I'm seeing reports tonight that John McCain finally spoke up at a rally and tried to quiet the angry rhetoric.When a woman said to him that she doesn't trust Obama, McCain nodded, but when the woman went on to say, "He's an Arab," McCain said, "No, ma'am, he's a decent, family man and citizen." After hearing other angry shouts about Obama, McCain said that there is no reason to fear Obama if he is President. (!!!) The initial reaction from the crowd was boos, which shows that even McCain is having a hard time reining in the crowd.
I give Sen. McCain credit for attempting to "dial it down," but I also haven't forgotten that it is his campaign that has allowed it to be "dialed up" to such a point that the hatred became truly frightening for most of us to watch. I suspect that the campaign has taken a look at the reaction to such invective and realized that this is not what America wants to hear. We want to hear about the economy, for Pete's sake!
From Jonathan Martin at Politico.com:
John Weaver, McCain’s former top strategist, said top Republicans have a responsibility to temper this behavior.
"People need to understand, for moral reasons and the protection of our civil society, the differences with Senator Obama are ideological, based on clear differences on policy and a lack of experience compared to Senator McCain," Weaver said. "And from a purely practical political vantage point, please find me a swing voter, an undecided independent, or a torn female voter that finds an angry mob mentality attractive."
"Senator Obama is a classic liberal with an outdated economic agenda. We should take that agenda on in a robust manner. As a party we should not and must not stand by as the small amount of haters in our society question whether he is as American as the rest of us. Shame on them and shame on us if we allow this to take hold."
I think that was very well said. By all means, address the issues, confront Sen. Obama on them. Let's see if McCain will continue to put the brakes on, not just at his rallies...but will he also put the brakes on his running mate? They need to put a stop to this unbridled hatred. Immediately.
Just a quick note about my Finetune music player over in the sidebar. I updated it to include more the of music I listen to these days, so it's got a little bit of a harder edge. Also, it's free to set up your own player, and it's fun to pick out different songs--they have a great selection! What I love about it is that it doesn't play automatically--you can check it out and play it if you want, even pop it out and play it on your desktop.
HOLY CRAP!
Breaking news! The investigative committee in Alaska has found that Sarah Palin abused her power as Governor in the Troopergate deal. Oh wow, I'm posting this and off to read other news!
Happy as a little girl :o)
ReplyDeleteWell that is you naturally, but you even did a little dance...
he can't reign it in because he and she feed it. I read that about 'hockey mom'... she gives us all a bad name :)~
ReplyDeleteDavid Gergen (sp?) was on Anderson Cooper the other night and when A.C. suggested that McCain and Palin couldn't be held responsible for the words of a few people at their rally's, Gergen said emphatically "Oh yes they can!" He went on to say that it was their responsibility to speak up and not tacitly endorse what they were saying. I was surprised that he was so emphatic about it but he was right. It reminds me a little of the situation in Rwanda where the Hutu leaders were taking to the airwaves and dehumanizing the Tutsi's 24/7... calling them cockroaches and instilling fear of them. Sounds an awful like the republicans m.o. Those damn liberals... they'll take your money, your family values, your church, your guns, your FREEDOM! They're un-american, elitist, atheist baby killers! They must be stopped!! Ok, maybe that's a bit much! Hahaha!! But, unfortunately it's not that far off. It's easier to hate someone and even resort to violence or killing if you stop seeing someone as human. Kudos to McCain for stepping up.
ReplyDeleteI bet you are a ginger snap too!
ReplyDeleteWill listen to your new songs, any playlist that starts off with '52 girls' is a cool playlist in my mind!
John McCain, love him or not, comes from a line where honor and decency is held in high regard. Like myself, individual flaws are just that, and what was instilled sometimes gets pushed to the bottom, but it will come up.
It is a 'mirror' situation. Would he be able to look into one again as president, knowing part of why he got there was because he let something so sketchy help push him in? He has to ask himself how honorable is he for real, no matter what other things he either has/hasn't accounted for.
For me, that he stood up for what was, lack of better terms, 'right' counts big for me. Do I want him to be president? No, but it isn't a personal thing, but of policy. He has honor in him, IMO, there is no doubt about that.
The findings of the legislative panel are unenforceable and poitically motivated - and even they recommend no criminal investigation and decline to pursue it further. Typical - if early and lame - 'October Surprise'. Had Palin been left off the ticket I wonder if the panel would have let the matter die.
ReplyDeleteAs for the 'hate' at the rallies I think 80% of it is a media creation, of which 25% is an intentional effort to label any vote against Obama a vote for 'hate' or racism and thus freeze opposition. It wouldn't surprise me if the 'off with his head!' people were planted in the audience.
Regards,
Dan
i like McCain and respect him for what he went thru in Vietnam. That is as far as it goes for me and him. I do not agree with his politics. Then there is the dude who i do not trust who took the nomination from MY fav, Clinton. What to do? Not vote or vote for someone i do not like much and trust less. It keeps me up at night. Palin? Man, at this point what more is to be said? Ugh.
ReplyDeleteToo bad people have to get so personal and then to go so far as to actually wish someone dead. I mean really, the man has a family and people don't seem to care that his children are hearing this hatred.
ReplyDeleteI read an article in the paper about the words McCain said; I'm glad he said something
ReplyDeleteokay, here's what I'm thinking, a person could go to a McCain ralley and not necessarily be for McCain but could be against Obama; a person could go there not necessarily a McCain supporter, but someone who is unhappy the Obama is running for president and doing well in the polls and wants to cause a raukus and a scene. I'm not saying that that is the case here, but that thought crossed my mind; regardless of if this scenario is true or not, the behavior should not be tolerated and accepted
betty
"I believe virtually everything I read, and I think that is what makes me more of a selective human than someone who doesn't beleive anything." Ha Ha
ReplyDeleteThanks,
Wes
"St. Hubbins" "The patron Saint of Quality Footware"