If you’ve been watching the news and heard the threats of violence against Barack Obama during the Republican rallies, you’ve heard the candidates say or people yell things about Obama like:
- Terrorist
- Kill him
- Off with his head
- Arab (in a derogatory way)
- Muslin (in a derogatory way)
- Associates with terrorists
- Obama is not like us
This whole thing is unconscionable and completely disgraceful.
John McCain says he’s learned his history, but he obviously hasn’t learned squat.
I’m currently reading Ian Kershaw’s biography of Adolf Hitler, and this reminds me of a Nazi rally on November 8, 1938. What followed this rally was the “night of broken glass” (Reichskristallnacht) on November 9-10, 1938. It was a night of terror against Jews. Synagogues were burned. Jewish shops were destroyed. Jews were arrested, beaten and murdered. Hitler didn’t raise a stick, a torch, or a gun. But his inflammatory speech whipped the crowd into a hate-filled frenzy and led to extreme violence and thousands of deaths.
Similar things happened in America in the 1960’s during the civil rights movement. Segregationist leaders yelled their hateful speeches from the stump and African Americans and civil rights workers were murdered. Again, the leaders, like George Wallace, didn’t raise a hand, but they tacitly gave permission to their hate-filled followers to carry out horrendous crimes against their fellow American citizens because they had different beliefs or their skin was a different color.
Sarah Palin and other members of the McCain campaign are repeating this very frightening history of the imperfect human race. She and other members of the campaign are giving tacit permission to crowd members to believe untruths and to harbor violent thoughts and intents against a fellow American citizen.
I do not believe for a second that Sarah Palin doesn’t hear these epithets and calls to violence. When she hears them she has chosen to ignore them. I have seen that when John McCain hears these things he stops them, but not strongly enough to put a stop to them.
U.S. Congressman John Lewis of Georgia is 100% right to warn John McCain about the tone of his rallies and draw comparisons between them and the violence of the 1960’s.
McCain claims similar threats are being made against him and Sarah Palin at Obama rallies, but this is completely untrue. Barack Obama won’t even allow crowds at his rallies to boo McCain or Palin, let alone say anything of an inflammatory or violent nature against them. Obama stops his crowd as soon as any of that begins and tells them they shouldn’t be booing the other candidate, they should be getting out the vote on November 4th for him.
Why hasn’t John McCain stopped mid-sentence when one of these threats is yelled and put his foot down that this is America and we do not threaten people period, and that he will not permit anymore of these disgraceful outbursts. Why hasn’t McCain told his audiences that if they make such threats they will be found, arrested, interrogated and possibly tried and imprisoned. Why hasn’t John McCain ordered his Secret Service to find and arrest crowd members who yell violent threats?
Why hasn’t President George W. Bush ordered the entire Secret Service to find and arrest anyone who yells threats of violence against any candidate running for a federal public office?
McCain and Palin both say they can’t control everything everyone in the crowd says and that these threats are from the few nuts in any crowd. This is not true. They can stand up and tell their crowds to stand down and that this behavior won’t be tolerated. They can have the Secret Service find and arrest people who yell these threats. All it takes is one ideological nut with a gun to commit a murder.
If Barack Obama is murdered or there is an attempted on his life or the lives of his family, the blood will be all over John McCain and Sarah Palin.
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October 15th, 2008 at 2:04 pm
This kind of hate might just get William Ayers killed, too.
Dr. Ayers is not a terrorist. He was one of tens of thousands of anti-Vietnam-war protesters in the late 1960’s and early 1970’s. He was a member of the radical group, the Weather Underground Organization, which claimed to be responsible for a dozen or so bombings as part of their protests. Bill Ayers was never convicted of any crime. Other members of the organization were convicted and imprisoned.
Barack Obama was 8 years old when Bill Ayers was a radical protester, and denounces Dr. Ayers’ past behavior as reprehensible. Bill Ayers is no longer a violent anti-Vietnam-war protester. He is a college professor and works hard with a great passion for social justice.
If Bill Ayers were a terrorist, he would be in prison. He would not be a distinguished Professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago.
Accusing anyone of being a terrorist in America today is an extremely serious charge. Anyone convicted of terrorism today faces life in prison or the death sentence. Nothing the Weathermen did comes anywhere close to our present definition of “terrorist”.
October 15th, 2008 at 3:50 pm
Are you kidding me? You guys cannot be this ill-informed or closeminded. There are no rascist threats being shouted at Republican rallies.
In contrast do you even acknowledge the vitriolic hate-filled lies being spewed forth at Sarah Palin? It’s laughable that the left can even put forth these kind of ‘narratives’ with a straight face.
