Monthly Archives: October 2008
Let’s Play “Blame a Brother.”
No, I’m not gonna rob you
No, I’m not gonna beat you
No, I’m not gonna rape you
So why you want to give me that
Funny Vibe!
No, I’m not gonna hurt you
No, I’m not gonna harm you
And I try not to hate you
So why you want to give me that
Funny Vibe!
“Funny Vibe” by Living Colour/Lyrics by Vernon Reid
Welcome to the latest installment in the age old game of Blame A Brother.
Is your presidential campaign stuck in neutral? Not getting any traction with lame smear tactics and gutter politics? Have no fear. When all fails you can just Blame A Brother.
It worked for Charles Stuart.
It worked for Susan Smith.
It could have worked for Ashley Todd if she wasn’t so damn dumb as to have scratched the “B” on her face backwards as if she had done so while looking in a mirror.
If Todd weren’t as dumb as a bag of hammers she could have scratched her mug with an “O” and the cops in Pittsburgh would be stopping every Black man over five feet tall for the next month.
Okay, so she’s just some psycho who’s into self-mutilation and filing false police reports that 6’4″ and 200 lbs Black men are jacking little White girls at Pittsburgh ATMs and cutting their face when they find out they’re McCain supporters too. Nobody’s perfect.
But Fox News picked up the story and ran with it. The Drudge Report picked it up and ran with it. Right-wing talking head, Hugh Hewitt picked it up and ran with it.
Why wait for the facts to come in? This story was like a Wendy’s hamburger: hot and juicy. If it were true, it made Barack Obama look bad in a battlefield state. If if turned out to be false—well….
Earlier today, John Moody, executive vice president at Fox News, commented on his blog there that “this incident could become a watershed event in the 11 days before the election. If Ms. Todd’s allegations are proven accurate, some voters may revisit their support for Senator Obama, not because they are racists (with due respect to Rep. John Murtha), but because they suddenly feel they do not know enough about the Democratic nominee.
“If the incident turns out to be a hoax, Senator McCain’s quest for the presidency is over, forever linked to race-baiting.” link
The McCain campaign will say they are shocked, SHOCKED, by this hoax perpetrated by a disturbed young woman, BUT THEY PUSHED THE STORY!.
John McCain’s Pennsylvania communications director told reporters in the state an incendiary version of the hoax story about the attack on a McCain volunteer well before the facts of the case were known or established — and even told reporters outright that the “B” carved into the victim’s cheek stood for “Barack,” according to multiple sources familiar with the discussions.
John Verrilli, the news director for KDKA in Pittsburgh, told TPM Election Central that McCain’s Pennsylvania campaign communications director gave one of his reporters a detailed version of the attack that included a claim that the alleged attacker said, “You’re with the McCain campaign? I’m going to teach you a lesson.”
Verrilli also told TPM that the McCain spokesperson had claimed that the “B” stood for Barack. According to Verrilli, the spokesperson also told KDKA that Sarah Palin had called the victim of the alleged attack, who has since admitted the story was a hoax. link
Without even waiting for the police to finish their investigation the McCain campaign was peddling a line that hordes of savage big Black men were preying upon little White girls supporting the mavericks. The only thing Todd left out in describing this thug was whether or not he was wearing a red ACORN t-shirt?
You can almost smell the stink of freshly dropped race-baiting. The McCain campaign didn’t know if Todd’s tall tale was true or not and they didn’t care. What they did care about was implying there were Black thugs preying on White women in the name of Barack Obama.
Now that we know the “B” on Ashley Todd’s face didn’t mean “Barack” what could it mean?
It could mean “Bull.”
It could mean “race-Bait.”
It could mean “Bias.”
But what I think it means is “Blame A Brother.“
Todd may be “disturbed” or just plain nuts, but she was aware enough to know the buttons that are pushed by the specter of Black criminals preying upon White victims. Twenty years ago it was Willie Horton as the big, evil Black thug. Fast forward and ain’t a damn thing changed except with Faux News and a right-wing blogosphere you can spread the lie faster than the truth can catch up.
I eagerly await the rebuttals from all the McCain/Palin apologists who see no evil, hear no evil and speak no evil when it comes to the systematic effort by extremists and fanatics to destroy Barack Obama. The actions of Todd were all her own, but the fact the McCain campaign pounced on this hoax and flogged it as a legitimate story is damning proof that nothing is beneath them when it comes to discrediting Obama.
