Attempts to sow seeds of terrorism fear about Obama may have backfired on the McCain Campaign. McCain himself has had to put out a few fires at political rallies where crowds have shouted out, ‘Screw Obama,’ ‘Terrorist,’ ‘Kill him,’ ‘Bomb Obama.’ and other horribly offensive types of language. One woman, as seen in the embedded video said she didn’t trust Obama because he is ‘an Arab.’
To his credit, Senator McCain took the microphone back and told the lady that wasn’t true and issued a few platitudes about Obama. It looks like Senator McCain and Governor Palin are reaping what they have allowed to be sown.
Are character assassination and attempts to associate Senator Obama with former Weather Underground leader turned education professor Bill Ayers going to pay off for The McCain Campaign or does this type of rhetoric just make his campaign look desperate? Has Senator Obama taken the high road?
Lastly, does any of this look vaguely familiar?
Thank God. McCain DOES have a gag reflex after all.
How much longer could we expect him to be surrounded by such naked bigotry and not throw up!!!????
Oh yeah, that parade of hateful and hysterical zealots at the beginning of this video reminds me of Help Save Manassas descending upon a Board of County Supervisors meeting.
It’s not just the McCain/Palin campaign that created this. The columns and the blog at Townhall.com have been beating the Obama/Ayers drum for months now. And I’m not even talking about Ann Coulter’s columns because I skip those. I don’t listen to talk radio, but I can only imagine what people like Hannity and Ingraham are feeding their audiences.
Certainly Palin made some soundbite comments, and a few McCain adds mention the Obama/Ayers connection, but I’m thinking that Rush Limbaugh and his many immitators had more to do with this fire of hate than McCain.
Before we make a choice we may regret for the next four years, the accusations against Barack Obama should be carefully considered, as they are here.
Yes MH, McCain is “reaping” away. Really, is this what the McCain campaign has been reduced to? The WORST week in wall street history and they are playing on people’s fear about Obama being a terrorist. I am sooooo disappointed in John McCain, I can only see him as desperate and pathetic right now. While Barak Obama rises to the crisis before this country, McCain sinks lower and lower. David Gergen had an excellent point, no matter who wins, the next president will have to bring this country together and McCain is simply destroying that underlying need to accomplish that goal. Even if HE wins, he is tainted now.
No sane person actually believes Obama is a muslim. However, his involvement in the Odinga campaign in Kenya makes Ayers look tame. McCain…..lost cause.
“allowed to be sown?”
I think McCain and Palin did most of the sewing. They stitched the words “I hate for hire” on their foreheads unfortunately. Based on El Guapo’s assessment, it seems the hate wing propaganda industry is the only thing going for them, so they decided to become a part of it.
For a moment there I saw the John McCain I voted for in 2000. I was wondering what became of that man. It was nice to see him.
The sewage that his campaign is running is the most disappointing part of all for me. He was the only nominee who refused to engage in this sort of scatology during the primary. I thought his victory there would mean that it would be a respectable campaign, as he had promised.
I never thought I’d see the day that he would be involved in something like this. I think perhaps at this age he is wearing down. He no longer has the strength to stand up to the party apparatus. This is the hardest they’ve ever leaned on him, and it was just too overwhelming.
I can imagine what they must have told him: “Republicans have down ticket races to win, it’s not just your ass on the line, the entire party is depending on you to remain competitive, Bush would not have won without the Culture War Republicans, who knows that better than you (South Carolina)? Attack Obama’s ethnicity. It’s the only way to win. I know it will besmirch your legacy, but you owe it to the party for nominating you.”
McCain appears mad at having to deal with the dim bulbs who call Obama an Arab, a terrorist. He could have lead a cleaner campaign for the good of the country, but chose not to.
McCain should be angry. Some of his supporters and campaign operatives are behaving like ignorant goons and thugs. Yet he and Palin have aided and abetted the terrorist rhetoric that has permeated the news even in the middle of the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression.
