McCain campaign taps into supporters' violent bigotry

[Laivasse]

Since the McCain campaign has run out of actual talking points bar that of 'OBAMA IS EVIL,' they now seem content to light the fuse of their supporters' collective bigotry with all the recent 'terrorist' scaremongering. If the videos from the other thread of Ohio and Pennsylvania supporters weren't depressing enough, Huffington Post has a story which collects some of the incidents recorded at recent rallies.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/10/06/mccain-does-nothing-as-cr_n_132366.html
Here's a smattering:

McCain was speaking today in New Mexico, doing his usual personal attack on Barack Obama, as the stock market plummeted (you can see the ticker next to McCain on the screen, an apt reminder of what McCain and his fellow Republicans represent), and McCain asked the crowd "who is Barack Obama?" Immediately you hear someone yell "terrorist." McCain pauses, the audience laughs, and McCain continues on, not acknowledging, not chastising, not correcting.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RvXf9AUHTqMHis face is classic.

In the latest instance of inflammatory outbursts at McCain-Palin rallies, a crowd member screamed "treason!" during an event on Tuesday after Sarah Palin accused Barack Obama of criticizing U.S. troops.

"Now it turns out, one of his earliest supporters is a man named Bill Ayers," Palin said.


"Boooo!" said the crowd.

"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.

I like the humour in the word 'proposed', as if he did it calmly while swilling a glass of brandy and puffing a cigar.

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."

Now, I personally don't think McCain is a thoroughly evil man. He did, at least at one point in his campaign for president, make some pretensions towards being honourable, including firing an aide who made a smear video about the Wright story, as well as lambasting Bill Cunningham that one time over the 'Hussein' BS. But with that in mind, it means his campaign's current direction is the most flagrant demonstration of a man selling out his principles - feigned or otherwise - that you could ever see.

They really could be opening up a Pandora's box here. Talk of Obama being possibly assassinated by racist/xenophobic crazies at some point is not new to us, but if that were to happen at this point, wouldn't the McCain campaign bear a massive portion of the blame for wilfully exploiting and turning a blind eye to this kind of mainstream sentiment among their supporters?

Even without going that far, as a Republican wouldn't you just feel ashamed and tainted by association with this negative smearing?

(For reference, here are links to the vids from the other thread, of McCain supporters at recent OH and PA gatherings:
http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/1008/Bloodlines.html#comments
http://halflife2.net/forums/showpost.php?p=2780806&postcount=70)

 

[MJ12]

It's really disgusting that so many people are still like this.

I like the humour in the word 'proposed', as if he did it calmly while swilling a glass of brandy and puffing a cigar.

I lol'd.

 

[Ennui]

See, that's bullshit. If the crowd was saying stuff like that an Obama rally, he'd actually stop and say "No, no, we can't do that, respect McCain blah blah". Conservative shitheads.

 

[Moto]

Angry Mobs are not really attractive to undecided voters / independents. This kind of stuff is even turning some of his own supporters off. The crazies love it, but the more level-headed Republicans have to be pretty disgusted with everything.

It's really irresponsible of McCain to allow this. It's inspiring a lot of hate and could prove dangerous. This campaign isn't in the gutter right now, it's in the sewer.

 

[Jintor]

I'm only hoping none of these crazies actually act on this shit.

 

[Raziaar]

As an interesting twist... McCain has actually taken steps to defend Obama recently in one of his events... when one guy said he was afraid of raising a child in an Obama presidency, and a woman said Obama is an "Arab".

McCain had to defend Obama, and got a booed reaction from the crowd when he said Obama is a respectable person and there's no reason to be afraid during an Obama presidency, and that Obama isn't an Arab.


This is what you get... when you incite the hatred of idiotic redneck Americans as a strategy. You realize that they are idiotic rednecks and you have to reign their idiocy in.

 

[Laivasse]

Found that video, Raz:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kf6YKOkfFsEIt's tough to put the genie back in the bottle once you summoned him out so gleefully.

Like I say, you get the sense that McCain is deeply uncomfortable with this kind of thing, but his backtracking doesn't mean shit if at the same time his campaign's running an ad that lies about Obama's 'terrorist connections.'

