Heh, heh. Those zany Republicans. Sickening.

Just sent that letter with the tagged line "Please stop these heinous racist acts. They do not win support and the only bring out hateful reactionaries." I am sick and tired of all the racism towards Muslims and assuming a Muslim must mean terrorist. Islam is a beautiful religion and any religion is terrible if taken to extremes.

I think McCain might actually be embarassed by his supporters, but I don't think Palin is. The Republicans have always tried to win by any means necessary, whether it be by lying to people or inciting fear, and Paln is fitting in nicely. McCain, I think, knows that his supporters are doing the wrong thing, but doesn't want to tell them that because he's already had to flip-flop on every position he's ever held in order to get the party's nomination. The people who are supporting him now would turn on him at the drop of a hat if he spoke the truth. It's sad.

Who wants votes from a bunch of hate-filled, ignorant racists? Why doesn't McCain say something to these people? He can say that he knows that his supporters love their country, but they are bringing back the worst of our country's history by screaming racial epithets at his rallies and saying that Obama is an Arab (not true) and therefore a Muslim (not true) and therefore a terrorist (not true). But I guess McCain can't speak out because that's all his campaign has -- false accusations and a racist base.

Financial crisis => Hate + Racism => Hitler => Massive Death of Innocent Children.

I hope this is not the future of the United States of America.

McCain did call out his supporters. He said that Obama wasn't an Arab (or was it terrorit?) and that Obama was a decent family man. He got booed for it.

Wow, Ariel. You were much nicer than I was in my letter to them! I asked them if these were the voters they wanted or the only ones they could get.

Video!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5lEyrk5ZsQw

I had read in the paper about McCain "defending" Obama at his own rallies, but the clips on the Daily Show last night were chilling. Angry, frightened mob about to break out the torches chilling. McCain himself seemed stunned.

I agree, rage is scary. But its coming from both sides.

So when will Obama call out some of his supporters?

Thanks for the video link, Destra. I am amused how the woman defends her fear of Obama simply by saying "He is an Arab." I am also amused that McCain shakes his head, seeming to disagree, and then says that Obama is a "decent family man" - as if they were opposites? But we have already been over this.

The hate ads are really starting to scare me, and all of the ones I've seen and heard (on TV, radio, and internet) have been run by the McCain campaign. Perhaps because of where I am, I'm not seeing any of the purported Obama campaign hate ads... if anyone has a link, I'd love to check them out.

I'm glad that McCain has made some attempt to stand up to his raging supporters, but I'm honestly afraid that it's only going to get worse as we get closer to the election. This morning I heard a news report about an Obama campaign office in Philadelphia that received an envelope with white powder inside. It was later determined to be sugar, but still, is this the point to which things have come to happen during an election? I've been looking into volunteering on election day, and I have to admit that I'm becoming scared of doing so because of the hate... Does anyone think this might be an issue for potential volunteers and even for voters?

@Darby: What do Obama supporters need to be called out on?

I think the really scary thing about inciting these hateful messages isn't what might happen in the next three weeks leading up to the election but what it might encourage people to do once Obama is elected.

Too little, too late, McCain. He deserves no praise for "standing up" for Obama, after gladly benefiting from his supporters' raging xenophobia and racism. Even in his weak non-defense of Obama, he characterized "decent family man" and "Arab" as mutually exclusive qualities! Meanwhile he continues to beat the Ayers drum and use inflammatory language re: Obama.

This video leaves me with a cold chill running down my spine. It's hard to tell if they're running a campaign or Klan rallies at this point with little frau Pailn speaking like she's at the Reichstag. They are pandering to the lowest of the lowest common denominator and making themselves look like hate mongers. I hope it turns off a lot of swing voters because I don't think any normal American would want to be associated with people like this.

This video leaves me with a cold chill running down my spine. It's hard to tell if they're running a campaign or Klan rallies at this point with little frau Pailn speaking like she's at the Reichstag. They are pandering to the lowest of the lowest common denominator and making themselves look like hate mongers. I hope it turns off a lot of swing voters because I don't think any normal American would want to be associated with people like this.

Californienne,

I'm not quite sure how to put a link in here, but check out www.michellemalkin.com. Look at the column dated Oct. 15, "The rage that's not on your front page."

Malkin has a list of the left's rage that I haven't seen covered by the MSM.

I'm not posting this to minimize the nastiness from the McCain rallies. I find that behavior disgusting as well. But why is the MSM only noting hatred from the McCain side?

