Josh ([info]habes) wrote,
@ 2008-10-09 10:54:00
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Whoa this is getting ugly from the Republican side:
At rallies this week in Florida, crowds jeered and taunted members of the news media. One man hurled a racial epithet at a black television crewman, telling him, "Sit down, boy".

Yesterday, for the second time in three days, a speaker at a McCain rally in Pennsylvania referred to Obama's middle name, Hussein, in an effort to cast doubt in his religion and background. Obama is a Christian.

At the same rally, shouts of "terrorist" and "liar" could be heard following references to the Democratic candidate. On Saturday, McCain running mate Sarah Palin sought to link Obama to Ayers. "Kill him!" one man in the crowd shouted, not specifying who.

--The Guardian
Holy crap, it's the two minutes hate! It is sad and truly frightening that this is what the Republican party has come to. They have turned themselves into the party of xenophobia and hate.

They are spreading insinuation about Obama's link to a 1960s "domestic terrorist" without recognizing that they are breeding a new brand of extremism themselves! If guys at their rallies are shouting "terrorist," "liar," and "kill him," how far are they from actually doing something violent? The McCain campaign is taking a scorched earth strategy here, which is dishonorable and wrong.

One lesson I take from this is that no matter how decent a guy is when he's nominated to the Republican ticket, he'll never survive the experience with his decency intact. Because winning on the Republican side requires "mobilizing the base," and the base demands red meat. The base thrives on culture wars. The base has this need to find an "other" and demonize them.

It's a dark moment on the Republican side of the aisle.

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[info]triath
2008-10-09 06:54 pm UTC (link)
"One lesson I take from this is that no matter how decent a guy is when he's nominated to the Republican ticket, he'll never survive the experience with his decency intact."

Come now. That's a little strong don't you think? First off, that article is talking more about the crowds getting out of control and less about the candidates encouraging that, and secondly this sort of behavior isn't limited to one party.

Now if you'd said "nominated as a presidential candidate" I'd agree with you. The Democratic side is also villainizing the opposition. I've heard that Obama rallies have the atmosphere more like sporting matches or rock concerts - and I'm certain that there are people in the crowd who yell distasteful stuff. Obama himself has been pointing out the ties between McCain and Charles Keating, a major player in the Savings and Loan crisis. *shrug* politics is dirty business and I definitely feel that in order to be a major player in the presidency, you have to do some negative campaigning.

I really wish that wasn't so!!

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[info]habes
2008-10-10 05:48 am UTC (link)
Obama has painted John McCain as out-of-touch, as less equipped to deal with the economy, and as someone who has had bad judgment. But here's the critical difference in my eyes. The McCain campaign's recent tactics are essentially associating Obama with terrorists and Saddam Hussein, our worst enemies. That's why they're turning the crowds to be so hateful.

It's not like the people attending the rallies simultaneously happened to get uglier at precisely the same time that the McCain campaign started launching these new attacks. There's clearly a cause/effect relationship here. Their words are driving people to yell "kill him" and "off with his head" about a person who will likely be the president in just three months -- and assassination is already a jittery subject with respect to Obama because of his race.

Obama's rallies may be like rock concerts, but not the kind of concerts where you yell death threats about a presidential candidate. It's just totally different IMO.

The place that McCain is leading their portion of the electorate to is scary and dangerous. Does McCain think that these hateful hordes will calm down on election night just because he gets on TV and congratulates Obama on his win? No: we're going to be left with a mob of angry republicans (some of whom are borderline violent) just because McCain had to try this Hail Mary pass in the last month of the campaign.

He justifies it by saying it's not about Ayers, it's about character and judgment. Maybe that's what he tells himself so he can sleep at night (or what his campaign tells him to get him to rubber stamp the strategy) but what's coming out of it are the Osama, Hussein, and "terrorist" associations. Just watch this video:



"He's got the bloodlines."
"Just look at his name."

Chilling!!

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I have a feeling that my attempts to calm you down are only going to make you more angry
[info]triath
2008-10-10 06:51 pm UTC (link)
What I'm trying to say is that yes, there are freaky unintelligent fanatics on the McCain side, but that video doesn't show McCain and Palin themselves doing anything wrong. I'm not exactly sure what you want them to do about their fanatical fans.

Come on, that video is totally leading. To be honest, I'm surprised that's the best they could get out of a crowd going to a rally. Surely you've seen better on the Letterman show when they interview people about where Canada is.

Josh, I echo your concerns, but please don't get so riled up that you become fanatical on the Democratic side. This video/website just put up by the official Obama campaign is pretty harsh, and that's an officially endorsed video. Right now, we really don't need more polarization and angry people in this country.

As a side note - have you considered volunteering for the Obama campaign? A friend of mine's been tallying up data, which doesn't require any actual talking to people and I think he's really making a difference. If you're interested, I can pass along the info.

(Reply to this) (Parent)
Check it out
[info]triath
2008-10-12 01:49 am UTC (link)
Seeing this headline on a street newspaper machine made me do a double-take:

McCain Defends Obama

It may be somewhat of a publicity stunt, but doing it at a rally only earned him Boos from the crowd. So it earned a bit of my respect. A bit.

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