 

[Kadayi]

I'm only hoping none of these crazies actually act on this shit.

I am and I aren't because I honestly wouldn't want to see someone get injured/killed however at the same time a clear violation by McCains supporters would pretty much put the nail in the Coffin of his political campaign. That already people who have previously endorsed him are already rescinding their support speaks volumes tbh.

 

[Kase]

lol that stupid woman in the second video i dont trust obama he is an arab and Mccain isntently grabs that mic back thats awsome

 

[smwScott]

I don't know what to think about McCain. Eight years ago he seemed to be a pretty level headed politician and I even agreed with him on a few things. He was respectable.

Now ... we see a desperate man doing anything he can to grab the presidency. But he's been reversing on his principles for years just to gain political leverage, so this shouldn't be a surprise. All I see in him is a broken man and a dirty politician.

 

[nurizeko]

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHA!


Yeah, I actually did that out loud, ahahahahaha!.


The surprising thing is that McCain seems so bothered about pretending to be nice when his party is the only one mud slinging, and lets not forget Pallin and her distinct lack of restraint like McCain.



Racism by bigoted ignorant white hicks. Healthy and alive in the United States, God bless America.

 

[lefty]

So my mom was lecturing me one day because I wasn't going to vote republican, which I guess automatically makes me a liberal. Anyway, she says something like liberals are always talking about having tolerance for other people, but only tolerate those that think the same way they do. And I was thinking, on the other hand, conservatives don't even pretend to be tolerant, but I didn't say because I didn't want to make her think I was listening to her.

 

[Adabiviak]

You guys are reallly shaking my faith in our electoral system here.

 

[nurizeko]

I think your electoral system is doing that for us.

 

[Kyorisu]

What'd be really funny is a system that makes it mandatory to answer a few simple questions about the candidates before you're allowed to vote. Get any of such basic questions wrong and you're deemed not intelligent enough to be making a decision that could very well change the future of your country.

 

[VirusType2]

Half of the voters probably base their vote on gender and/or skin color. It's absolutely ridiculous.

At every turn, this country continues to make me feel ashamed.

 

[DEATH eVADER]

It sounds like an angry mob of angst kids

 

[MJ12]

So my mom was lecturing me one day because I wasn't going to vote republican, which I guess automatically makes me a liberal. Anyway, she says something like liberals are always talking about having tolerance for other people, but only tolerate those that think the same way they do. And I was thinking, on the other hand, conservatives don't even pretend to be tolerant, but I didn't say because I didn't want to make her think I was listening to her.

Well she's got a point about some liberals, there are people that are so liberal they are conservative and intolerant.

But the conservative side is just as intolerant, and usually more consistently intolerant.

People never learn balance

 

[Absinthe]

Liberals are intolerant of intolerance, and therefore... in... tolerant...?

While I've met many nasal, whiny, shrieking liberals that probably do more to repel others than woo them, they've generally held the belief that your values are your own and have no place being foisted onto others. When they support same-sex marriage, they are supporting choice. This applies across the board to most issues.

Any intolerance is aimed at people who wish to suffocate or stamp out such personal choice. That's an intolerance that everybody should share in.

 

[DEATHMASTER]

Half of the voters probably base their vote on gender and/or skin color. It's absolutely ridiculous.

At every turn, this country continues to make me feel ashamed.

The south in general needs a nuking.

 

[Jintor]

Liberals are intolerant of intolerance, and therefore... in... tolerant...?

Intolerance of the intolerant is prefectly justiOH GOD FEEDBACK LOOP

 

[Kadayi]

Well she's got a point about some liberals, there are people that are so liberal they are conservative and intolerant.

Agreed I'm not a fan of unquestioning liberal attitudes. I believe everything should be up for debate. However they are probably far less likely to don white sheets, set crosses on fire and lynch people.

 

[nurizeko]

You know racism is well and alive in America....but its really horrible to see it out in the open like that.



Really, if the Republican party doesn't clean house its going to hell, and will only try and take the country with it.