McCain-Palin amp up the violence rhetoric

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 10/7/08 at 1:56pm

The Washington Post's Dana Milbank reported an incident at a Palin rally that should open America's eyes to the central role violent rhetoric now plays in the McCain campaign. Milbank describes how Palin told the crowd in Florida that Obama has close associations with a terrorist who sought to bomb the Pentagon and the U.S. Capital, in response to which the crowd responded with a threat on Sen. Obama's life:

"Now it turns out, one of his earliest supporters is a man named Bill Ayers...And, according to the New York Times, he was a domestic terrorist and part of a group that, quote, 'launched a campaign of bombings that would target the Pentagon and our U.S. Capitol,'" she continued.

"Boooo!" the crowd repeated.

"Kill him!" proposed one man in the audience...

...One wonders at this point how the various agencies charged with the responsibility of protecting the Presidential candidates from violence will respond to this latest tactic from the McCain campaign. If, for example, a McCain supporter threatens the life of Sen. Obama by shouting 'Kill him!' at a Palin rally, should Sen. Obama's Secret Service contingent launch an investigation? Having been accused of terrorist ties by the McCain campaign, will Sen. Obama's name be put on the 'No Fly' list, effectively making it impossible for him to engage in normal airline travel?

An even more basic question, perhaps: Is Gov. Palin trying to incite violence against Sen. Obama as part of an ill-conceived campaign strategy to change the topic from the economy at any cost?

Time will tell how law enforcement will respond, but one thing is already certain: the more Palin and McCain incite calls for violence against Sen. Obama, the more their chances of achieving a victory in November disappear.




Huffington Post

[KrissySim]

Posted: 10/7/08 at 2:00pm

Leave it to the Republicans to go against the principles of a free democracy to try to win their campaign.

[jrb_actor]

Posted: 10/7/08 at 2:02pm

At the risk of sounding like a Clay Aiken fan, this is revolting, disgusting, and abominable. If McCain/Palin wants this so bad they will pander to the violent bigots of the country, then just who are really the domestic terrorists?

I hope Obama opens up a joe six pack of whupass on McCain tonite.

[blueroses]

Posted: 10/7/08 at 2:07pm

""Kill him!" proposed one man in the audience."

How in the world did Palin not STOP IN HER TRACKS the very second after that threat was yelled and rip that the guy to shreds for saying that?!

F-CK. HER.

[StockardFan]

Posted: 10/7/08 at 2:08pm

The scary thing is, I have acquaintances that really believe all this nonsense. I don't even feel like I can reason with them if they are that far gone.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 10/7/08 at 2:14pm

How in the world did Palin not STOP IN HER TRACKS the very second after that threat was yelled and rip that the guy to shreds for saying that?!

blueroses--what an amazing political moment that would be if she or McCain had the vision to stop the rally and say "No. In America we do not wish the death of candidates we disagree with. We vote against them but we never, EVER wish them dead."

If McCain/Palin said anything like that, they'd be back in the running.

[Borstalboy]

Posted: 10/7/08 at 2:14pm

Violence. It's the GOP's personal lubricant.

[verynewyorkcurious]

Posted: 10/7/08 at 2:15pm

If that last part of the article is true, then I hope Senator Obama doesn't retaliate at the Republican's level, and just do what he's already been doing.

[blueroses]

Posted: 10/7/08 at 2:19pm

I agree with you, Joey. But did you see how comtemptibly smug she looked while saying those things? That kind of irrational anger, fear and violence is exactly what they are hoping to build up at this point, and it's unforgivable.
Updated On: 10/7/08 at 02:19 PM

[SNAFU]

Posted: 10/7/08 at 2:22pm

I do believe that Palin is sinking the McCain camp! The independents are quickly stepping back from them, as it should be. I find it disturbing. We had a McCain supporter calling Hillary a Bitch without a word of rebuke but rather a laugh and a smile and now these threats f violence. This is not what politics should be at all! It really seems a new low.

[blueroses]

Posted: 10/7/08 at 2:29pm

I fear for Senator Obama's life. This is just awful.

[DottieD'Luscia]

Posted: 10/7/08 at 2:50pm

Considering Rachel Maddow featured a clip with a sheriff in Florida emphasizing Barack Obama's middle name with just as much response from the audience.

[MrMidwest]

Posted: 10/7/08 at 3:13pm

The reality is that a member of McCain's audience went there today. You can hear it clearly on this video clip taken from MSNBC-- after McCain asks "Who is the real Barack Obama?" the first, loudest voice can be heard answering "Terrorist!"

http://marcambinder.theatlantic.com/archives/2008/10/wholl_call_obama_a_terrorist.php

Updated On: 10/7/08 at 03:13 PM

[Borstalboy]

Posted: 10/7/08 at 3:16pm

Fixed it, cool!

