, 2008 9:32 PM | Reply | Permalink
The Secret Service has already intervened - that's the only conceivable explanation for McCain backing down at rallies last week.
_____
He backed down? Falling silent instead of repeating the incitements -- and not saying anything AGAINST that which has now taken on a life of its own, AS INTENDED -- until during the last debates says WHAT about your "conceivable explanation"?
McPalin are not Americans. The are America-heters who will say ANYTHING to advance their ambitions. ANYTHING.
And they'll weasel about it while continuing to encourage it.
Alas, they got the idea from Hillary.
October 16, 2008 1:55 AM | Reply | Permalink
Where is the damn secret service at these hate-fest rallies? All it would take is for them to drag one nutjob out of the crowd, and this would stop.
October 14, 2008 2:32 PM | Reply | Permalink
Absolutely. And these people should be investigated fully, and held in custody.
This isn't a game.
October 14, 2008 2:42 PM | Reply | Permalink
The SS detail with Palin is looking out for threats to Palin, they aren't looking to hush up lunatics at a Palin rally who are hollering about Obama.
Now, if the righwing lunatics start hollering at Barack at one of his rallies, you will see decisive SS action in a New York second.
October 14, 2008 2:46 PM | Reply | Permalink
They need to re-examine their job description then. If there are threats being made in their presence, it's their job to take action. They should remove the offender from the crowd and take them to see Obama's secret service protection.
October 14, 2008 3:13 PM | Reply | Permalink
Crazy talk.
I mean, basically you're saying that Secret Service protective detail should be required to uncover their protectee anytime they hear a threat to another protectee.
Think about it. See the problem?
Let me make it more clear. Let's say I and two of my methed out Nazi tattoo wearing buddies want to do harm to a Secret Service protectee. We smuggle our Desert Eagles into a crowd where he's shaking hands, but we can't get a clear shot because of his Secret Service detail. If we try to distract them by having one of us shout out a threat to our target, the Secret Service will just shove his head down, swarm him and hustle him over to the bullet proof SUV and bodily toss him in.
So that won't work.
However, let's say some well intentioned person forced Secret Service protective details to deal with threats made to other Secret Service protectees that are made in their presence. Now all I have to do is have one of my accomplices shout out a threat to the protectee's opponent.
So, let be be more blunt. Do you really want Obama's detail to have to uncover him and go bust someone who shouted out a threat to Palin at his rally? Really?
October 14, 2008 4:38 PM | Reply | Permalink
Um, why not have extra Secret Service at these rallies, since these are not isolated incidents? That way, no protectee gets uncovered.
October 14, 2008 5:14 PM | Reply | Permalink
If the secret service is really as inept as you seem to be implying, then I should be a lot more frightened for Barack than I already am. I hope the secret service can manage two things at the same time.
October 14, 2008 5:28 PM | Reply | Permalink
This came up earlier that Secret Service should not be abbreviated in that way, lest there be a misunderstanding . . .
October 14, 2008 3:14 PM | Reply | Permalink
To be totally correct it should be USSS, but your point's right.
October 14, 2008 3:38 PM | Reply | Permalink
Yeah, every time I see "SS", I get the wiggins.
October 14, 2008 4:07 PM | Reply | Permalink
Or start a riot.
October 14, 2008 2:49 PM | Reply | Permalink
It's a federal crime to threaten the life of a president. Is it a crime to threaten the life of a presidential candidate? If so, these people should be arrested. If not, the Secret Service should be laying down the law to all the speakers at McShame-Failin rallies not to foment this kind of response.
October 14, 2008 3:13 PM | Reply | Permalink
It is a crime to threaten anyone in such a way. As a matter of fact, one could easily call such people "domestic terrorists."
October 14, 2008 3:45 PM | Reply | Permalink
As I was saying above, though, saying "kill 'em" also is a figure of speech. Could someone tell me how the USSS handles things like this?
It's not like someone is actually giving a specific threat, no matter how distasteful this is. (It makes them look like a mob of loony thugs in my opinion)
October 14, 2008 4:11 PM | Reply | Permalink
This is certainly the most accurate and effective way to describe it.
October 14, 2008 4:16 PM | Reply | Permalink
Disgusting.
Dishonorable.
A National Disgrace.
McCain-Palin '08.
No need to bring your own sheets or torches, folks: we hand them out at the door!
McCain-Palin '08
Renting out political venue: $250K
Buying tv time for political ads: $750K
Selling your soul for political gain: Priceless
McCain-Palin '08
October 14, 2008 2:32 PM | Reply | Permalink
Of course they have to be dry cleaned after the event as these troglodytes get them all semen stained frothing over Caribou Barbie
October 14, 2008 2:59 PM | Reply | Permalink
Yuck-oh!
October 14, 2008 3:18 PM | Reply | Permalink
Selling your soul for political gain: Priceless
Actually, McCain has demonstrated amply well that doing so is pretty cheap. Look how easily he jettisoned his "straight-talk" brand for a few lousy mouth-breather votes.
October 14, 2008 4:54 PM | Reply | Permalink
Disgusting.
Dishonorable.
A National Disgrace.
McCain-Palin '08.
No need to bring your own sheets or torches, folks: we hand them out at the door!
McCain-Palin '08
Renting out political venue: $250K
Buying tv time for political ads: $750K
Selling your soul for political gain: Priceless
McCain-Palin '08
October 14, 2008 2:33 PM | Reply | Permalink
What's worst...most of the commenters on Politico.
Maybe these stories shouldn't be posted..we all know its happening.
October 14, 2008 2:33 PM | Reply | Permalink
Sickening. Total and complete wastes of humanity.
The most ironic part is that I'd wager that this "Kill him!" guy claims to be a Christian. He's defending the GOP, the Party of Jesus.
October 14, 2008 2:33 PM | Reply | Permalink
This morning I heard NPR's "talk of the nation" open with an explanation that the nasty tone of the campaign is the fault of both candidates; that McCain's desperate attempts to depict Obama as part of a 60s terrorist organization are equivalent to Obama's responses concerning the Keating Five scandal which McCain actually participated in; and that if some of the things shouted at McCain rallies are "shocking", well, "so are some of the comments obama supporters are making about McCain's age", or something like that.
They then asked "how far is too far"?
October 14, 2008 2:33 PM | Reply | Permalink
Lord. Have. Mercy.
More of this false equivalency BS so the wingnuts won't be mean to them. A smear and a reminder of McSame's action are not now, nor will they ever be similar.