Hey everyone,

you have to see this waaaayyyy cool blog by two elderly women:

http://margaretandhelen.wordpress.com/2008/10/03/bitch-there-i-said-it/

Darby, come on. Are Obama and Biden using misogynist rhetoric to fan the flames of sexism towards Sarah Palin? Do they stand by as people say hateful things about McCain and Palin right in front of them? Do they spread lies about their opponents in an attempt to appeal to their basest instincts?
Obama has no control over randos on the Internet, saying nasty things or making ugly t-shirts about Sarah Palin or John McCain. But the crowd at an Obama rally merely booed McCain/Palin and Obama told them to stop. Pure class. The atmosphere at Obama/Biden rallies is the complete opposite of the one at McCain/Palin rallies. Why, just yesterday, another man yelled "Kill him!" at a Palin rally in my hometown of Scranton, PA. Shameful.

Darby,
Booing and giving the middle finger to people that you don't agree with may not be a savvy comeback, but it is not an attack on the candidate's character, nor are they lies. Also, you don't see people at Obama rallies, on the microphone, throwing around racial slurs and ignorance. I have to agree that some things yelled on the street are not all inclusive at to what the party is feeling, but the type of misinformation is so gross on the right's side that it's just strange.

SarahMC,

/agree

SarahMC, I'm also from Scranton and I'm so ashamed.

I'm seriously worried that if Barack Obama wins someone will attempt to assassinate him. Watching McCain set his supporters straight made me harken back to the 2000 McCain who actually was a maverick. The people saying these things better show up on the Secret Services watch list.

Sarah,

McCain/Palin have raised questions about Obama's ties to Ayers, the unrepentent terrorist. Questioning Obama's past is not inciting violence against Obama. These are legitimate questions to ask about someone who may the next President. Neither McCain nor Palin have control over a few crackpots in a huge crowd. When McCain was confronted with the issue, he did address it at one of the rallies. What else can he do? Should he not question any of Obama's background? Should McCain's background be off limits as well?

It's amazing how close-minded people are. I actually kind of feel bad for them if Obama does get elected, they'll be too scared to leave their homes. Of course, with all this rage and violent thinking, a scarier thought is Obama being assassinated if he is put in office. It is then that I would stand up and proudly tell people that this country, though it has great potential, is too full of corrupt people. Hopefully we can change all of this : (

Lilith,

I might as well play devil's advocate here:

Aren't you afraid of mass rioting should McCain win?

It seems a tad unfair for anyone to be held responsible for all of the actions of a crowd. Should Hillary Clinton be held responsible because someone held up a sign that read "Iron My Shirt"? Heck no. Should Barak Obama be held responsible for people fainting at his rallies? Heck no.

If the person behind the podium is directly inciting hate speech then I can understand holding that person responsible. An example of that would be if McCain was leading a chant of "White Power". He is not.

Darby, Bill Ayers was Chicago's Citizen of the Year in 1997. Both Republicans AND Democrats have worked with him on education reform; he has clearly turned his life around since his more radical days as a bomb-maker.

Honestly, the fact that you label him an "unrepentant terrorist" without going into the nuances of WHY he behaved as he did or what SPECIFICALLY he has said regarding his past is absurd and the main reason I can't take you seriously. Obama didn't have ANY connection to him until LONG after his terrorist days were over. And you can't deny Palin is purposely using the word "terrorist" b/c its connotations relate to the extremist terrorists not of this country - it's worked b/c it clearly crossed over in people's minds to mean not Bill Ayers but Osama bin Laden and all Arab-Muslim-terrorists. Never mind that Bill Ayers is a completely different sort of "terrorist"...

Darby,
McCain needs to do better than to address this at 'one of the rallies' - since it is turning up at almost every rally, he need to address it in a more direct, public way. No, he is not responsible for the actions of his supporters on the street, but if I were he, I would be horrified to hear my supporters spouting such mis-informed and racist nonsense (He is an Arab, he's a terrorist because he "has the bloodlines', "Just look at his name' - For pete's sake!) and I would address is publicly, openly, and immediately - "There is some mis-information going around about my opponent, and I want to contradict it." Also, "Being a terrorist is not inherent to any ethnicity, religion, or name(!). Different types of people all over the world have used the tactics of terrorism, and we need to remember and address all of them." These are the things I'd like to hear John McCain say, and I don't care that it would be using his time and influence to 'help' his opponent. An honorable, honest person does not stay silent in the face of blatant untruths and hateful behaviour just because it's helping him - in fact, especially not if it's helping him.