John McCain and Sarah Palin didn’t start the fire, but they certainly provided the combustible material that a political arsonist like Todd could utilize to fan the flames of racial paranoia and fear.
As far as “October Surprises” go this was perhaps the lamest and most racist one I’ve ever seen. Ashley Todd knew sooner or later the truth behind her lie might come out, but she was betting on the unspoken fear White people have for Black criminals and the blowback it might have on the campaign.
This is what happens when desperate campaigns race-bait and play Blame a Brother.
Big, Bald White Guys with Bad Attitudes.
Ever since I first laid eyes on the now famous Joe Wurzelbacher it has been bugging the hell out of me why this dude looks so doggone familiar?
"Man, I love your television show. You're a lot taller in real life."
While sitting on the couch watching television, it suddenly hit me why Joe the Plumber was so familiar. He ought to be. I’ve been digging him for the last seven years now!
Joe the Plumber is actually Vic Mackey from The Shield!
Separated at birth? Who knew?
Vic Mackey keeps the streets safe from another Obama supporter.
Big, bald and a bad attitude. No way Vic is any kind of latte-slurpin’ liberal!
And they say all Black people look alike.
The Powell Endorsement of Obama: Bigger than Oprah?
C.P. gets his funky on for the O-Man.
I worked twelve hours on Saturday, got home at 7:00 am Sunday, grabbed a very quick few hours of sleep and staggered downstairs to see General Colin Powell make his endorsement of Barack Obama.
There are only a few people whom I can honestly say I would be intimidated to interview, but Gen. Powell is first on that list. He is a Republican and I’m a Democrat, but I can hardly think of anyone who is more respected across party lines than Powell.
It was a class move on his part to say both McCain and Obama would be good if elected president. But I got the definite impression that the Palin pick was the decision that pushed Powell out of the McCain camp.
MR. BROKAW: General Powell, actually you gave a campaign contribution to Senator McCain. You have met twice at least with Barack Obama. Are you prepared to make a public declaration of which of these two candidates that you’re prepared to support?
GEN. POWELL: Yes, but let me lead into it this way. I know both of these individuals very well now. I’ve known John for 25 years as your setup said. And I’ve gotten to know Mr. Obama quite well over the past two years. Both of them are distinguished Americans who are patriotic, who are dedicated to the welfare of our country. Either one of them, I think, would be a good president. I have said to Mr. McCain that I admire all he has done. I have some concerns about the direction that the party has taken in recent years. It has moved more to the right than I would like to see it, but that’s a choice the party makes. And I’ve said to Mr. Obama, “You have to pass a test of do you have enough experience, and do you bring the judgment to the table that would give us confidence that you would be a good president.”
And I’ve watched him over the past two years, frankly, and I’ve had this conversation with him. I have especially watched over the last six of seven weeks as both of them have really taken a final exam with respect to this economic crisis that we are in and coming out of the conventions. And I must say that I’ve gotten a good measure of both. In the case of Mr. McCain, I found that he was a little unsure as to deal with the economic problems that we were having and almost every day there was a different approach to the problem. And that concerned me, sensing that he didn’t have a complete grasp of the economic problems that we had. And I was also concerned at the selection of Governor Palin. She’s a very distinguished woman, and she’s to be admired; but at the same time, now that we have had a chance to watch her for some seven weeks, I don’t believe she’s ready to be president of the United States, which is the job of the vice president. And so that raised some question in my mind as to the judgment that Senator McCain made.
Ooh. Dissed!
Not only is Powell’s endorsement significant, it was the only endorsement remaining that could possibly have an impact on the race
A Republican consultant on CNN said Powell’s endorsement of Obama is like “warm milk and cookies” to independents who might be uncertain about voting for the Democratic nominee. Nobody can make a credible
case that Powell would knowingly endorse someone who “pals around withterrorists,” is “anti-American” or a “socialist.”
Additionally, Powell made clear that he wasn’t cool with some of the tactics of the McCain campaign or how one certain group of Americans have been getting slammed pretty hard lately:
And I’ve also been disappointed, frankly, by some of the approaches that Senator McCain has taken recently, or his campaign ads, on issues that are not really central to the problems that the American people are worried about. This Bill Ayers situation that’s been going on for weeks became something of a central point of the campaign. But Mr. McCain says that he’s a washed-out terrorist. Well, then, why do we keep talking about him? And why do we have these robocalls going on around the country trying to suggest that, because of this very, very limited relationship that Senator Obama has had with Mr. Ayers, somehow, Mr. Obama is tainted. What they’re trying to connect him to is some kind of terrorist feelings. And I think that’s inappropriate.