And the MSM are truly astonished when people say they are part of the problem.
I don't expect them to cheerlead for Obama; I can do that myself. But I expect them to get the facts straight and present them without prejudice, instead of this stupid "Oh, I said something mean about McCain; now I have to do the same for Obama" posture.
October 14, 2008 2:41 PM | Reply | Permalink
MCC, I'm listening to Talk of the Nation right now here in NH. I simply cannot believe these people! Did you hear the woman who claimed Obama donated "millions" to ACORN? And that ACORN indoctrinates young children to be liberals? And that Obama is not a US citizen but the Democrats are covering it up? Jesus Christ what is wrong with these people?
October 14, 2008 2:47 PM | Reply | Permalink
I actually turned off the radio after Siegel's introduction D:
October 14, 2008 2:49 PM | Reply | Permalink
It's laughable to think of indoctrinating someone to be a liberal. By definition, liberals "think." Thinking is antithetical to propaganda. But since these right-wingers don't think for themselves, it's hard for them to conceive of children actually being brought up that way.
Yee, gods!
October 14, 2008 2:52 PM | Reply | Permalink
Thanks, Thera - I was just about to write "why don't we have more liberal indoctrination programs anyway," but you answered it.
Can't indoctrinate liberalism; only authoritarianism.
October 14, 2008 3:50 PM | Reply | Permalink
False equivalence heaven.
Unbelievable. I caught part of the show, too.
What is WRONG with this country, when all too many try to say that bringing up a known, documented, investigated financial scandal is akin to egging on a crowd to the point of shouting death threats?
Sheeesh.
October 14, 2008 2:47 PM | Reply | Permalink
The press keeps doing that and it's really starting to tick me off. Did you see Frum on Maddow's show last night? He was trying to equate the often sarcastic tone on her show to these violent outbursts by obvious nutjobs. How can you possibly compare the two?
There should be ZERO tolerance of this sort of thing from the media, theMcCain campaign, their surrogates, and the right-wing pundits. You combine this sort of rhetoric with economic insecurity, racism, and xenophobia and something terrible is going to happen.
October 14, 2008 2:52 PM | Reply | Permalink
Rachel was great. She pwned Frum. It was actually kinda embarrassing to watch. Frum looked like a crumpled up shell of a . . . pundit.
The age of Fox News has truly been a disaster. It's spread like a virus. "Fair and balanced" just means veering sharply away from reality.
We do NOT live in a perfectly symmetrical society. There are actual differences in philosophies and political positions that create imbalances. To portray this society in a "fair and balanced" manner is to automatically portray it falsely. It's akin to photoshopping reality. Prettifying it. Making crooked things straight, etc.
At various times in our history, various political philosophies have dominated. Typically, the dominate party and/or philosophy is guilty of more corruption, more lying, and more destruction. With exceptions. Both parties have had their time as "worst" party, etc. This changes over time. But in our history, both parties have never, ever been equal in their doings and dealings at the same point in time.
There is no equivalence or balance or symmetry in reality. The world doesn't work that way. We are always imbalanced in the most important sense. It's virtually a law of physics. At least of common sense.
October 14, 2008 3:16 PM | Reply | Permalink
Exactly. There is such a thing as objective reality.
That you believe with all your heart and soul that the sun appears to rise in the west and set in the east doesn't make it true.
Belief never trumps fact. Rejection of that objective truth should be cause for canceling one's voting rights.
October 14, 2008 3:57 PM | Reply | Permalink
McCain himself made that point to Dana Bash yesterday, and despite the fact that there is no evidence to support his claim, Bash just let it pass.
October 14, 2008 2:53 PM | Reply | Permalink
This woman is a menace. She is using her own need to get attention from a crowd for dark and evil purposes. I am beyond appalled. I am beyond sicked. I wish the Secret Service would simply take her into custody.
October 14, 2008 2:34 PM | Reply | Permalink
"beyond sickend" Though the mistake does have kind of an interesting ring to it.
October 14, 2008 2:54 PM | Reply | Permalink
Would you say she's a narcissist, or a borderline personality, TheraP?
October 14, 2008 3:20 PM | Reply | Permalink
Those bastards - I cannot believe they are doing this and don't tell me they aren't doing it knowingly.
October 14, 2008 2:34 PM | Reply | Permalink
It's a mob.
October 14, 2008 4:14 PM | Reply | Permalink
I would put forth that the duo on the GOP ticket is complicit with their garbage approach of whipping up their base to generate and incite their crowds. Unless they take strong action and denounce these outcrys, there will be hell to pay should anything happen. I can't stand these thugs and idiots who fail to denounce these behaviors. As the Jefferson Airplane sang in the 70's, there will be riots in the streets!
October 14, 2008 2:34 PM | Reply | Permalink
How can McCain and Palin claim to be Country First if they aren't willing to denounce the idea of someone killing a US Senator and potential President of the USA???
They are Country First for their people, but not all? WTF? Nice to know they are trying to be bi-partisan...
October 14, 2008 3:01 PM | Reply | Permalink
So what did Hackett say?
October 14, 2008 2:36 PM | Reply | Permalink
Exactly.
P.S.: please get an avatar, PH.
October 14, 2008 2:38 PM | Reply | Permalink
I've been trying too, but everything I select is too large. I'll work on it tonight.
October 14, 2008 2:47 PM | Reply | Permalink
Great! But no pressure, ok?
October 14, 2008 2:56 PM | Reply | Permalink
October 14, 2008 3:09 PM | Reply | Permalink
For the love of god you would think someone would have said that to them by now -
Does McLame really want to end his life in that kind of ignominy?
He needs to stop that bitch - she's out of control.
October 14, 2008 2:38 PM | Reply | Permalink
Not that I'm defending Palin - but let's not call her a bitch. While I agree that there is too mauch false equivalency on the part of the media, I think calling someone a derogatory name is not helpful.
For the record, I (an Obama supporter day one) also complained when people called Hillary Clinton a bitch during the primaries.
October 14, 2008 2:48 PM | Reply | Permalink
Agreed...
If there weren't people acting out and name-calling on our side, there would be no equivalent behavior to bring up. There's something to be said for maintaining the high ground, and coming to a thread like this and identifying yourself as someone the wingers can pick out as "libruls calling our VP nominee a bitch" isn't particularly productive.
October 14, 2008 2:59 PM | Reply | Permalink
Please.
show me one instance of an Obama supporter calling for the death of John McCain.
You can't. Because there are none.