Yes, there is a lot of hatred and misogyny being directed against Sarah Palin. Many left-leaning blogs and publications are chronicling and condemning it daily. Yes, there are angry, hateful people on the left as well as the right. But honestly, I looked through Michelle Malkin's list yesterday, and I never saw any evidence that any of this was done with the awareness or implied sanction of Obama or Biden; these calls are not heard at their rallies, and when, as someone above pointed out, an audience booed McCain at an Obama rally, he stopped it IMMEDIATELY - he didn't wait for it to recur at several rallies before addressing at just one.

Also, of course, Malkin's list includes acts from the last 8 years - the list of shocking behaviour from some Republican supporters is about that long just from the last few months!

PS. If you think the 'palling around with terrorists' line isn't intentionally inciting hatred and fear, you're terribly naive.

An obama sticker on a curious george doll? WTF. These wack jobs are sporting their racism as though they are being revolutionary and good. WTFFF.

Liz,

I've read about Bill Ayers. I'm aware of everything you pointed out. Frankly, the more I learned about him, the less concerned I was about Obama's connection to him. Yes, he is a respected college professor, but his lack of remorse is distasteful to say the least. Anyway, all Obama had to do was explain his relationship (or lack thereof) to the man. And that was the point Palin's questioning -- Obama had never been forthcoming about his connection to Ayers. When he was first questioned about it months ago, all he said was Ayers was just a guy in his neighborhood. Well, it turned out there was more to it than that. But like I said, there is really nothing damaging there, so why hide it?

Oh honestly, Darby. Obama explained his connection clearly, and made it clear he was barely connected to him, when it was brought up, but he didn't make a huge deal about it because it isn't a huge deal.

The POINT of Palin's questioning was to get you to think about Ayers as you did initially - that he's scary, and closely connected to Obama. This is her clear implication, and you know now it's not true. (But lots of people didn't bother to really look into Ayers, and they don't!) His connection to Obama is irrelevant. Why should Obama clarify something irrelevant, when there's so much important to talk about? Why didn't McCain pre-empt questions about his role in the Keating scandal? Oh, right - because it's not hugely relevant!

I signed the open letter and spread the word to family and friends.

If evolution had grades this country would be in 1st grade. I just don't understand hate. Maybe thats because I live from my heart to the heart knows no hate.

iscah,

Obama wants to be elected, doesn't he? There's your relevance!

Darby, aren't you curious about McCain's links to terrorists?
The Washington lobbyist John McCain named to head his presidential transition team once aided an influence effort on behalf of Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein to ease international sanctions against his regime. When oh when will McCain explain his ties to terrorist sympathizer William Timmons?!
Obama and Ayers served on a board with people of diverse political stripes - even CONSERVATIVES who now support McCain. Obama is not guilty of anything but community organizing with a varied group of people, that included a college professor who took part in radical political activism when Obama was a child.

McCain OPPOSED the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act, an anti-domestic-terrorism bill that passed with overwhelming support. When oh when will McCain condemn terrorists who attack women and medical professionals?!

McCain and Palin don't NEED to scream "white power!" to incite violence and blind rage in their supporters. They can simply insist that Obama "doesn't see America like [they] do," and that he even actively hates America. At the same time their surrogates will emphasize Obama's middle name as though it actually means anything, in order to get people to view him as a terrorist.
Conservatives, now and in the past, have turned to "socialism" and "communism" as shorthand to criticize black activists and political figures since the civil-rights era. Racism is not always as blatant as a man in a white hood.

Sarah,
Yes, I am curious about McCain's associations. When I saw the recent Feministing article about that Freedom of Access Act, I knew it was something I had to look into.

Look, I may have been talking about Obama's associations, but there are aspects about a McCain presidency that do trouble me.

It looks to me that the McCain campaign has created this monster with ads and speeches designed to associate Obama with terrorism (If you use Obama and terrorist in the same sentence frequently enough, nobody remembers the context). Now he's embarrassed because he's lost control of the monster, and it's rearing its ugly head in places that he has to publicly refute it. He was perfectly happy with the sly comments and whispers, but now the hatred is out of control and sullying his "good guy" image. He should have remembered that Frankenstein was the name of the monster's creator, though we now think of it as the monstor's name--he can't disassociate himself now.