October 15th, 2008 at 3:56 pm
Look, I completely agree with you that McCain and Palin know what’s going on should not be doing what they are doing by encouraging the behavior and in an incognito manner encouraging it. However, if you think for one second if something tragic happens to Senator Obama it is directly and only because of the behavior these two allowed to happen, well I think you’re just a tad delusional.
October 16th, 2008 at 1:22 pm
@Eric, I haven’t heard of anyone yelling “kill her” about Sarah Palin. She is getting a lot of flack, but no one wants her dead or is saying she pals around with terrorists.
@Umm, I’m not delusional. I am a student of history and human behavior.
You’re right to a point. Unless anyone who might try an assassination can be directly linked to the McCain-Palin campaign rallies and the tacit approval of such remarks, they can’t be held responsible. However, a charge of “palling around with terrorists” is a very serious allegation in America today and Palin is the one saying that at rallies.
That this kind of behavior and these kinds of statements are occurring and not being stopped in 2008 is reprehensible, and history teaches us that this atmosphere can lead to tragic results.
October 17th, 2008 at 2:03 pm
“This kind of hate might just get William Ayers killed, too.”
I agree. We’re seeing the mob mentality at its fullest. I don’t fear for the Obamas. Their secret service duty is not likely to let a loon slip through the cracks. But I am concerned for Bill Ayers.
@Eric,
Do you really think that addressing Obama by “Hussein,” a McCain’s insistence that she doesn’t trust Obama because “he’s an Arab,” the Chairman of the Virginia Republican Party directly comparing Obama to “Osama,” and the upstate NY’s absentee ballot that replaces “Obama” with “Osama” have ABSOLUTELY NOTHING TO DO WITH OBAMA’S RACIAL HERITAGE?
Palin’s insistence that Obama thinks so poorly of America that he has to pal around with terrorists is nothing other than an insistence that Obama is anti-American. The Republican attempt to connect Obama with terrorism plays on the basest of racial fears, just as the Reverend Wright argument did back in May.
October 17th, 2008 at 2:31 pm
@Gray Kane: Thanks for your thoughtful comment. I couldn’t agree more.
October 17th, 2008 at 10:00 pm
joubes,
1) There is some dispute about the veracity of this story. The secret service in the crowd heard nothing like that.
Secret Service says “Kill him” allegation unfounded
2) This story and subsequent echoes of it are essentially charged rhetoric and exaggerated. It’s called slant and bias. …or election hysteria.
3) Palin has been threatened and called numerous things which could be akin to using the N word on Obama. Palin ‘protesters’ show up wearing t-shirts calling her the C word. She is threatened in language all over the internet, including killing, punching, beating, and raping no less.
http://jezebel.com/5045934/why-sarah-palin-incites-near+violent-rage-in-normally-reasonable-women
Sandra Berhardt said she wanted to see her gang raped, etc, etc.
Basically, this story boils down to election hysteria. Which I’m not saying doesn’t happen on my side too.
October 17th, 2008 at 10:08 pm
Here’s one for you:
Palin hears plenty of boos
Outside the Bellevue, Palin, sitting in her car, gave a little back and forth wave to the protesters, who in return gave her thumbs down and rounds of boos.
“Back to Alaska, They shouldn’t have Asked ya!” read one poster on the median.
Police said about 400 protesters lined the streets outside the hotel, the same number that organizers expected at the fund-raiser, chanting to each other and to passing motorists. Inside, Palin got her hair and makeup done at Pierre & Carlo Salon & Spa.
…Outside on Broad Street, waiting for Palin to leave, one man was heard saying: “Let’s stone her, old school.”
Another protester shouted at someone entering the hotel, “Wait till your daughter wants an abortion, you hypocrite.”
http://www.philly.com/philly/hp/news_update/20081012_Palin_hears_plenty_of_boos.html
October 18th, 2008 at 3:21 am
@Eric, Will check out your sources, but I just haven’t been seeing or hearing this kind of stuff on TV, Fox news included.
If these kinds of things are being said, I strongly disagree with them. No one’s life should be threatened no matter how much we disagree with others beliefs or politics. Anyone threatening her should be rounded up and arrested either by the police or the secret service detail assigned to her. If they aren’t doing this, they need to start.
Hate on both sides must stop and those spreading it need examples made of them in public that hate-mongering won’t be tolerated.
I can say that I’m not hearing anything of this nature at Obama-Biden rallies, and the inflammatory threats and language I’m most concerned about are those heard at McCain-Palin rallies.