With all due respect, equating someone calling Palin a bitch and someone calling for Obama to be killed is one of the most idiotic things I've ever seen on this blog.
That's playing their game, and I refuse to do it.
October 14, 2008 3:10 PM | Reply | Permalink
co-sign.
By that argument, we can't say anything negative, for fear that the media will somehow equate calls for assassination with nasty names.
Nonsense.
The media is allowed to get away with such bullshit because people aren't calling them on it. Well e-mail NPR, and express your outrage that their reporters and commentators seem to be, yet again, drawing ridiculous conclusions about what's acceptable and what isn't.
Don't single out an individual commenter on a political blog and say "No, you can't use nasty language". Bullshit.
October 14, 2008 3:16 PM | Reply | Permalink
I e-mailed NPR today after their ridiculous Talk of the Nation episode.
October 14, 2008 4:13 PM | Reply | Permalink
You totally missed my point, and for that matter, what I was responding to...
October 14, 2008 3:41 PM | Reply | Permalink
Okay, I'll bite.
What, exactly, was your point?
October 14, 2008 3:50 PM | Reply | Permalink
I missed it, as well.
Specifically, you said
That sounds very much like a direct response to one commenter, and a response that says "Don't use those words, because you, individual commenter, will be responsible for the media discovering that some people on the left use tough language when discussing Palin".
You want people to express themselves, but in language that would be acceptable to the media. Speech is good, as long as it's the right kind of speech.
October 14, 2008 4:04 PM | Reply | Permalink
That's a suitable (over)simplification of what I was saying. I've got bigger fish to fry, so let's go with that. Ultimately, we're all responsible for ourselves here. If the media (or anyone else) wants to draw false equivalences or cherry-pick blog comments to make folks on the left look just as manic as folks on the right, that's not really my problem and I'll just hope it doesn't reflect on my candidates either.
October 14, 2008 4:13 PM | Reply | Permalink
Hell, if anyone is calling for the death of John McCain, it's the same freakin' Palin supporters!
That such a thing is true is not exactly a well-kept secret....
October 14, 2008 5:01 PM | Reply | Permalink
O please.
We're all grown ups and the media isn't monitoring this thread for things said by Obama supporters.
Jeeebus. And I will call her a bitch if I like and I do.
October 14, 2008 3:18 PM | Reply | Permalink
Amen. I will also continue to speak my mind about the bitch. However, unlike the nutjobs at her rallies, I am not calling her a terrorist, treasonist, or suggesting that she be killed, even though I do blame her (in part) for those comments.
October 14, 2008 3:28 PM | Reply | Permalink
Lest anyone should think I'm trying to trample on their right to free speech, I should just be clear that I'm not. In fact, nothing could be further from the truth.
Upon further reflection, no one in the media, reasonably or not, has pointed to the "liberal blogosphere" in noting that the tone of this campaign has been impacted by nastiness on both sides. No one has said that because it isn't true. And no one in the media has the internet. And even if they did, they wouldn't know about an obscure little outfit like TPM. And even if they did have the internet and were aware of TPM, there's no chance that they would ever follow a link to a story about a McCain-Palin Supporter saying something vile at one of their rallies. That isn't even relevant to the campaign right now. Not a topic of discussion at all. Everyone is focused like a laser on the issues. Both campaigns... the media... everyone. So that probably wasn't a rational assertion on my part.
Besides, "Sarah Palin is a bitch" is critical to us getting our message out. Definitely high-minded, elevated discourse, and it would really hurt the left if that arrow were taken out of our quiver. What would swing voters think if they turned on their computers in the final weeks leading up to this election and all the vitriol was coming from the right? I bet they would assume that we're too intelectual and too elitist to be particularly passionate about our professorial nominee and his gaffe-prone sidekick... As a matter of fact, we should stop talking about how she's unqualified and dangerously out of touch with the mainstream. Us fellas will stick to using descriptive words that end in -ILF and you ladies pick up the "She's a Bitch" meme. With a little message discipline, we'll be on our way to a landslide!
Jeebus saves! (But Zetterberg rebounds & scores.)
October 14, 2008 3:54 PM | Reply | Permalink
Shorter version: say whatever you want, but please be polite and make sure you don't offend anyone.
Free speech is good, as long as it doesn't offend anyone.
October 14, 2008 4:09 PM | Reply | Permalink
Please quit dropping the self-righteousness all over the place - it's sticky and cloying.
October 14, 2008 4:10 PM | Reply | Permalink
Pot called Kettle what? How dare Pot!?!?! How did Kettle respond?
October 14, 2008 4:27 PM | Reply | Permalink
Besides, she IS a bitch.
October 14, 2008 4:56 PM | Reply | Permalink
On wheels.
October 14, 2008 8:39 PM | Reply | Permalink
I assume the Secret Service is on this...?
October 14, 2008 2:38 PM | Reply | Permalink
Or not.
October 14, 2008 2:45 PM | Reply | Permalink
Obama1st wrote: "As the Jefferson Airplane sang in the 70's, there will be riots in the streets!"
October 14, 2008 2:41 PM | Reply | Permalink
Palin is a threat to the mainland. She is an anti-social element, extremist and a trouble maker.
October 14, 2008 2:43 PM | Reply | Permalink
Exactly!
That woman needs to be stopped.
October 14, 2008 2:46 PM | Reply | Permalink
She will go the way of Dan Quayle soon enough.
October 14, 2008 4:17 PM | Reply | Permalink
And a moron. And a borderline. And too ignorant to fathom how limited her resources are for the megalomania she envisions, in her own pinheaded way.
October 14, 2008 4:59 PM | Reply | Permalink
All Secret Service needs to do is detain all attendees at the rally until someone admitted he/she yelled "kill him" or someone standing nearby ratted him/her out. And then publicly arrest him/her/them.
Used to work in grade school, and I suspect many of these people didn't go much farther than that in their pursuit of education.
PEACE
October 14, 2008 2:43 PM | Reply | Permalink
and somehow we're supposed to believe Lewis wasn't right on the money in his comparison with the hate-filled supporters of george wallace?
October 14, 2008 2:44 PM | Reply | Permalink
I believe George Wallace's supporters showed more restraint.
October 14, 2008 2:49 PM | Reply | Permalink
Umm, no. They didn't.
October 14, 2008 3:19 PM | Reply | Permalink
By their acts of omission, i.e. failing to condemn these outbursts, the McCain/Palin people are condoning violent acts. Where is the Secret Service, and why aren't these people being arrested?