El Guapo, I totally agree. The various hate mongers you mentioned seem to be dominating and stirring things up behind the scenes. When they find people afraid, they have stirred the fear rather than calmed it. The same sorts have thrown in an element of chaos when calm would have been more effective, even to support their candidate.
I realized last week that one of the main contributors to misinformation has been Fox News. Their bias has been unlike anything I have seen from a news organization whose slogan is ‘Fair and Balanced.’
I certainly haven’t been a solid Obama fan. I have told everyone I know that I am going to sit back, wait and see what happens. Not now. The behaviors of the McCain campaign and the McCain supporters have me solidly in the Obama camp. I could never vote like those nasty, ignorant people I have been seeing for weeks on TV and reading on various blogs and online dialogues.
I agree, Moon-howler, although I’ve been an Obama fan. It doesn’t do the country any good to wage the type of campaign to which McCain-Palin have recently resorted. They’re attempting to make half the US population appear to be the enemy. How does that do any of us any good if we’re ever attacked again? Who would you trust more – gun-toting hateful zealots/extremists of the foreign variety who would like to annihilate us or gun-toting hateful zealots/extremists of the home-grown variety who would like to annihilate us? Not much difference and I prefer neither.
Seems that the geezer population is easily scared and manipulated in those videos (just like HSM). And, before someone yells “agist”, I qualify for Senior discounts at IHOP too.
I have to say that the past year has really enlightened me as to just how ignorant much of the population can be and how easily swayed by totally stupid talking points and fear of change. We’ve all seen the smear/fear campaign up close with the PWC immigration issue and now we get to see it all over again on a national scale.
These video clips really are grotesque. McCain wants America to make the wrong choice for our national interests. People need to be afraid and hateful to make bad decisions. History’s lessons serve us well.
It’s not just the McCain/Palin campaign that created this. The columns and the blog at Townhall.com have been beating the Obama/Ayers drum for months now. And I’m not even talking about Ann Coulter’s columns because I skip those.
Apparently this country hasn’t learned anything from the McCarthy era. It seems so silly today, yet the Republicans are now engaging in exactly the same thing. Incredible and scary. In reference to the guy in the video, what scares ME would be having such vile hatemongers in charge.
I happened to hear Rush Limbaugh on Thursday, and he was going on and on about Ayers and Barack Hussein Obama the radical, who are seeking to undermine our way of life and completely take over the country with their radical agenda. I could not believe the guy was serious.
You know…though I believe in Obama’s message of hope, I remained gravely concerned about people who think like this in America…people who don’t need a strong push into prejudice. The attitude that the McCain-Palin campaign has helped to encourage is not only that Obama is wrong for the job, but calls into question all people who are Muslim, Arab-American, Middle Eastern-American, or anyone who has non-Anglo sounding name.
I just hope and pray that one of these people will not be incited to switch from hate speech to hateful action. McCain is doing the right thing by pulling back on this strategy, but his ENTIRE campaign needs to do the same. It is not just about distancing the presidential candidate from this mess, while the vice presidential candidate and others do the dirty work. Unfortunately, I think it may be way to late for McCain-Palin to take back what they have spent time, money, and public speaking engagements to encourage.
Incidentally…yes, I am bringing this up again…I don’t think this is the first time McCain has been offensive in referencing someone’s ethnicity. Do I believe McCain was trying to offend all Asians in his former references to his captors? No. However, I do think that he should have thought before he spoke, and he should have apologized MUCH sooner. Instead, he dismissed anyone who was offended and basically said everyone should just understand. Is America supposed to just understand that your words and strategies are all part of the election game? No, John, people are listening, and they are using your words to justify their prejudices.
Perhaps, when those people were expressing their fear about Arabs or Muslims, he started to think back to the 2000 election. Perhaps he was remembering how fear and hate were used as a strategy involving his child. Perhaps, he was even thinking that stoking this fire may cause the VERY SAME PEOPLE he was talking to in the video to some day fear and hate Bridget because of her skin color, or condemn her heritage from a Muslim-majority country.