It looks to me that the McCain campaign has created this monster with ads and speeches designed to associate Obama with terrorism (If you use Obama and terrorist in the same sentence frequently enough, nobody remembers the context). Now he's embarrassed because he's lost control of the monster, and it's rearing its ugly head in places that he has to publicly refute it. He was perfectly happy with the sly comments and whispers, but now the hatred is out of control and sullying his "good guy" image. He should have remembered that Frankenstein was the name of the monster's creator, though we now think of it as the monstor's name--he can't disassociate himself now.

Yes, people on the right use words like "socialism" and "communism" when they wish to combat something they otherwise are unable to refute with logic. However, there are people on the left that use words like "racist" and "bigot" for the same reasons. Either way is frustrating and shuts down communication.

"They can simply insist that Obama..." "...even actively hates America."

I don't remember either McCain or Palin ever saying that.

I have seen the whole Ayers thing not so much as to how much Obama is connected, but more of how Obama makes decisions at to whom he will have associations with. Obama could have said "As soon as I found out about the bombings Ayers did years ago I became less and less associated with him." A statement like that would have make the issue go away much faster. Obama hasn't so much explained the issue, I would call it downplayed.

I don't have an issue with the word "terrorist" being used to describe Ayers. I consider him a terrorist the same way I consider someone that blows up an abortion clinic, mails a bomb, or mails anthrax a terrorist. If you purposefully get innocent people killed, you will find no remorse with me.

I also consider Ayers "unrepentant" after him and his wife told Connie Chung that they were not sorry and wished they could have "...done more."

I think the more videos you have like this the more we can position the republican party as the homophoic, racist and misogynistic party that it is. Especially if we buffered the movies with history (like facts similar to the ones found in the book, "Backlash" - to show their alliance with MRAs, ect) to assert that the claims have validity.

Sorry if I missed this link elsewhere:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/15/us/politics/15biracial.html?_r=1&oref=login

“He’s neither-nor,” said Ricky Thompson, a pipe fitter who works at a factory north of Mobile, while standing in the parking lot of a Wal-Mart store just north of here. “He’s other. It’s in the Bible. Come as one. Don’t create other breeds.”

I realize I would not be very "mature" to advocate any secession movements, but I know that somewhere in my Bible there's a quote that supports my opinion.

I just saw a pastiche of Palin calling Obama a "domestic terrorist," okay? Neither Biden nor Obama has done anything of the sort regarding Palin or McCain, nonetheless repeatedly...

Further, as many folks have pointed out, Malkin's arguments aren't regarding Obama/Biden advertising or comments made by either candidate (or their campaign people)... they're regarding (a) New Yorkers booing and [in a couple of cases] flipping people off at a rally - big surprise, it's New York! (b) Graffiti and people selling shirts on the internet and (c) Madonna...

Okay, look...
(a) In New York, that's how we express ourselves... so, come on... try to step in front of me getting onto the train and you'll catch an earful
(b) Folks here aren't talking about some wingnut internet wackos and vandals... they're talking about his VP repeatedly suggesting that Obama is a domestic terrorist and campaign ads doing similar things... Further, McCain's campaign has run ads suggesting that a program Obama supported to prevent molestation was actually to teach kindergarteners about sex... there are plenty more examples like this that are straight from McCain's campaign.
(c) Do you want me to talk about Daddy Yankee?

Finally, regarding the "RELEVANCE" of Bill Ayers to Barack Obama... the reason it's irrelevant is because Obama was a child living in Indonesia when the Weather Underground existed. By the time Obama came in contact with Ayers (2000), it was many years later and the guy was an education reform advocate. Obama's dealings with the guy are pretty minimal (sitting on the board of the Woods Fund and a $200 campaign contribution) and have nothing to do with the anti-Vietnam War stuff Ayers did 40 years ago.

Mind you, the "radical education foundation" of which the McCain ad speaks can be found here:
http://www.woodsfund.org/
Really radical stuff.

That's why it's not relevant.

McCain's connection with G Gordon Liddy (ex-Plumber [Watergate] convicted felon who has suggested shooting cops in the head), with funding the Contras, with Marilyn Shannon (who publicly praised Shelly Shannon [no relations], a modern-day domestic terrorist, who was convicted of shooting a doctor)...