Barack Obama especially doesn’t approve of any sort of hate-filled chanting or protests on behalf of him or his campaign. If you have specific details of such hateful protests, I hope you will email them directly to the Obama campaign. He will stand up in front of his crowds on TV and tell people that if they support him, they need to stop hateful protesting and either protest peacefully and respectfully, or stay away because they don’t represent him or his views. The protest needs to be made in the voting booth by voting for the candidate they want to see in office, not standing out on the streets yelling hateful things at candidates.
October 18th, 2008 at 4:28 pm
this is so true. i hadn’t even thought about the Kristalnacht parallel, but that is spot-on.
at one time the republican party, even its most conservative branches, stood for free markets, small government and fiscal sobriety. whether or not you subscribed to their economic perspective, they were legitimately (and legally) pursuing what they saw as the next right action. how has that turned, in the years since reagan, into a pursuit of power for its own sake, increased wealth at any cost, and ruthless suppression of all dissenting voices.
i am very worried about my country. i, too, am looking forward to (hoping for?) an obama landslide in november. at this point i believe that is our only hope.
thanks for your sane and wonderful voice!
October 18th, 2008 at 5:10 pm
Jackie, you’re welcome, welcome to the blog and thanks for commenting!
October 18th, 2008 at 8:05 pm
There is also this:
If you watch the video that accompanies this france tv post you’ll see how well mannered New York Obama supporters are when someone just holds a sign for McCain.
October 18th, 2008 at 8:12 pm
I read these things and I wonder about comments about kristalnach. ??? This continuously comes up on left leaning blogs. And I think this contributes to exactly what happened to this guy. He sees republicans as true evil. Nazis. Murderers. Rascists. I wonder where that idea comes from. And what were we talking about blodd on the hands of those who don’t ‘reign in’ supporters?
I wonder how many conservatives friends commenters like this actually have. I’ll tell you now that what I fear is a fully socialist nation with a democrat in control of every branch of government. I mean I fear for my life and my property, and I’m not rich. But I wonder how long it would be before I won’t be able to hold a sign supporting conservative or republican candidates without fear of retribution.
October 19th, 2008 at 11:01 am
Eric,
That you don’t get the parallel with Nazism and Reichskrisallnacht is the problem. That you don’t have a solid appreciation for how Hitler and his propaganda machine worked is the problem. Hitler blamed the “night of broken glass” on his propaganda minister, Joseph Goebbels. It was all part of the plan so that regular people wouldn’t think poorly of their leader. It wasn’t him who ordered this chaos, it was a rogue minister, except that it wasn’t a rogue minister. It was all part of Hitler’s plan. It was how the Nazi propaganda machine worked.
The RNC is doing exactly the same thing, stirring up hate where reasonable discourse is required. And John McCain is blaming it on the nuts, and he reigns it in sometimes, but mostly not. He demands a respectful campaign, yet the RNC continues to run one that is anything but respectful. Re: hate-filled robocalls.
The point is the Nazis were completely intolerant of Jews. Right-wing Republicans are completely intolerant of anyone who doesn’t believe what they believe, that Muslims can’t be Americans, that “liberal” means anti-American, that a black, Catholic man with an African name should be feared, and that the violence that went on all over the country during the Vietnam era is directly related to the terrorism we face today.
In case you weren’t paying attention, Right-wing Republican George W. Bush just socialized the banks and AIG and Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. If you’re worried about a socialist country, it’s already here. It will be the job of the next President to get the market system working again and desocialize these institutions, whether he be John McCain or Barack Obama.
John McCain isn’t a right-wing radical Republican, or at least he wasn’t until his recent transformation. He was a Republican in the sense of the party I joined in 1979. The Republican party today is no reflection of who I was then or who I am today. I will be changing party affiliation as soon as this election cycle is over.
I have a lot of friends who agree with my centrist point of view and find all this hate appalling. I am afraid to put up Obama for President signs in my yard and I fear for my life because the neighborhood I live in is right-wing Republican. I’ve already had some minor vandalism because my views are known in my community.
I am afraid because of people like Dick Cheney and Sarah Palin. The constitution is inconvenient for them, so they call it “flexible” and buck it. Sarah Palin has already been found to have abused her power as Governor of Alaska and is associated with a party who wants to secede from America. That kind of hunger for power makes me very afraid.
Those are the things that make me afraid. And now you are experiencing the fear minorities live with every day for our entire lives, except your fear is imagined. Our fear is real. Now you are walking in our shoes. It’s very uncomfortable isn’t it. This isn’t who America is supposed to be, and the RNC is continually barking that it is.