Here is another instance where he should have thought about that much sooner.
Yes, Alanna, the rhetoric spewing from the mouths of McCain supporters at these rallies is rather painfully familiar.
And the rhetoric is viciously racist, though what’s baffling is how strikingly unhidden that racism is now becoming. For example, the woman who, referring to her distrust of Obama, said to McCain: “He’s an Arab”. (Arabs being a distinct racial/ethnic group). Her perception is obvious: I can’t trust him and I don’t like him because of his race.
TRANSLATION (per the formula in the heads of these ignorant fools): Muslim = terrorist. Terrorists are hated. Most Arabs are Muslims. We therefore hate Arabs. Obama sounds like an Arab name. He must be Muslim. Muslims are terrorists. Obama is a terrorist. We hate Obama.
We recently saw this very formula clearly played out in two McCain rallies over the past three days: one in Bethlehem, PA (click here to view) and another in Strongsville, OH (click here to view). (The vile sentiments expressed by the people in the videos SHOULD shock and disgust everyone).
It’s particularly familiar to me, I must say. I saw the same kinds of racist sentiment coming from certain people attending my “anti illegal immigration” rally last year. (Click here to see video of the PBS documentary on my rally called “Immigration on Main Street”; in the first few minutes of the video you’ll see some of the racism and vicious anger coming from people on “my side” of the fence, quite literally).
And that same racist sentiment plays out in Prince William County. TRANSLATION (per the formula in the heads of “anti-illegal immigrant” folks): We despise illegal immigrants. Most illegal immigrants are Hispanic/Latino. We therefore despise Hispanic/Latino people.
For many people in America the presidential rallies and debates and, ultimately, the election is their sad outlet for their racism toward blacks.
In PWC and elsewhere, the “immigration issue” is the outlet for many people with racist sentiments towards Spanish speaking people of Hispanic/Latino descent.
Our job: to tear down the facade. Though thankfully, and ironically, the racists are doing that themselves. That’s because racism, ultimately, is self-destroying.
Those are great points DG. I hadn’t thought about it in terms of McCain’s relationship to his adopted daughter. If she were a Democratic candidate, of course the same racist tactics would be employed, just as they were in the South Carolina primary when she was only a little girl.
Today the angry mobs are chanting “USA” and it just creeps me out because they are consumed with hate and fear and the “USA” they are chanting of would most certainly exclude me, and millions of other Americans.
I just tried posting something, and got the “awaiting moderation” message. And now I logged on (signed up a while back, first time I’m doing it this way), and now I can’t find my original post in order to re-post it. Ugh!!!
Okay. Here’s the message I initially typed under my regular “Robb Pearson” moniker but, for some reason, ended up in “awaiting moderation” netherworld . . .
Yes, Alanna, the rhetoric spewing from the mouths of McCain supporters at these rallies is rather painfully familiar.
And the rhetoric is viciously racist, though what’s baffling is how strikingly unhidden that racism is now becoming. For example, the woman who, referring to her distrust of Obama, said to McCain: “He’s an Arab”. (Arabs being a distinct racial/ethnic group). Her perception is obvious: I can’t trust him and I don’t like him because of his race.
TRANSLATION (per the formula in the heads of these ignorant fools): Muslim = terrorist. Terrorists are hated. Most Arabs are Muslims. We therefore hate Arabs. Obama sounds like an Arab name. He must be Muslim. Muslims are terrorists. Obama is a terrorist. We hate Obama.
We recently saw this very formula clearly played out in two McCain rallies over the past three days: one in Bethlehem, PA (click here to view) and another in Strongsville, OH (click here to view). (The vile sentiments expressed by the people in the videos SHOULD shock and disgust everyone).
It’s particularly familiar to me, I must say. I saw the same kinds of racist sentiment coming from certain people attending my “anti illegal immigration” rally last year. (Click here to see video of the PBS documentary on my rally called “Immigration on Main Street”; in the first few minutes of the video you’ll see some of the racism and vicious anger coming from people on “my side” of the fence, quite literally).