October 14, 2008 2:45 PM | Reply | Permalink
I was just listening on NPR that the McCain campaign is in fact hiring actors to come to campaign rallies. Requirements? They have to be angry. Very angry.
October 14, 2008 2:45 PM | Reply | Permalink
Jebus! That's plain incitement to terroristic threats!
Where is Homeland Security?
October 14, 2008 2:47 PM | Reply | Permalink
More here: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/andy-borowitz/mccain-holds-auditions-fo_b_134004.html
They are deliberatly trying to make themselves the party of angry white people.
The hateful rhetoric that comes from the crowd is only natural given the mob-like mentality at these rallies. A mentality fed by these deliberate plants.
October 14, 2008 2:50 PM | Reply | Permalink
The dems should send some African-American protesters to one of the McCain rallies and catch the resulting slurs on tape to unmask this whole sham.
October 14, 2008 2:53 PM | Reply | Permalink
They probably wouldn't be let in. I'll see if I can find the link, but security forced a Tampa Bay reporter to leave, even though he was a senior writer for the publication that he worked for, and even though he was in the press corp.
You have to be able to get in to the rally first. African-Americans need not apply.
October 14, 2008 3:00 PM | Reply | Permalink
Frank Rich alluded to it.
Here's a link:
Reference to black reporter getting the boot from a McCain rally, August 03
October 14, 2008 3:07 PM | Reply | Permalink
I remember the story. He was the only African-American in the area and security singled him out to leave. When another reporter questioned it she was forced to leave too.
But catching something like this on camera and having it played nonstop on the networks and having the McCain/Republican camps try to explain it away would be very effective at demonstrating in no uncertain terms what this is all really becoming about.
October 14, 2008 3:10 PM | Reply | Permalink
Co-sign.
That story got lost in the general garbage and it's very telling.
October 14, 2008 3:22 PM | Reply | Permalink
Jeez, what does the freaking "party of Lincoln" even stand for any more? What a total CF.
October 14, 2008 4:21 PM | Reply | Permalink
borowitz is a comedian. i think it's a joke.
October 14, 2008 2:54 PM | Reply | Permalink
Umm - can I point out that Andy Borowitz is a writer of satire / comedy - not unlike The Onion?
October 14, 2008 2:55 PM | Reply | Permalink
borowitz is a satirist (which I didn't realize when I posted this). However, they were talking about this issue on NPR and Air America today. I wish I could remember the talent agency they cited as being hired by the McCain campaign.
October 14, 2008 3:11 PM | Reply | Permalink
Morning Edition? A local show? In what context were "they" talking about this? When were you hearing this on NPR? If there were even a grain of truth to this allegation it would have been picked up by some news organization by now, surely.
This is how stupid rumors get started.
October 14, 2008 3:21 PM | Reply | Permalink
I don't recall, and that's the truth. I wish I had more info to give. I've been looking for more info but haven't heard anything. I guess I jumped the gun. Sorry about that.
October 14, 2008 3:39 PM | Reply | Permalink
Um, Joe, you do know that Andy Borowitz is a comedian, right?
That was satire. As in, not true.
October 14, 2008 3:09 PM | Reply | Permalink
It's a joke about the actors. That still doesn't let the McCain folks off the hook, it just makes it worse.
October 14, 2008 3:46 PM | Reply | Permalink
Oh Puhleeezzze! Get a grip! From the bottom of that article:
It's a freakin' joke!
October 14, 2008 3:48 PM | Reply | Permalink
... and a douchebag. Seriously, what level of acting skill must one possess to jump up and down and yell hateful/dangerous rhetoric? And more to the point -- how much is the campaign paying these 'actors'? Wouldn't McCain's campaign be better spending their money if they were, say, buying advertising time on television? I know that I've seen a steady decline of McCain ads here in PA (not that I mind)...
http://thepajamapundit.com/
October 14, 2008 2:56 PM | Reply | Permalink
They're going Full Atwater for the duration
October 14, 2008 2:46 PM | Reply | Permalink
diplorable, digusting and dispicable. These Palin rallies have become breeding grounds of hate.
October 14, 2008 2:47 PM | Reply | Permalink
One man screamed "kill him!"
Governor Palin held up her loaded 30-06 and bellowed:
"You betcha!"
October 14, 2008 2:48 PM | Reply | Permalink
The crowd roared with approval.
October 14, 2008 2:49 PM | Reply | Permalink
Greg left out the best part of the rundown...
"Other than the lone man, there were no other such outbursts."
See, it was only a lone man who shouted it. Makes me feel better.
October 14, 2008 2:50 PM | Reply | Permalink
lone (gun) man
October 14, 2008 3:11 PM | Reply | Permalink
It's past time that Obama supporters start clammering for something to be done about this - I'm outraged. I know y'all are; this has to be addressed and stopped.
October 14, 2008 2:51 PM | Reply | Permalink
Flood Mcain's website with emails demanding they tamp down these crowds AND stop deliberately planting angry actorsto fuel them?
October 14, 2008 2:53 PM | Reply | Permalink
Hell, I don't know what to do - I wish I did.
October 14, 2008 3:04 PM | Reply | Permalink
Try calling and writing to the Secret Service headquarters.
October 14, 2008 3:41 PM | Reply | Permalink
Here's the McCain campaign "contact us" website:
http://www.johnmccain.com/Contact/
Start the flood. . .
October 14, 2008 3:57 PM | Reply | Permalink
Thanks--just submitted a comment.
October 14, 2008 4:35 PM | Reply | Permalink
Nothing happened to the young men caught redhanded ready to kill Obama, even though the FBI implored the DOJ to prosecute. What makes you think that verbal threats are going to be taken any more seriously.
October 14, 2008 2:51 PM | Reply | Permalink
Honest to god, I feel like my head is going to explode. How can the media possibly equate this kind of shit with Obama saying McCain is erratic.
October 14, 2008 2:51 PM | Reply | Permalink
Makes me sick to my stomach. And makes me even sicker that McCain and Palin are perfectly fine with the KKK rallies that they're conducting.
October 14, 2008 2:53 PM | Reply | Permalink
I wonder if Obama has sat down to talk with Hank Aaron recently.
October 14, 2008 2:54 PM | Reply | Permalink
If McCain decides to carry out his "threat" to confront Obama on Ayers at the debate, Obama should counter with "Senator McCain, you and your running mate incite such hostility at your rallies that people have been heard to call out "kill him", "off with his head" and the like. Does that mean you, Senator McCain, are condoning assassination? Because, as we all know, there have been assassinations in this country before and it is a dangerous stance to sit back and impotently allow this type of behavior to continue at your rallies, your rallies, sir."