Now, I understand what politics is all about. I know how you can go after one another, and that’s good. But I think this goes too far. And I think it has made the McCain campaign look a little narrow. It’s not what the American people are looking for. And I look at these kinds of approaches to the campaign and they trouble me. And the party has moved even further to the right, and Governor Palin has indicated a further rightward shift. I would have difficulty with two more conservative appointments to the Supreme Court, but that’s what we’d be looking at in a McCain administration. I’m also troubled by, not what Senator McCain says, but what members of the party say. And it is permitted to be said such things as, “Well, you know that Mr. Obama is a Muslim.” Well, the correct answer is, he is not a Muslim, he’s a Christian. He’s always been a Christian. But the really right answer is, what if he is? Is there something wrong with being a Muslim in this country? The answer’s no, that’s not America. Is there something wrong with some seven-year-old Muslim-American kid believing that he or she could be president? Yet, I have heard senior members of my own party drop the suggestion, “He’s a Muslim and he might be associated terrorists.” This is not the way we should be doing it in America.
I feel strongly about this particular point because of a picture I saw in a magazine. It was a photo essay about troops who are serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. And one picture at the tail end of this photo essay was of a mother in Arlington Cemetery, and she had her head on the headstone of her son’s grave. And as the picture focused in, you could see the writing on the headstone. And it gave his awards–Purple Heart, Bronze Star–showed that he died in Iraq, gave his date of birth, date of death. He was 20 years old. And then, at the very top of the headstone, it didn’t have a Christian cross, it didn’t have the Star of David, it had crescent and a star of the Islamic faith. And his name was Kareem Rashad Sultan Khan, and he was an American. He was born in New Jersey. He was 14 years old at the time of 9/11, and he waited until he can go serve his country, and he gave his life. Now, we have got to stop polarizing ourself in this way. And John McCain is as nondiscriminatory as anyone I know. But I’m troubled about the fact that, within the party, we have these kinds of expressions.
Republican. Conservative. Obama supporter. Got a problem with that?
Can I get a witness? Preach on, Colin.
As predictably as a dog with a weak bladder whizzing on a oak tree, some of the leading lights of the Right didn’t dig what Powell had to say:
“Secretary Powell says his endorsement is not about race, OK, fine. I am now researching his past endorsements to see if I can find all the inexperienced, very liberal, white candidates he has endorsed. I’ll let you know what I come up with.” ~ Rush “Viva Viagra” Limbaugh
“Alright, we gotta ask a question, look would Colin Powell be endorsing Obama if he were a white liberal democrat…”
~ Pat “Hitler was misunderstood” Buchanan
The orgy of Obamedia attention Powell will receive the next 24 hours is disproportionate to its importance. The press only loves maverick Republicans when they jump in bed with Democrats.
~ Michelle “Not an Illegal” Malkin
So Powell is backing Barack Obama just because they’re both Black, but it doesn’t matter since it’s not important? Is that going to be The Official Spin of the Day sung by the loud and long from the righties in the media and blogosphere?
I’m of the mind that Gen. Powell was the guy who sold the world on the war that has cost both this country and the Iraqis so much in blood and money. I remember the day he gave that speech at the U.N., I was driving around and it was being broadcast live on the radio. There’s no doubt that when blame is passed out over who got us into this the wrong war for the wrong reasons, Colin Powell’s name will be prominently mentioned.
I don’t know if non-military types can fully understand how a guy like Powell could grit his teeth, set his shoulders and say, “Yes sir” when the President of the United States tells him he needs to go sell the war. When they say, “if you can’t respect the man, respect the office the man holds” this is what they mean. Powell allowed himself to be used and his loss of standing and respect to millions of people in America and the world is something he may never completely get back.
However, if Powell was on the wrong side of history then, by endorsing Barack Obama now, he is taking a step in getting back on the right side. As an act of contrition it falls far short. However, Colin Powell is still a formidable figure in America and by backing Barack he remains a relevant one.
George Voinovich plays the “Socialist” card.
In a long presidential campaign it’s no surprise when surrogates and spokespersons wander off and make some remark that forces some next day backpedaling and clarifications of what they really meant to say.
Sen. Voinovich: Another Bozo on the "No Straight-Talk" Bus?
So when Senator George Voinovich (R-OH) called one of his own colleagues Senator Barack Obama a “socialist” it was one of those “Where the hell is this coming from?” moments.