And that same racist sentiment plays out in Prince William County. TRANSLATION (per the formula in the heads of “anti-illegal immigrant” folks): We despise illegal immigrants. Most illegal immigrants are Hispanic/Latino. We therefore despise Hispanic/Latino people.
For many people in America the presidential rallies and debates and, ultimately, the election is their sad outlet for their racism toward blacks.
In PWC and elsewhere, the “immigration issue” is the outlet for many people with racist sentiments towards Spanish speaking people of Hispanic/Latino descent.
Our job: to tear down the facade. Though thankfully, and ironically, the racists are doing that themselves. That’s because racism, ultimately, is self-destroying.
Okay . . even though logged in, my message yet again is “awaiting moderation”. Is it perhaps because I included three hyperlinks in my message????
. . . sigh . . .
Robb, you probably got placed in spam. I will try to free you.
A very astute analysis as usual, Robb Pearson. At some point we need to encourage our politicians to see racism as a negative … even more so than losing power.
If we prove to them this Nov. 4th that racism leads to a loss of power, rather than fortifies power, perhaps we will take a step in that direction.
A month ago, if you’d asked me, I’d have said this election was a choice between two candidates. Now, I see it as a choice between two Americas.
I don’t want the America we seen in that video footage to continue into this century. It needs to be left behind in the last century.
Robb, Thank you for those videos. I am speechless and horrified that people are truly that ignorant and filled with hate. I know I shouldn’t be, but I am. I dont think I have had a day in my life where I would have talked like that about George Bush. I simply do not know what is wrong with these people. And they seem so proud of their ignorance….like it is a medal of honor.
I found it amusing that many of the McCainites were hollering at the demonstrators to get a job. I expected to see street bums rather than middle class people. I guess it didn’t occur to those shouting that they weren’t at work either.
Speaking of getting a job…I am been amazed at some of the black velvets telling Elena and Alanna to get a job. Strange. I always thought that motherhood and raising children was considered honorable and preferable to daycare centers. I thought it was a conservative value to stay at home and raise your children. Yet these two women are vilified. {{shaking head}} Such hypocrisy on the part of some.
Moon-howler, it is increasingly clear that none of the “values” right wingers speak of actually have any value at all. The can be discarded, then reapplied, and discarded again depending on who you need to vilify, and who you need to worship.
John Kerry, war hero = vilify
John McCain, war hero = worship
Hillary Clinton, groundbreaking woman in politics = vilify
Sarah Palin, groundbreaking woman in politics = worship
Barack Obama good at public speaking = vilify
Sarah Palin good at public speaking = worship
Bill Clinton uses military force in Kosovo = vilify
George Bush uses military force in Iraq = worship
Barack Obama, under 50 not a fixture in Washington = vilify
Sarah Palin, under 50, never got her passport = worship
I think the problem goes deeper than racism. I don’t know what to call this extreme partisanship to the point of blindness, but it’s the opposite of “country first”
ShellyB, I dont know what motivates the condition both of us are speaking of. Surely the roots of Republican and Democrat aren’t the total cause. It is almost like the Hate God, Rush, tells them who to love and who to hate. It simply defies description and is not something that thinking people ascribe to.
The partisanship makes me wonder what America means to some of these haters. It’s not the culture I’d like to see prevail into the new century/millenium. We have an opportunity to reevaluate race relations, economics, our roles in world politics and world policing, our social obligations. I’m not interested in investing my time in finding one group after another to hate – which has become the MO of the Republican party every time it finds itself in a tight race. McCain had the opportunity to tell us how he would be substantially different from GWB but has wasted the last week – amid an economic crisis – yelling “neener neener” about Obama’s relationship with Ayers. Obama was a kiddo when Ayers made his mistake. Ayers hasn’t been in hiding or snatched up by the FBI recently. Isn’t something wrong with this picture!?!?
“neener neener” Censored bybvbl?
Whatever that means, I have to agree that nonsense is not what this country needs from its leaders at this moment in history. Especially when the nonsense is generating rage, hysteria, and division.