October 14, 2008 2:55 PM | Reply | Permalink
Another example of the Secret Service perhaps not reacting to this as maybe they should be.
If Palin is there, then an SS detail is there, and therfore it's difficult to believe they didn't already have people positioned for when Governor Palin came out to speak.
So why didn't these agents grab the guy threatening the life of the likely next president of the United States?
October 14, 2008 2:56 PM | Reply | Permalink
I don't know but I don't buy the idea that the SS doesn't care - they doubled Obama's security earlier than they have ever done for a candidate. They know -
And their job is nothing but to protect the person they are assigned to protect and I don't believe they abjure that duty for politics or as part of some conspiracy.
Chances are we won't know if they do something -
October 14, 2008 3:00 PM | Reply | Permalink
Chances are they already HAVE done something. Detained a hillbilly, or whatnot
October 14, 2008 3:19 PM | Reply | Permalink
Alas, the Secret Service is no longer a function of the Department of the Treasury.
They report up the line to . . .
Chertoff at Homeland (Fatherland) Security
Rotsa Ruck
October 14, 2008 3:01 PM | Reply | Permalink
So what do you think - they don't care? They're negligent? Chertoff is in on it with McLame?
What?
October 14, 2008 3:06 PM | Reply | Permalink
Chertoff's a political appointee.
I don't believe a single federal agency hasn't been rendered dysfunctional after 8 years of Bush Cheney appointments.
October 14, 2008 3:09 PM | Reply | Permalink
Little too tinfoil hattish for me.
October 14, 2008 3:11 PM | Reply | Permalink
You've not been paying attention.
October 14, 2008 4:04 PM | Reply | Permalink
Their job is to protect Palin, period. Unless one of the angry mob start moving toward her in a menacingly way, they won't move. They aren't there for politics but rather are there for the sole purpose of her protection. I'm guessing they had to draw lots in the back room to determine who would get stuck having to hear her voice day after day.
What a difference between the candidates. Obama's crowd "boo's" McCain and Obama immediately states "we don't need that. We need to vote" or something similar. He completely defused the situation in a calm, collect manner.
P.S. Where the heck did my avatar go? Grrr. I'll have to find it again.
McCain/Palin on the other hand...
I'm glad this is hitting the national media. More and more people need to see who is attracted to who.
October 14, 2008 3:07 PM | Reply | Permalink
Hmmm. The P.S. should have been at the bottom of the post, obviously. It showed fine in the Preview - which by the way I'm glad was added!
October 14, 2008 3:11 PM | Reply | Permalink
Increasingly feisty?
How about: increasingly bloodthirsty?
Let's get real here - godfuckingdammit!
October 14, 2008 2:57 PM | Reply | Permalink
Agreed!!!
October 14, 2008 3:01 PM | Reply | Permalink
amen sister
October 14, 2008 2:58 PM | Reply | Permalink
Someone here at TPM said the other day: "Now you know what it is like to be black in America." That comment struck a chord and has stayed with me ever since.
October 14, 2008 2:59 PM | Reply | Permalink
I'd like to see more discussion of whether the recent vitriol/ Obama-as-terrorist is much connected with the DVD Obsession, about Islamic terrorism, which was recently mailed out to millions of voters in swing states.
On Obsession, see http://www.lrb.co.uk/v30/n19/shtz01_.html
October 14, 2008 3:00 PM | Reply | Permalink
I think you draw a useful parallel here.
October 14, 2008 3:04 PM | Reply | Permalink
the lynch mob mentality is really totally unacceptable. Obviously McCain's campaign has inspired this and accepted it as part of their supporters. If gone unquestioned by the Republicans this obviously shows that they accept this as ok. We need to hold up the mirror to them!
October 14, 2008 3:00 PM | Reply | Permalink
Satire alert, people. The Andy Borowitz piece linked above is a humor piece. I know, it's a fine line these days, Palin and all.
October 14, 2008 3:01 PM | Reply | Permalink
I wonder if there's some way to conduct a boycott. Is there a way to prevent them from renting venues? To indicate that simply holding rallies, which are hate rallies, is not acceptable. There must be even local laws against inciting violence. What about local law enforcement here?
October 14, 2008 3:02 PM | Reply | Permalink
Obama ralies are pro-Obama, not anti-McCain. Obama tamps down even a "boo."
Palin rallies are mostly anti-Obama, not pro-McCain. Palin doesn't tamp down anything - she actively encourages the boos. Watch her. Whenever the crowd boos, she pauses and nods her head in approval.
When she actively encourages anger, she implicitly encourages hateful outbursts. Despite the McCain campaign's insistence that this is merely the case of an occasional "nut," something about these rallies empowers these "nuts."
If, and I've never seen it, someone at an Obama rally were to say anything even close to this about McCain, the crowd itself would show disapproval and shush the person up.
Not at a Palin rally. McCain's campaign can deny it, but there IS an environment created (a mob mentality?) that attracts and condones this ugliness.
October 14, 2008 3:02 PM | Reply | Permalink
The wonder of the internet is that nothing has veracity. Even YouTube is consistently doctored.
No one and nothing can be trusted or believed anymore.
Wonderful Brave New World ain't it?
October 14, 2008 3:03 PM | Reply | Permalink
Some context:
Tellmemore: Obama supporters sound like Tawana Brawley.
October 14, 2008 3:22 PM | Reply | Permalink
Well, at least you do.
October 14, 2008 3:30 PM | Reply | Permalink
Ooh, gotcha, huh?
Better get a thicker skin.
October 14, 2008 3:44 PM | Reply | Permalink
It. Is. ALIVE!
October 14, 2008 3:56 PM | Reply | Permalink
"The wonder of the internet is that nothing has veracity. Even YouTube is consistently doctored."
Yeah, and I guess I'd be willing to believe those were just doctored clips of JFK, RFK and MLK getting assassinated if it weren't for those inconvenient dead bodies!
These outbursts aren't being doctored on youtube. They're being reported by firsthand eyewitness accounts and caught in real time on tape by various media outlets. Don't try this change the subject shit and claim it's all in our minds and we're imagining it! If you're gonna talk bullshit, please do yourself and the rest of us a favor and talk some better bullshit than this!
October 14, 2008 3:50 PM | Reply | Permalink
And the moon landing! They filmed that on a soundstage in Area 51.