It prompted me to write my home state Senator a letter:
October 19, 2008
Dear Senator Voinovich,
When I read that a member of the U.S. Senate called his colleague, Senator Barack Obama, a “socialist,” I had a mental list of possible suspects who I believed would be as intemperate and impolitic to make such a craven remark.
The name of George Voinovich was not among those I had in mind.
“He is left of Teddy Kennedy. With all due respect, the man is a socialist.”
Well, at least you’re polite Senator when you’re slamming someone who you work with.
It is a source of extreme disappointment to see a lawmaker whom I had considered a voice of moderation and bipartisanship turn into just another yapping attack dog of the GOP kennel.
If Senator Obama should fall short in his bid for the presidency do you believe you will never again need his support for legislation of importance to Ohio?
If your worst nightmare comes true Senator Voinovich and Senator Obama becomes the next President of the United States how will you be able to work with a man you have just demonized as a “socialist?”
As you well know sir, there is only one actual, bona fide socialist in the Senate and that’s Bernie Sanders from Vermont. Perhaps you’ve noticed there isn’t the slightest resemblance between Senator Sanders and Senator Obama?
One of your spokespersons “clarified” your remarks saying, “Sen. Voinovich has been a mayor and governor, and believes the 10th Amendment is sacred. And he does not believe that Sen. Obama has an understanding or respect of the 10th Amendment.”
Of course, you do know that Sen. Obama did teach a class in Constitutional Law? From most reports he was pretty good at it too.
As the weeks to Election Day dwindle away we have witnessed attack after attack by the McCain campaign and the Republican Party against Sen. Obama’s judgment, character and personal affiliations.
Governor Palin says Obama “pals around with terrorists” and “is not a man who sees America as you see it and how I see America.”
Representative Michelle Bachman (R-MN) charges Obama is “very anti-American” and suggests there should be an investigation of Congress to find out which members are “anti-American” as well.
Not less than 24 hours later, the senior Senator from Ohio calls another member a “socialist.”
I do not want to read or hear one more word from Senator McCain about how he has responded to any below-the-belt attacks on Senator Obama’s character while your own slanderous remarks against him stand without apology.
Calling Sen. Obama a socialist does not help the over 40 million Americans without health care coverage. Calling Sen. Obama a socialist does not bring our soldiers in Iran and Afghanistan any closer to a resolution or a way home. Calling Sen. Obama does not address the challenges of global warming, the alarm bells going off about the dangerously distressed economy, the fear people have of losing their jobs and home while their investments dwindle away and the standing threat from Osama bin Laden and terrorists that wish to kill us all.
As you are not scheduled to face the voters until 2010, Senator Voinovich, is your contribution to Election 2008 anything more substantial than a baseless attack on Sen. Obama directly and indirectly anyone that supports him?
If you are sir, then allow me to call your comments what indeed they are: McCarthyism.
It is vulgar and disgusting when some anonymous creep at a rally shouts out Sen. Obama is a “terrorist” or a “traitor.”
It is no less vulgar and disgusting when a heretofore civil and distinguished member of Congress smears another by calling him a “socialist.”
Political rhetoric is one thing. Name-calling and hate speech a Senator Voinovich, you have crossed a line that should not be crossed.
You owe both Senator Obama and his supporters an apology.
Sincerely,
Jeff Winbush
Fear of A Black President: 22 Days until the Election
"Hey, I'm trying to run a respectable campaign here."
“This is not a man who sees America as you see it and how I see America.”
— Sarah Palin speaking of Barack Obama.
“I don’t think the United States is ready for a black person to be president,” said Lucille Anderson, 73, from Lawsonville (North Carolina) “I think the blacks would be mean to us … they’d probably take us over.”
http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2008/10/13/north_carolina/index1.html
Sarah Palin meet Lucille Anderson. She’s your kind of American.
ITEM: If your fender says Change, don’t park here.
A parking lot owner in Gibsonville, NC, decided supporters of Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama are no longer welcome to use his property, WFMY’s Julia Bagg reported.
Lot owner Tim Henderson posted two identical signs that warned: ‘no parking’ for Obama supporters or people with Obama bumper stickers.”
“I don’t expect to go after anybody with a baseball bat,” Henderson said. “I would grin at them and laugh and ask them if they could read English.”
State workers who have used the parking lot for years complained that the new rule infringed on their rights. Some had Obama/Biden stickers in their windows.