Probably the worst thing that happened to this country in the aftermath of 9/11 was that certain partisans were able to capitalize on the fear, generate hate, and use it for political gains in the subsequent elections.
Somehow, a man like John McCain has come to confuse this sort of tactic with putting his “country first.” I never felt like the exploitation of 9/11 for political purposes was patriotic. Not for one day.
To clarify: if not for the successful exploitation of 9/11 for the 2002 and 2004 elections, I feel that the politics of fear/hate would have been abandoned.
I had hoped that “John McCain has a black baby” would be the last we’d see of this crap.
WHWN, it’s a taunt – used particularly when no logical argument can be made.
How do you think the Republican party can be made to move away from the fear/division tactics that it’s used so well – short of losing this election? Do you see your party being able to overcome the divide between the moderate faction and that of the extreme right wing?
Censored, the GOP should have seen this coming when we lost in 2006. You can’t just keep this revolving door of targets for this “culture war” that doesn’t really even need to exist.
Robb, thanks for posting the PBS video. My husband and I started watching it and ending up watching the whole thing. We have lots of family near Hightstown, NJ, and the next time we’re there, I hope we’ll have time to stop in Hightstown and eat or something. Very interesting that that mayor is Republican and the other is Democrat. So much for labels.
I am thankful to have Robb, former “anti-illegal” and WHWN, former McCain Republican, to explain what on earth is happening on the other side of the aisle. Otherwise I think I’d be capable of being hateful in return. I really do feel an emotional reaction when I see large groups of angry people organizes around them vs. us. Maybe that’s how they feel about Obama supporters many of whom are ethnic. Perhaps fear is overblown in both cases.
I have been very disappointed that neither candidate has bothered to look at or respond to those soldiers currently in Iraq. Yes, in flip asides they may refer to these soldiers..a majority NCO, they, the candidates, may pretend to feel their pain and/or frustration. The fact of the matter that MOST non-soldiers DONT know is that every piece of clothing on them is BOUGHT by them, Need steel toed combat boots..buy them. The boots you are wearing in Iraq have holes…then YOU the soldier must pay for a new pair. Need a new set of BDUs, buy it. Need some new insignia, it’s your dime. In fact the last time my brother was in Iraq his wish was to garner some under pieces made of NOMEX. NOMEX is flame resistant material, a way for soldiers to protect them selves from burns. NOMEX is offered to Navy pilots, it is a part of their uniforms, gloves, masks, etc. As far as army or marine grunts/soldiers NOMEX does not exist for their uniforms. My family found and bought these items. When my brother left Iraq the second time, he passed the items to those in his unit.
I’m not surprised the Republicans would push the racial bigotry buttons.
I’m disappointed that the naked bigotry is so openly embraced by these people.
They don’t hide it at all.
What’s wrong with being an Arab?
Sorry to say, DB, but that reminds me of another empty Bush slogan: “support our troops.”. What did that mean exactly?
What I don’t understand is how these people think McCain is any better than Obama. They are both equally bad.
People are projecting their hopes and dreams upon Obama, but what has he done to deserve them?
Unfortunately it seems to mean tying a bunch of damn yellow ribbons on trees – not providing the necessary protective gear, good medical care afterwards, or a decent plan to end this war.
My point was that BUSH does NOT support our troops, he’s left them in Iraq to die or in the US to linger with PTSD or TBI and a military medical system that is ill-prepared to deal with those psych ailments. In the MEANTIME most FRG “support systems” fail to support the soilder’s families. What I’m SAYING as an Officers daughter is that the wives and their children of these NCOS deserve and should be given the support they and their children deserve. I say this as a democrat.
Some more verbose McCain supporters:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KjxzmaXAg9E
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VJghQMq49dw
Can’t you just feel the love?
Thanks for bringing up that little known fact, DB. That is a horrible outrage. Didn’t the term GI originate from the term ‘government issue?’ I had no idea our troops had to buy their own uniforms and clothing.
This is an area congress can and must fix!