October 14, 2008 4:41 PM | Reply | Permalink
;D
October 14, 2008 5:00 PM | Reply | Permalink
So the MSM is *yet again* dancing an equivalency dance about this? God... it's sickening. This is wrong, just wrong.
October 14, 2008 3:04 PM | Reply | Permalink
When that kind of behavior is tolerated, and given notoriety through endless playing and re-playing in the media, the copycat attention seekers come out of the woodwork as well.
McCain-Palin seems to have fostered a "college kids gone wild" mentality, with rally goers vying to see who can be the most outrageous. This is his base? Pathetic.
October 14, 2008 3:05 PM | Reply | Permalink
By the by looks like Chris Buckley has left National Review. I can see what sorta hate mails he has received.
http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/10/14/buckleys-son-leaves-national-review/
October 14, 2008 3:06 PM | Reply | Permalink
I was wondering if he would receive the backlash that Kathleen Parker got. I guess I got my answer. Thanks for the link.
October 14, 2008 3:20 PM | Reply | Permalink
I can't believe the secret service wouldn't be responding to these things. Hopefully they are, and we're just not hearing about it.
Honestly, this kind of stuff puts their fellow agents at risk, and they know that. If violence toward Obama did result from this incendiary crap, it's the secret service agents who are on the front lines and most likely to be injured.
October 14, 2008 3:06 PM | Reply | Permalink
Co-sign.
They don't tell the press what they're doing, in the first place.
And I don't buy this idea that because they report to DHS and Chertoff they somehow don't do their jobs.
That's bullshit. They're the Secret Service and I think they have their own code.
And this idea that the truth can be doctored so nobody knows what it is anymore is absolute bullshit. If anything, YouTube makes is almost impossible for a politician to openly lie and contradict him or herself.
October 14, 2008 3:08 PM | Reply | Permalink
That's tellmemore.
October 14, 2008 3:29 PM | Reply | Permalink
I know - that's why I didn't just reply.
But I could have skipped it altogether - ;)
October 14, 2008 3:36 PM | Reply | Permalink
I've thought for a while now that it would be so easy to call for peaceful demonstrations. Obama is now so organized. They could put out the word to simply stand in your neighborhood. Out on the street. Along with your neighbors. At a particular time. Then you get google earth to do the photos of people peacefully demonstrating. Do it nightly if necessary. Until this stops once and for all.
October 14, 2008 3:07 PM | Reply | Permalink
That's a very good idea.
October 14, 2008 3:10 PM | Reply | Permalink
Second'd.
October 14, 2008 3:13 PM | Reply | Permalink
Thirded. Even though I live so far out in the country even Google Earth can't find me. :-)
October 14, 2008 4:13 PM | Reply | Permalink
How appropriate that the band played "Sweet Home Alabama" at the beginning...
October 14, 2008 3:09 PM | Reply | Permalink
sweet home alamba is an anti neil young song, mind you...he is canadian
October 14, 2008 3:18 PM | Reply | Permalink
More precisely, it was in response to Neil Young's "Southern Man," which criticized the racism in the South. So, in a very real sense -- and its anthemic appeal to racist bubbas in the South reinforces this interpretation -- the Lynyrd Skynyrd tune can be seen as an anti-anti-racism song.
October 14, 2008 4:19 PM | Reply | Permalink
I had to explain that to my nieces when, IIRC, Ruben Studdard sang that on "American Idol." I also had to explain the song to my Mom, who is from Alabama but who only had a passing familiarity with the song and was completely unfamiliar with the Kland, er...band. (Sorry. Couldn't resist.)
I was just SOOO angry that Studdard did that song. Perhaps he had to, but it's seriously "a chicken voting for Col. Sanders" territory. But my nieces, about 9 and 11 at the time, of course didn't know that history.
((Sigh.)) That's why God made aunties...to pitch in where parents and grandparents may forget, be cool, and generally drive everyone crazy with politics. :
October 14, 2008 5:57 PM | Reply | Permalink
On McCain campaign chalkboard:
options left
a) kill him
b) accuse the black guy of stealing the election.
It's vicious. Everyone must, must get as many of their friends and family and even casual acquaintances to vote on November 4th. Offer them rides, take them by the hand if you have to, if you're the head of a company, advise clients not to expect quick turnarounds on November 4th because employees have been encouraged to vote.
October 14, 2008 3:10 PM | Reply | Permalink
Is it fascism yet?
Seriously, this is all very deliberate on McCain's part, and it's related to the bogus "voter registration fraud" nonsense they're pushing (like Mickey Mouse is really gonna show up and vote).
Both build wingnut anger to a fever pitch and will form the basis for "demonstrations" nationwide should Obama win the election. It'll be the Palm Beach "riot" writ large, this time with tens of thousands of wingers screaming "We wuz robbed!"
This story does not have a happy ending.
October 14, 2008 3:12 PM | Reply | Permalink
That's all right. CNN prefers unhappy ones.
October 14, 2008 3:16 PM | Reply | Permalink
If they want to try that, then we come out peacefully in much larger numbers. I really doubt the rabble rousing element is that big. Very vocal. But not huge. So many ordinary citizens would shrink from such behavior.
But on our side, I bet we could mobilize huge, huge demonstrations... local ones, totally peaceful ones. (naturally they'd try to infiltrate, but if you have a huge number of people willing to wage peace, you just peacefully subdue any rabble rousers)
I think this could easily be done. Peacefully. Barack has so much credibility, people would act responsibly - on his behalf.
October 14, 2008 3:23 PM | Reply | Permalink
Remember, at the beginning of this, pundits said, if this becomes about race, Obama looses. I wonder if this is McCain's campaigns approach.
October 14, 2008 3:14 PM | Reply | Permalink
You believe that?
October 14, 2008 3:40 PM | Reply | Permalink
That's a bunch of bullshit. If it becomes about race, Obama will win. At this point in the campaign, racist attacks will be transparent and seen as the crap it is.
Subtle racial attacks have been already made. If it becomes overt, then McCain will be seen as panicking, creepy, and lost. Subtle racism is still ok in this nation, but if you are seen as an outright bigot......
October 14, 2008 4:47 PM | Reply | Permalink
OT, but CNN is doing a segment on the Palins and their association with the AIP. They currently have on the writer from Salon who did an expose on them.
October 14, 2008 3:16 PM | Reply | Permalink
I'm surprised that the story took this long to be picked up on.
October 14, 2008 3:20 PM | Reply | Permalink
The McCain campaign just sent a weak-ass letter to CNN about the story....saying that it's no different than if CNN ran a story questioning Obama's religon and that no serious news organization has tried to make the connection. Funny how they didn't deny the story.