Updated On: 10/7/08 at 03:16 PM

Posted: 10/7/08 at 4:29pm

At least McCain looks temporarily uncomfortable when the audience member yells "terrorist!" Palin looks positively gleeful at the "Kill him!" suggestion.

[snl89]

Posted: 10/7/08 at 4:57pm

Ok, this LEGITIMATELY terrifies me. I just... assasination threats are NOT something to joke around with at a time like this. The risk of an assassination attempt on Obama is probably really high REGARDLESS, because there's still a whole lot of racist people out there. But for the McCain ticket to actually use rhetoric meant to GET those crazy people who might actually consider something fired up? That's not just being a mean politician, that's DANGEROUS.

Not to insinuate that they were like... purposely expecting for someone to shout "kill him!" as a result of what they were saying- I'd hope to GOD that even they would not be downright violent like that. But nevertheless, the fact that they even took it flippantly? And the fact that they're standing there saying completely false things purely for the PURPOSE of getting people riled up! It's SICK.

This isn't just some silly little jokes being made. We're talking about a REAL, actual possibility here that some crazy could make a REAL assasination attempt. And getting the people mostly likely to do it if it were to be tried even MORE fired up is BELOW wrong. That's not something you laugh off. I don't care if it's not a direct threat, it's still a threat.



Sorry, it's just I've been a little bit on edge about this whole idea throughout the campaign ANYWAY. Yeah, it's easy enough to think "oh that would never happen", but it HAS happened. Abraham Lincoln, JFK, RFK, Martin Luther King. This is a VERY REAL possibility. I just pray to God that Obama has REALLY REALLY good security right now.

[Kalimba]

Posted: 10/7/08 at 5:08pm

And because someone in the audience yelled, "kill him", couldn't that be construed as an immediate threat? Shouldn't that person be arrested? Or is all this considered, "freedom of speech"?

Posted: 10/7/08 at 5:08pm

Been there...

Three men held in a suspected race hate plot to kill Barack Obama will not face any charges relating to an attempt on his life.

The authorities in Denver said that even though they had high-powered sniper rifles and were racists who said they wanted to kill Mr Obama to stop him becoming President, the case did not meet the legal standard to charge the men with a federal offence.


Did you read this in any American papers?

[snl89]

Posted: 10/7/08 at 5:10pm

I'm just going to say it again:

Obama, STAY VERY VERY VERY WELL PROTECTED. PLEEEEEEASE.

Posted: 10/7/08 at 5:15pm

Which is really really weird to me, because, in my neck of the woods, a moody loaner who had no money, no connections, no weapons and a vague plan to drop grenades (which he didn't have) in trash cans at a local mall was just sentenced to 35 years in prison for trying to get a government informant to trade him 2 stereo speakers for "Some hand grenades"

"Shareef was arrested Dec. 6, 2006, in a Rockford parking lot after he offered an undercover FBI agent two stereo speakers for four hand grenades and a 9 mm pistol.

Agents said Shareef's plan was to detonate the grenades in garbage cans in the big Cherryvale Mall on Dec. 22 — the Friday before Christmas. The blasts were expected to spray the mall with lethal shrapnel, the agents said."

Seems like those white supremecists had a lot more evidence....

[madbrian]

Posted: 10/7/08 at 7:40pm

While this should probably surprise no one, Palin included digs at Joe Biden in her speech today. Joe Biden attended his mother-in-law's funeral today.

[DottieD'Luscia]

Posted: 10/7/08 at 7:55pm

Sarah Palin is a vile c*nt.

[MrMidwest]

Posted: 10/7/08 at 8:17pm

In Clearwater, arriving reporters were greeted with shouts and taunts by the crowd of about 3,000. Palin then went on to blame Katie Couric's questions for her "less-than-successful interview with kinda mainstream media." At that, Palin supporters turned on reporters in the press area, waving thunder sticks and shouting abuse. Others hurled obscenities at a camera crew. One Palin supporter shouted a racial epithet at an African American sound man for a network and told him, "Sit down, boy."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/10/06/AR2008100602935.html

[KrissySim]

Posted: 10/7/08 at 8:31pm

"our neighboring country of Afghanistan"

? !

[DottieD'Luscia]

Posted: 10/7/08 at 8:38pm

Seems like some people attending another campaign stop weren't too impressed:

"Of course, Obama never promised to cut taxes for people at $10,000-a-plate lunches in air-conditioned tents on waterfront compounds. And the crowd -- among them New York Jets owner Woody Johnson -- reacted without applause to Palin's Joe Six-Pack lines. After they didn't strike up the usual "Drill, baby, drill" or "USA" chants, Palin, rattled, read hurriedly through the rest of her speech."