“It’s telling me because I have a sticker or I believe in something, I’m not allowed to park here and this is where I park for work, I have to park here,” said Dave Dicke, an Obama supporter.
Henderson initially said the signs would stay up through the November election.
After a local news station reported the story, Mayor Lenny Williams made an agreement with Henderson for the removal of the signs.
“If he said Obama folks could park here, but McCain [supporters] couldn’t, I wouldn’t like that either,” Mayor Williams said.
http://rawstory.com/news/2008/NC_Parking_lot_bans_Obama_supporters_1010.html
ITEM: A Florida middle school teacher has been disciplined for writing a racially offensive phrase about Barack Obama on his classroom dry-erase board last month.
The Tallahassee Democrat reported Friday that school officials learned the teacher wrote the phrase in a 7th grade class of mostly white students.
The phrase, which invoked Obama’s campaign slogan, said, “C.H.A.N.G.E. — Come Help A Nigger Get Elected.”
According to the newspaper, the teacher, Greg Howard, was suspended for 10 days without pay and will be forced to write a letter of apology to the students. He will also be reassigned to teach in the adult education program.
ITEM: In April, Rep. Geoff Davis, R-Ky., told the state’s annual Lincoln Day dinner that he was unimpressed with Obama’s performance during a war simulation for members of Congress and referred to Obama as “boy.”
“That boy’s finger does not need to be on the button,” Davis said. “He could not make a decision in that simulation that related to a nuclear threat to this country.“
http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/westmoreland-calls-obama-uppity-2008-09-04.html
ITEM: Georgia Republican Rep. Lynn Westmoreland used the racially-tinged term “uppity” to describe Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama Thursday.
Westmoreland was discussing vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin’s speech with reporters outside the House chamber and was asked to compare her with Michelle Obama.
“Just from what little I’ve seen of her and Mr. Obama, Sen. Obama, they’re a member of an elitist-class individual that thinks that they’re uppity,” Westmoreland said.
Asked to clarify that he used the word “uppity,” Westmoreland said, “Uppity, yeah.”
http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/westmoreland-calls-obama-uppity-2008-09-04.html
ITEM: LAKEVILLE, Minn. – The anger is getting raw at Republican rallies and John McCain is acting to tamp it down. McCain was booed by his own supporters Friday when, in an abrupt switch from raising questions about Barack Obama‘s character, he described the Democrat as a “decent person and a person that you do not have to be scared of as president of the United States.”
A sense of grievance spilling into rage has gripped some GOP events this week as McCain supporters see his presidential campaign lag against Obama. Some in the audience are making it personal, against the Democrat. Shouts of “traitor,” “terrorist,” “treason,” “liar,” and even “off with his head” have rung from the crowd at McCain and Sarah Palin rallies, and gone unchallenged by them.
McCain changed his tone Friday when supporters at a town hall pressed him to be rougher on Obama. A voter said, “The people here in Minnesota want to see a real fight.” Another said Obama would lead the U.S. into socialism. Another said he did not want his unborn child raised in a country led by Obama.
“If you want a fight, we will fight,” McCain said. “But we will be respectful. I admire Sen. Obama and his accomplishments.” When people booed, he cut them off.
“I don’t mean that has to reduce your ferocity,” he said. “I just mean to say you have to be respectful.”
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081011/ap_on_el_pr/mccain_angry_crowds
McCain has been around the block long enough to know that passion from the audience is one thing, but anger is something else. When your own supporters are booing you for calling for civility and respect, that’s when you know this shit has gone way too far.
Palin, the empty-headed newbie, has never been on a stage this large. She’s speaking before thousands of admirers and like a rock star, she’s riding the wave. Even if the ticket falls short next month, she has elevated her own star within the GOP and we haven’t heard the last from her.
But that doesn’t mean she knows when to pull back on the reigns and temper her criticisms with a little statesmanship. It’s not enough to simply diss Obama. When she becomes a cheerleader for intolerance and disrespect, she’s gone way too far.
If she’s McCain “pitbull with lipstick,” he’d better know when to yank that chain before she goes too far and gets a liking for the taste of blood. Throwing red meat to the Palin pit bull and the angry crowds has its risks if McCain loses control.
Some nitwit stood up and told McCain she was afraid of Obama because he was a “Arab.” He corrected her and said he wasn’t someone she had to be afraid of as president.
After the rally, a reporter asked the woman if McCain had relieved her fears. She replied she thought Obama was a “Muslim.”
McCain: "Meet me outside and I'll kick your you-know what." Obama: "Ooh. I'm shaking."