October 14, 2008 3:27 PM | Reply | Permalink
Make the connection? Hell it's public record that Todd was a member for several years and that Palin spoke to the group as governor TWICE. That Salon article was/is devastating.
October 14, 2008 3:39 PM | Reply | Permalink
Awesome. It is about time.
October 14, 2008 3:25 PM | Reply | Permalink
{{{{{{Happy Dance!!!!!!!}}}}}}}}
October 14, 2008 3:29 PM | Reply | Permalink
Way overdue, but they start talking about it anyway, which is obviously a good thing.
October 14, 2008 3:32 PM | Reply | Permalink
Seems to me Palin "feeds" off this emotion which she whips up. That is pathological narcissism. And very dangerous. Truly, she must be "feeding" off of the crowd's emotion. And in some sick way it makes her feel powerful.
But I am convinced we must do something. Something completely peaceful but by the 10's of millions. If we tied Obama's speech to asserting our belief in the Rule of Law, in Civil Discourse. Making watching the speech next week a demonstration of commitment to that.
But I'd also like to see actual peaceful demonstrations right in our neighborhoods as well.
October 14, 2008 3:17 PM | Reply | Permalink
We have started an online petition - http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/Obamashield/index.html
The Petition for the Immediate Abandonment of Incendiary Rhetoric
October 14, 2008 3:24 PM | Reply | Permalink
Thanks for the link.
October 14, 2008 3:36 PM | Reply | Permalink
Signed it = thanks.
October 14, 2008 3:41 PM | Reply | Permalink
OT but check this out:
The Washington lobbyist John McCain has named to head his presidential transition team aided an influence effort on behalf of Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein :
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/10/14/mccain-transition-chief-a_n_134595.html
October 14, 2008 3:18 PM | Reply | Permalink
HuffingtopnPost:
The Washington lobbyist John McCain has named to head his presidential transition team aided an influence effort on behalf of Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein to ease international sanctions against his regime.
This is the end, my friends...tribute to th Doors
October 14, 2008 3:20 PM | Reply | Permalink
I think Obama appointed Odinga to his transition team.
October 14, 2008 3:33 PM | Reply | Permalink
You're just nuts, aren't you?
Tellmemore: Obama supporters sound like Tawana Brawley.
October 14, 2008 3:51 PM | Reply | Permalink
I didn't think McLame had a transition team.
October 14, 2008 3:37 PM | Reply | Permalink
Apparently that's true. No team as yet. Just a designated head man in case it ever happens -- i.e. let's pretend that there may be a transition.
October 14, 2008 3:49 PM | Reply | Permalink
Wouldn't that qualify as 'paling around with terrorists'???
October 14, 2008 4:03 PM | Reply | Permalink
Wouldn't that qualify as 'paling around with terrorists'???
October 14, 2008 4:03 PM | Reply | Permalink
This is great news for Senator McWar!!!
October 14, 2008 3:22 PM | Reply | Permalink
And if you think things couldn't get worst ...
Across the country, authorities are becoming concerned that the nation's financial woes could turn increasingly violent, and they are urging people to get help. In some places, mental-health hot lines are jammed, counseling services are in high demand and domestic-violence shelters are full.
Now what did McCain say about this financial crisis was all in my head?
October 14, 2008 3:25 PM | Reply | Permalink
First of all, the pundits don't know jack shit. Secondly, it's backfiring. These Facsist rallies Palin is holding aren't making people scared of the Black guy - they're making more and more Americans afraid of THEM.
October 14, 2008 3:25 PM | Reply | Permalink
How true. People want stability and order. And they off chaos.
October 14, 2008 3:27 PM | Reply | Permalink
Preview... yes, I should preview: They offer chaos.
October 14, 2008 3:29 PM | Reply | Permalink
Just playing right wing whacko's advocate here.
Imagine the division and hatred that would erupt in America if Obama was elected. Do we really want America to go in this direction? I mean, look at the rallies now, imagine what would happen if he were elected!
OK. That was disturbing.
October 14, 2008 3:55 PM | Reply | Permalink
McCain's campaign is obviously on kamikaze-- he can't possibly care about winning if he's willing to tacitly endorse hate speech.
October 14, 2008 3:27 PM | Reply | Permalink
I believe he's politically suicidal. He's like a suicide bomber, wrapping himself in Palin and her incendiary speech. And taking down as many as possible with him as he Flames out in Infamy.
October 14, 2008 3:30 PM | Reply | Permalink
Sorry, that was supposed to be in reply to Mike from Arlington.
October 14, 2008 3:27 PM | Reply | Permalink
I keep hearing that Doors song at the conclusion of Apocalypse Now in my head.
October 14, 2008 3:28 PM | Reply | Permalink
Salon's Max Blumenthal on Democracy Now! discussing Palin's association with AIP
http://www.democracynow.org/2008/10/13/max_blumenthal_on_sarah_palins_radical
October 14, 2008 3:29 PM | Reply | Permalink
"Also on hand was a crew from "The Daily Show," and correspondent John Oliver who was interviewing people on their way in."
Wonder if they got tape of the guy shouting "kill him."
October 14, 2008 3:32 PM | Reply | Permalink
Yes, tape would be quite helpful.
Someone tell me why, exactly, the people standing next to this shouting fool aren't seen trying to distance themselves as quickly as possible?
Err ... I mean the guy yelling "kill him."
October 14, 2008 3:37 PM | Reply | Permalink
The problem is that not enough people...I do not know if this is race specific or not, so I wont go their...but they do not police there neighbors, children nor family members.
Let me tell you....I could never be out in the street yelling this nonsense, for the simple fact that 1) my mom raised my better...2) IF someone was to tell her, if I was to some how be caught...my mom would KICK my ass. Or at least I would be disrespecting how she raised me.
I dont know...but these people...they dont think in that sort of a way. They are selfishly driven by only what they see and know around them. Thank god they are becoming a "minority" in this country. I mean its just ridiculous.
Call your racists/crazy aunts, uncles, fathers, mothers and let them know how you feel.
I know at least my family...my inner city friends/family, we don't play that. Especially if you grew up in any sort of a "black" church.
We wouldnt have any qualms with them, but they want to have qualms with "us".
October 14, 2008 3:51 PM | Reply | Permalink
I was raised in a rural midwest town by a retired (Libertarian) Army officer and a Johnson Democrat, and I can verify that if I'd even thought of acting so crassly, I wouldn't have been able to sit for a week.