I hope you will go to my next post with of a video of Gen. Colin Powell discussing why he has chosen to vote for Barack Obama, even though he is and has been a life-long Republican, as have I.
October 19th, 2008 at 11:14 am
Eric,
I’m very sorry this happened and I’m very glad the man who assaulted the McCain supporter was arrested, and I hope she presses charges and he is prosecuted and punished to the fullest extent of the law. There is no excuse for that kind of behavior on either side of the race.
That’s my whole point. This behavior should not be going on at all. But the RNC started a very nasty snowball rolling, and now it is coming home to roost. I’m not saying the Obama supporter has any excuse for his behavior at all. It’s inexcusable and he should be punished for his actions. But this is what happens when someone gives anyone even the slightest permission to stir up hate. As in 1930’s Germany and 1960’s American, violence follows hate and that is why hate is so dangerous.
October 19th, 2008 at 4:04 pm
joubes,
I think that you’re doing exactly what you say the RNC is doing. Where is Hitler here? Where is the hate? You, and the left, are fomenting hatred of conservatives. I mean Nazi’s? Do you think I’m a Nazi?
October 20th, 2008 at 12:18 pm
Eric,
You keep missing my point. No, I don’t think you or conservatives in general are Nazis. The point is, when a leader gets up in front of people and insights hate (racial, religious, doesn’t matter), it will lead to violence. That’s all I’m saying. The Nazi propaganda machine and the hate-filled speeches in the 1960’s led to violence against a specific group of people.
Palin gets up and insights hate, and it is leading to violence against Republican supporters and Democratic supporters. Accusing someone of “palling around with terrorists” in America today is hate.
I keep praying that some nut doesn’t assassinate Bill Ayers because of the hate-filled robocalls. He isn’t a terrorist or he would be in prison. He was tried and acquitted. The RNC needs to stop bringing him up.
October 21st, 2008 at 1:49 pm
joubes,
inciting hate? That’s why I am incredulous. If calling someone who built bombs which actually killed innocent civilians on purpose a terrorist is inciting hate then what is calling someone a nazi who have nothing to do with naziism? don’t you see any hypocrisy there at all? One is a truthful statement based on established facts the other is just a plain smear.
It is the left today who are calling fellow americans the most evil despotic genocidal killers ever and you think that’s ok, but to question Obamas relationship to a radical marxist terrorist is beyond the pale? Ayers did in fact kill americans. He built the bombs that killed people. he directed others to place the bombs in places where they would kill and maim innocent people. What is that to you? nothing?
Suppose that McCain or Palin had close associations with Eric Rudolph the abortion clinic bomber? Would that be relevant to you?
October 21st, 2008 at 2:57 pm
Barack Obama does not have “close associations” with William Ayers. The McCain campaign is spreading lies about that association. Trying to tie Barack Obama to events that happened when he was 8 years old is despicable. That is what I would call a smear tactic.
Regardless of associations, William Ayers was tried and acquitted of any crimes, and I hope he sues John McCain, Sarah Palin and the GOP for libel and slander and anything else his lawyers can think of. He will win. If he in fact killed anyone, he would have been convicted and he would still be in jail.
What you continue to say about Dr. Ayers is a lie, and you, sir, are a liar for continuing to say it. Senator McCain, Governor Palin, and the RNC are also liars for continuing to say what they are saying against Dr. Ayers.
Calling Dr. Ayers a radical Marxist is also way out of line. He was an anti-war protester against the Vietnam war. Tens of thousands of people were. Many thousands of them also committed violent acts, including the police killing student protesters during peaceful anti-war rallies on college campuses.
I’m pretty sure you’re not old enough to remember Vietnam because of the tone of your comments, but I grew up with it on the news every night for 15 years. It was a horrible war that we should not have lost but we did lose because we weren’t willing to give our troops what they needed to win or train them in guerrilla warfare, skills they needed to win that war. My dad was in the Navy at the time, and he and most of his fellow sailors were also against the war. That didn’t stop them from following their orders, no matter how much they didn’t like it.
Comparing Vietnam-era America to our current definition of “terrorist” is completely out of line. It is not the same thing and it won’t be the same thing no matter how many times McCain and Palin say it is. Those of us old enough to remember it know better.
I would only be interested in associations with Eric Rudolph because he was tried and convicted of his crimes. If he had been tried and acquitted it would not be an issue and anyone harping on it would get the same disdain from me.
Now I suppose you’re ready to start attacking the American Justice system.