You can’t fix stupid. You can’t solve ignorance.
Now the old fart is promising to whip Obama’s ass in the last debate Wednesday.
What a guy. What a macho stud.
What a totally dried-up shriveled little prick.
John McCain: “Vote for the White Guy!”
Can the Secret Service keep Obama safe from the attack of the GOP?
I am a Black man living in America who has never been arrested, never accused of, nor ever convicted of a crime.
By some standards this makes me a bit of freak.
To the best of my knowledge Barack Obama is just like me.
Though to hear Sarah Palin tell it, you’d think the Democrat’s had nominated Ted Bundy. She says Obama hangs out with old hippie revolutionaries like William Ayers. She suggests because Obama knows somebody who did a bad thing, he must be bad too.
This is Republican logic. All screwed up and it helps if you’re dumber than a tree stump. Then it might actually make some kind of weird, perverse sense.
“This is not a man who sees America the way you and I see America,” Savage Sarah sez.
You mean because he’s (wink, wink) a Black guy? Oh, she won’t come right out and say it. That would be racist. But really, do you have to have it spelled out to you?
What Sarah won’t say is “Vote for the White guy.” Not directly, but you look at the Palin/McCain campaign rallies and besides the Secret Service protection, you don’t see a lot of brown faces there. Personally, I’d be nervous as hell showing up someplace where a 1,000 or so pissed-off White folks are chanting “No-bama,” “traitor,” “terrorist” and probably worse.
Speakers at the rallies get the local folks warmed up for Sexy Sarah and Old Man John by sneering about “Barack Hussein Obama.” By the time Palin and her aging boy toy bounce or drag their asses on-stage, the crowd is ready to give it Obama and the Democrats and give it to ‘em good and hard.
Obama wants to take your guns. Obama wants to raise your taxes. Obama wants to let terrorist come in your house and rape your wife, kill your kids and steal your flat-screen hi definition TV and then how will you watch the World Series for God’s sake?
it’s all exaggeration, distortions, half-truths, untruths and outright lies, but it’s all part of a plan: Scare the hell out of everybody about this smooth-talking, uppity, elitist, Chicago politician who isn’t LIKE US real, God-fearin’, gun totin,’ wife-beatin’ right, uptight and White Americans.
On one hand, Palin is just playing the traditional role vice-presidential running mates typically do which is to say wonderful things about McCain while ripping Obama a new hole. However, there’s a difference between Paln playing Luca Brazzi to McCain’s Don Corleone and inciting actual hatred for and possible violence against the opposition.
Calling Obama by his middle name or “No-bama” doesn’t mean anything. It doesn’t matter when idiots yell out he’s a “socialist” or a “traitor” or a “terrorist.”
Except it does breed not just a climate of disrespect for the man who could be the next President of the United States. It may encourage a actual act of violence against his or his family’s life.
Think that’s so much liberal hysteria. The Secret Service is investigating a report that appeared in The Washington Post that someone called out “Kill him” during a Palin/McCain rally.
http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5hQdKB_yggRkzx5eyQlueyGvsmt7g
I’m not stupid enough to threaten a presidential candidate. But I will say this: Palin and McCain should be very careful in their criticisms of Obama. It’s entirely legitimate to question his charcter, associations and judgment, but it’s not to whip their supporters into a blood-red frenzy of anger and racially motivated resentment.
Some people may not know the difference. In their desire to stop Obama from winning, the Republicans are playing around with race and racism in a way that could blow up in their faces. Enthusiasm for the ticket is fine. Tapping into fear and hatred is dangerous.
Actions have consequences. McCain should know when he’s gone too far and said something he may regret later or unleashed something dark and ugly he may not be able to control.
Am I suggesting McCain wants the votes of bigots? No, I am not. I hope that’s clear.
But, let’s be honest about this. Where else are the votes of the racist going to go except for McCain and against Obama?
No comment necessary.
There have been many comparisons between Barack Obama and another relatively young Democrat who promised to bring new ideas and change to Washington, John F. Kennedy.
It’s not beyond the realm of possibility to fear they might share the same fate especially in a climate of anger whipped up accidentally or deliberately by the other side.
Let me repeat: I do not think McCain is trolling for the racist vote, but it is obvious some very disturbing things are being said at his rallies. Now, he can’t control what comes out of the mouths of several thousand excited people, but McCain can say he’s not questioning Barack Obama’s patriotism or love for America.
He could say that. The fact he has not doesn’t reflect well upon him.