Where are these people from?
October 14, 2008 4:01 PM | Reply | Permalink
lol.
Word.
Maybe thats what it comes down to.
DISCIPLINE.
October 14, 2008 4:09 PM | Reply | Permalink
Where's "HOMELAND SECURITY"????
This is disgusting.
We are so lacking in leadership from
economy, health insurance, to you name it!
October 14, 2008 3:43 PM | Reply | Permalink
And why is there only one eyewitness account to this story. Lots of other media there I'm sure. Where are the corroborating reports?
October 14, 2008 3:43 PM | Reply | Permalink
Obviously McCain's campaign is on kamikaze autopilot at this point-- why else would they be so tacitly endorsing hate speech? That's what this continued wink-wink nudge-nudge of pregnant pauses, smiles & waves is about: McCain & Palin don't want to distance themselves from it. They know they've only got one chance left to make their opponents pay and this is it. If they can't win, they want to try and get the other guy shot.
Culture of life my arse.
October 14, 2008 3:44 PM | Reply | Permalink
Ert! Double-post. Sorry-- wiggy connection.
October 14, 2008 3:49 PM | Reply | Permalink
This is too funny for me on so many levels.
So many years of men of my race calling "Racism" and "hell no im not pulling over when Im driving through Nebraska...or Ohio"....and so many people of caucasian decent would say "why??". "You are just overreacting."
Now on a normal day, would these individuals be talking how they are talking....probably not. But thats not the point.
The point is that the "thought" is there and has never gone away. The "intent" is there and has NEVER been brought out in the open.Just waiting, and simmering to boil over into.....pure hatred.
All of this needs to be a lesson for allot of you, in my opinion.
October 14, 2008 3:46 PM | Reply | Permalink
'They played a version of the Lynyrd Skynyrd anthem "Sweet Home Alabama" but substituted "Pennsylvania" in the lyrics.'
Lovely.
October 14, 2008 3:49 PM | Reply | Permalink
Regardless, I'm still stickin' by Neil Young.
October 14, 2008 4:06 PM | Reply | Permalink
Not surprising. You go to the right parts of PA and it'll certainly feel like Alabama.
October 14, 2008 4:12 PM | Reply | Permalink
And yet Bush lost there twice. It's no different that upperstate New York.
October 14, 2008 4:15 PM | Reply | Permalink
Where is the Secret Service? Why is the man not arrested for making threats? He should be jailed. It only takes one wingnut to take Obama out. Inciting violence against a candidate is against the law. Where are the enforcers?
October 14, 2008 3:50 PM | Reply | Permalink
When I was a student at the University of Michigan wayyy back in 1988 G H W Bush came to speak there and there was an incident where a member of the secret service detail heard an obvious joke in bad taste regarding assassinating the VP.
Regardless to say the student, and even some of his friends, were detained for a significant period in isolation for serious questioning, background checks, and risk assessment.
My question is - is the Secret Service taking this seriously? They sure as h*ll should!
October 14, 2008 3:55 PM | Reply | Permalink
Hear, hear. I had a similar experience during the long, dark Reagan years. Someone I volunteered with at a homeless shelter (no more than an acquaintance) said something ill-advised at an open meeting, and the next day, I had the men in suits knocking on my door.
Where are they now?
October 14, 2008 4:13 PM | Reply | Permalink
Here's a question. Could McCain/Palin be whipping up all this emotion NOT to win the election (which they might consider already lost), but to try to undermine the legitimacy of an Obama Administration?
October 14, 2008 4:06 PM | Reply | Permalink
He's not that clever. I really think that he got talked into Palin by the extremists who backed her and her job was to be a pitbull in lipstick. She's doing her job. McLame may not have realized what he was buying into, but I think he did, whether he'd admit it to himself or not.
I think it's now just a vendetta.
October 14, 2008 4:15 PM | Reply | Permalink
This is making me wonder if the Republican ticket has some how specifically obtained bias Secret Servicemen.
Or possibly they really are just not listening to the internals in the crowd. But I cant fathom how that is possible.
Well I could fathom it...I just hope thats not the case.
October 14, 2008 4:18 PM | Reply | Permalink
I honestly believe that it's highly possible the Secret Service has already talked to people about this and they just didn't hold a press conference about it.
They aren't really given to making what they do all that open.
October 14, 2008 4:33 PM | Reply | Permalink
Yes, I assume thats why there is this sturm and drang over fake voter fraud. If they cast a pall of illegitiamcy, then they are further on up the road.
Thing is, there will be such a huge turnout and Obama is likely to win by such a wide margin in the swing states that it won't matter four weeks from now.
October 14, 2008 4:23 PM | Reply | Permalink
OK, this is a must listen:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NyvqhdllXgU&eurl=http://newsbusters.org/blogs/noel-sheppard/2008/10/13/howard-stern-exposes-why-so-many-people-support-obama
October 14, 2008 4:09 PM | Reply | Permalink
Just tellmemore again... everyone move along, you know we're all like Tawana Brawley.
October 14, 2008 4:23 PM | Reply | Permalink
Thanks for carrying on...
October 14, 2008 4:32 PM | Reply | Permalink
The wonder of the internet is that nothing has veracity. Even YouTube is consistently doctored.
October 14, 2008 4:30 PM | Reply | Permalink
Oh, yeah, the Secret Service has their own code!
May 29, 2008
The Washington Post reports that the US Secret Service's foot-dragging in a racial discrimination lawsuit filed eight years ago by a group of African-American agents (previous MinMon item here) could come back to bite the notoriously secretive and insular agency at a hearing today for a default judgment in the case.
Writes Darryl Fears of the Post:
"The judge presiding over the case, Deborah A. Robinson, has already sanctioned the agency three times for dragging its feet in handing over racially charged e-mails shared by white Secret Service supervisors and for failing to search for documents as ordered by the court. She has also verbally reprimanded government lawyers after they revealed that a paralegal may have burned some documents that were ordered by the court.
"Robinson could use stronger sanctions to punish the Secret Service at today's hearing, lawyers said. She could issue a summary judgment on behalf of the plaintiffs that would probably cost taxpayers millions of dollars, she could limit the amount of evidence the agency could use to defend itself against the allegations -- that supervisors routinely harassed black agents and refused to promote them to management positions -- or she could grant a request by the plaintiffs to try their case without any interference from the Secret Service's lawyers."
Let's lose our naivete, nitwits.
October 14, 2008 4:12 PM | Reply |