The fact is, Obama's connection with Ayers is tenuous at best and occurred decades after the Weathermen were a thing of the past. McCain's connections with folks like Oliver North (who would be in jail for supporting terrorists if he hadn't gotten immunity for his testimony) are much more current and relevant.

That's what folks mean by relevance, darby.

How about the signs held up at rallies that read: Obama bin Lyin'? From my understanding, the campaign is not letting people bring in their own signs, which means that McCain's own people are producing and distributing signs that are trying to connect Barack Obama with Osama bin Ladin. The campaign is also trying to keep reporters away from the crowds inside the rallies, which I assume is because they know exactly what a lot of them are going to say. But what pisses me off more than anything is that when he was asked about some of the shit coming from his supporters by CNN's Dana Bash, John McCain didn't say it was wrong ask them to stop calling Obama a terrorist or inform them that anyone caught shouting death threats at rallies would be escorted out and turned over to the police. Instead, his only response was "well they're saying the same things about me at Obama rallies." Really, maverick? They're calling for your death? Calling you a terrorist? I haven't heard that one at all. Show me the proof... oh right, you're making it up.

But if we're so concerned about connections to radicals, why aren't we looking at Sarah Palin's co-Governor/husband and his former ties to a group that wanted Alaska to succeed from the union? Or John McCain's lobbyist friends and campaign advisors and their ties to Sadaam Hussein? Or the fact that a major campaign contributor and supporter actually funded the board that Obama and Ayers served on together. I guess he'll be returing the Annenberg's money and rejecting Lenore Annenberg's endorsement, right?

The fact is that Republicans have so screwed with this country that the only shot in hell John McCain has of winning is by inciting people's basist fears of brown people with funny names. The fact that he won't tell his voters to stop the hate-mongering leads me to believe that he's willing to accept his supporters doing such things if it will help him win - and I, for one, am sick to death of politicians who will do anything to win.

Terrifying.

I have to admit, though, "commie faggot" made me burst out laughing(possibly because I'm both.)

WIDave, I was referring to McCain supporters' obsession with that Michelle Obama quote ("I was never really proud of my country until..."), and their insistence that it's somehow traitorous and amounts to further evidence that the Obama's are radical America-haters.

Thanks for that thorough comment, puckalish!

@WIDave:
If you purposefully get innocent people killed, you will find no remorse with me.

I also consider Ayers "unrepentant" after him and his wife told Connie Chung that they were not sorry and wished they could have "...done more."

Thing is, the weathermen never killed anyone. The only death caused by the weathermen was three of their own members killed while constructing a bomb that went off prematurely.

Also, Ayers and his wife are both sorry for some incidents, and they have apologised to Richard Elrod who was hurt in the "days of rage". When Ayers says he wish they had "done more", he means done more to stop the war in Vietnam. I don't think Ayers should be sorry, he did what he felt was right, if anyone should be sorry it's those who supported the war in Vietnam, or the war in Iraq for that matter, not Ayers.

@WIDave:
If you purposefully get innocent people killed, you will find no remorse with me.

I also consider Ayers "unrepentant" after him and his wife told Connie Chung that they were not sorry and wished they could have "...done more."

Thing is, the weathermen never killed anyone. The only death caused by the weathermen was three of their own members killed while constructing a bomb that went off prematurely.

Also, Ayers and his wife are both sorry for some incidents, and they have apologised to Richard Elrod who was hurt in the "days of rage". When Ayers said he wish they had "done more", he means done more to stop the war in Vietnam, not kill people or blow up schools.

thlom,

that's a really keen point. when Ayers said he wished they "could have done more," he has pointed out that he was talking about having done more to stop the Vietnam War, as it went on for far too long. also, that quote comes from an article that Ayers has said, again and again, grossly misrepresented the interview, and there is no transcript of the interview itself.

also, the small amount of work Obama and Ayers did together got a sizable grant from the Annenberg Foundation - of Walter Annenberg, a major McCain donor and supporter. so what of that tie? i mean, really, this is ridiculous...

not to mention that, thlom pointed out, the Weather Underground never took any lives aside from their own. so, WIDave, check that out and recognize that perhaps you can find some forgiveness in your heart for people who did property damage in a (probably misguided) effort to stop the Vietnam War (which did take thousands upon thousands of innocent lives).

fuck, that is scary.
just imagine if they do win...hell will break loose and chaos will erupt.
that's it, if obama loses, i'm moving out of the country. i woudn't be able to stand living with another bush(but even worse) in office.