And you still haven’t gotten my point about when any leader of any group stands up and attacks the character and patriotism of someone, and draws on racism, it is hate-filled speech, and hate has been shown clearly by history to lead to violence. I have not called anyone a Nazi. I only used 1938 Germany to demonstrate my point about a leader projecting hate towards a specific group leading to hate and tacit approval of violent acts.
I also used 1960’s America as an example of my point as well, but you have gotten stuck on Nazis. It’s not about being a Nazi, its about what that political party’s leader did that incited violence. The same thing happened when George Wallace gave his “segregation now” speeches. Black Americans and civil rights workers were murdered, especially here in the south. You haven’t said I’m calling anyone a racist yet, but I’m sure that’s next.
I haven’t heard any Americans say Americans are despotic genocidal killers, though I do think the war in Iraq was about either a personal vendetta of George W. Bush, or it was about oil and getting a solid military presence in the middle east that doesn’t rely on Israel. Either way, it was an unnecessary war and it should never have started. We should have kept our eye on Osama bin Laden and he should have been in our custody if alive or killed on sight and we should have possession of his body. Unfortunately, we did start a war in Iraq and now we have to deal with the consequences, which means we don’t leave without doing it responsibly. We already won, now we have to get the Iraqis in a position so we can leave without their country melting down into chaos.
Eric, you and people with your views disturb me greatly because you have no use for anyone who thinks differently than you do. You are closed-minded. In America, we value diversity and ideas. We don’t villainize anyone because they have a strange-sounding name. Whether Jane Smith, Etienne Boudreaux (a common name down here in Louisiana) or Mahmoud Hussein, if he or she was born in America, he or she has the privilege to run for the office of president of the United States. We don’t turn anyone with differing points of view into our enemies as long as they are law-abiding citizens.
But, I’m wasting my time with you because you won’t get my points and you will continue to lie, spread lies, call people derogatory names and think it is patriotic to do so.
October 22nd, 2008 at 3:47 pm
Joubes,
First of all you need to do some research about Ayers. I just listened to a recording of Ayers describing himself as both an anarchist and a marxist on tape. Both then and now. So it’s not a smear when he describes himself in those terms.
Second, their bombings killed people. That’s a fact.
Third Obama and Ayers have had a close association. They shared an office, they worked closely on several boards together, Obama wrote a blurb extolling one of Ayers books, he talks about their kids playing together, Obama launched his chicago political career at Ayers house– these are not irrelevant.
Again, I ask you, substitute McCain and Eric Rudolph the abortion clinic bomber, in these associations… would you say thay would be entirely irrelevant, indeed, would you insist they are lies?
Another point you insist on ignoring is that being compared to Nazi’s is a demonization. A gross demonization– which is highly offensive. What’s more if anything is this is hate speech. And I dare say the example of the liberal who struck that republican woman did so because republicans are demonized as nazi’s continuously by the left. Where does such anger and hatred come from? Or did you mean to say that it’s republican’s fault for being so evil?
October 22nd, 2008 at 4:01 pm
And as for open mindedness, I think you have a huge job ahead of you policing your own. I have found the exact opposite of what you are insisting– the most closeminded are liberals. On the whole conservatives are rather less passionate and more debate minded than liberals.
What derogatory names have I used? What lies? Must you end any dialog by calling those you disagree with liars? I’m not trying to be a troll here and I won’t comment anymore if you wish.
This is what basically prompted me to comment the first time. I have no problem with anyone who thinks differently from me. On the whole republicans don’t either.
I don’t think you’ll take this well, but I think it is you who are closeminded. Closeminded might be a little too harsh. Look, I think that having opposing views is natural and ok. We are all going to have different perspectives. Attempting to convince others that your view is right is not closeminded.
But I continually come across liberals who insist that anyone who disagrees with them are Nazi-like subhumans who are closeminded and evil. What step is this in the demonization process? Where eventually those who believe it will have no problem watching conservative evangelical Christians (ie closeminded rascist nazis) marched off to reeducation camps to be reprogrammed?
October 22nd, 2008 at 4:39 pm
joubes,
All I’m saying is consider another point of view. Question your assumptions.
October 23rd, 2008 at 1:11 am
How bout this, Eric, we disagree. Nothing you say or have shown me has changed my mind. Nothing I’ve said or showed you has changed your mind.
End of conversation.
December 5th, 2008 at 3:24 am
I received a lot of spirited comments from the last post, so I thought I’d keep poking the bear with the stick. There’s an assumption going through the topic of Sarah Palin’s (non)relationship to the Alaskan Independence Party that works
March 2nd, 2009 at 8:18 pm
muslin is fabric, christ some people are retarded.
the word you are looking for is musliM.