After watching a few of these videos it seems to me that responsible people not supporting a candidate should just stay home. Where is the security?
All it takes is one crack-pot, as some of us remember. Just one crackpot!
OMG MH yes they do…. Not only do they have to buy their uniforms they have to purchase their insignia each and every time they are promoted…and have them sewn on by the local tailor and pay for it themselves. The only thing the government issues is the gun.
I guess we no longer have GI’s then. That is just horribly f-ed up, when our troops have to outfit themselves. This is beginning to sound like ‘the country store’ in mining towns and of the song 16 tons fame…I owe my soul to the company store.
Do they get a stipend for such items? Am I the only one who didn’t know all this?
DB,
All the big bucks went to Halliburton and CACI, that’s why. “Cost plus” means spend as much as you can, blow more taxpayer money, and get a bigger chunk of profit based on a percentage of what you wasted. A giveaway for war profiteers who in turn donated to Republican coffers. Quid pro quo.
Are we a bit off topic here?
Kudos for anyone who can connect Halliburton back to the McCain/Palin “Fear and Smear” strategy.
“I realized last week that one of the main contributors to misinformation has been Fox News. Their bias has been unlike anything I have seen from a news organization whose slogan is ‘Fair and Balanced.’”
Good lord, you just realized this??? I don’t mean to be snide, but these people are the mouthpiece of Rupert Murdoch and the GOP… “news” in this nation is a saad state of affairs. There was once a time when the person on screen delivering you the news was more than a talking head or orator…they once actaully researched news and reported. Dan Rather, despite his political leanings was a REPORTER. Ken Jennings is sadly a talking head. :>(
“I think the problem goes deeper than racism. I don’t know what to call this extreme partisanship to the point of blindness, but it’s the opposite of “country first”
BRAVO ShellyB..BRAVO…..(wild applause)
And now the McCain/Pailn team is revving up its “ABORTION” is the biggest problem we face nonsense.
Regardless of how you feel about abortion: Anti-Choice/pro-choice, is abortion really the biggest issue we face as a nation?
http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/10/11/campaign.wrap/index.html
I don’t like it, I may never have one…but feeding the famlily I already have and making sure they have health coverage IS a topic on my mind…aside from my retirement, their college education (heck – their education before that) and making sure we survive in this country…
When all else fails, wield “teh ABORSHUN” card….pffft. Because we all know sluts deserve to be mothers and women do not deserve safe, legal medical care…they, of all people should have children they don’t want. And in this economy and nation state, that si exactly what will cure our nation’s ils…..blech.
Robb,
I really enjoyed the video from PBS. What a clear difference in approach by two mayors!
sorry if this repeats… it didn’t show up the first time:
(SEE CNN…my link might be preventing the post from going through)
This is an interesting article to piggyback on our discussion of the topic. Now, it seems, Georgia Congressman John Lewis has spoken out against John McCain and the fearmongering of his campaign. Apparently, McCain has in the past written good things about Lewis and his deeds, and said that he might turn to him for guidance during his presidency.
Don’t think old John will be doing that now…Lewis compared the atmosphere at the recent rallies to the days of George Wallace. He drew a comparison between the climates that Wallace and McCain/Palin encouraged.
McCain is now asking Obama to repudiate these remarks. Great…I have to say this is RICH! McCain actually complained in this article about this “character attack,” and now wants Barack Obama to defend him! Seriously? Did the nerve of this suggestion even occur to McCain or his campaign?!
The sad part is that Obama can’t (strategically speaking) get too publicly angry about stuff like this. When comments like “that one” are made, or someone suggests that America should fear the unknowns about him, or even says that he pals around with terrorists, he has to, for the most part, just turn the other cheek. If he doesn’t, the mob of people in the video above (as well as other Americans) would be likely to accuse him of using the “race card,” or being an “angry Black man.”
It’s so awful that when prejudice such as this is blatantly obvious and unapologetic, people still get miffed when they are called on their prejudices.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pkZrqP9PrMw
🙂