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The Terrorist Barack Hussein Obama

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  • The Terrorist Barack Hussein Obama

    SCARY! This is getting BEYOND underhanded and reprehensible.



    http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/12/opini ... ref=slogin




    By FRANK RICH
    Published: October 11, 2008

    IF you think way back to the start of this marathon campaign, back when it seemed preposterous that any black man could be a serious presidential contender, then you remember the biggest fear about Barack Obama: a crazy person might take a shot at him.

    "Many of us who had looked to John McCain to restore some semblance of sensible conservatism to the Republican Party have been dismayed and disappointed... "
    Jack, Portland, Ore.

    Some voters told reporters that they didn’t want Obama to run, let alone win, should his very presence unleash the demons who have stalked America from Lincoln to King. After consultation with Congress, Michael Chertoff, the homeland security secretary, gave Obama a Secret Service detail earlier than any presidential candidate in our history — in May 2007, some eight months before the first Democratic primaries.

    “I’ve got the best protection in the world, so stop worrying,” Obama reassured his supporters. Eventually the country got conditioned to his appearing in large arenas without incident (though I confess that the first loud burst of fireworks at the end of his convention stadium speech gave me a start). In America, nothing does succeed like success. The fear receded.

    Until now. At McCain-Palin rallies, the raucous and insistent cries of “Treason!” and “Terrorist!” and “Kill him!” and “Off with his head!” as well as the uninhibited slinging of racial epithets, are actually something new in a campaign that has seen almost every conceivable twist. They are alarms. Doing nothing is not an option.

    All’s fair in politics. John McCain and Sarah Palin have every right to bring up William Ayers, even if his connection to Obama is minor, even if Ayers’s Weather Underground history dates back to Obama’s childhood, even if establishment Republicans and Democrats alike have collaborated with the present-day Ayers in educational reform. But it’s not just the old Joe McCarthyesque guilt-by-association game, however spurious, that’s going on here. Don’t for an instant believe the many mindlessly “even-handed” journalists who keep saying that the McCain campaign’s use of Ayers is the moral or political equivalent of the Obama campaign’s hammering on Charles Keating.

    What makes them different, and what has pumped up the Weimar-like rage at McCain-Palin rallies, is the violent escalation in rhetoric, especially (though not exclusively) by Palin. Obama “launched his political career in the living room of a domestic terrorist.” He is “palling around with terrorists” (note the plural noun). Obama is “not a man who sees America the way you and I see America.” Wielding a wildly out-of-context Obama quote, Palin slurs him as an enemy of American troops.

    By the time McCain asks the crowd “Who is the real Barack Obama?” it’s no surprise that someone cries out “Terrorist!” The rhetorical conflation of Obama with terrorism is complete. It is stoked further by the repeated invocation of Obama’s middle name by surrogates introducing McCain and Palin at these rallies. This sleight of hand at once synchronizes with the poisonous Obama-is-a-Muslim e-mail blasts and shifts the brand of terrorism from Ayers’s Vietnam-era variety to the radical Islamic threats of today.

    That’s a far cry from simply accusing Obama of being a guilty-by-association radical leftist. Obama is being branded as a potential killer and an accessory to past attempts at murder. “Barack Obama’s friend tried to kill my family” was how a McCain press release last week packaged the remembrance of a Weather Underground incident from 1970 — when Obama was 8.

    We all know what punishment fits the crime of murder, or even potential murder, if the security of post-9/11 America is at stake. We all know how self-appointed “patriotic” martyrs always justify taking the law into their own hands.

    Obama can hardly be held accountable for Ayers’s behavior 40 years ago, but at least McCain and Palin can try to take some responsibility for the behavior of their own supporters in 2008. What’s troubling here is not only the candidates’ loose inflammatory talk but also their refusal to step in promptly and strongly when someone responds to it with bloodthirsty threats in a crowded arena. Joe Biden had it exactly right when he expressed concern last week that “a leading American politician who might be vice president of the United States would not just stop midsentence and turn and condemn that.” To stay silent is to pour gas on the fires.

    It wasn’t always thus with McCain. In February he loudly disassociated himself from a speaker who brayed “Barack Hussein Obama” when introducing him at a rally in Ohio. Now McCain either backpedals with tardy, pro forma expressions of respect for his opponent or lets second-tier campaign underlings release boilerplate disavowals after ugly incidents like the chilling Jim Crow-era flashback last week when a Florida sheriff ranted about “Barack Hussein Obama” at a Palin rally while in full uniform.

    From the start, there have always been two separate but equal questions about race in this election. Is there still enough racism in America to prevent a black man from being elected president no matter what? And, will Republicans play the race card? The jury is out on the first question until Nov. 4. But we now have the unambiguous answer to the second: Yes.

    McCain, who is no racist, turned to this desperate strategy only as Obama started to pull ahead. The tone was set at the Republican convention, with Rudy Giuliani’s mocking dismissal of Obama as an “only in America” affirmative-action baby. We also learned then that the McCain campaign had recruited as a Palin handler none other than Tucker Eskew, the South Carolina consultant who had worked for George W. Bush in the notorious 2000 G.O.P. primary battle where the McCains and their adopted Bangladeshi daughter were slimed by vicious racist rumors.

    No less disconcerting was a still-unexplained passage of Palin’s convention speech: Her use of an unattributed quote praising small-town America (as opposed to, say, Chicago and its community organizers) from Westbrook Pegler, the mid-century Hearst columnist famous for his anti-Semitism, racism and violent rhetorical excess. After an assassin tried to kill F.D.R. at a Florida rally and murdered Chicago’s mayor instead in 1933, Pegler wrote that it was “regrettable that Giuseppe Zangara shot the wrong man.” In the ’60s, Pegler had a wish for Bobby Kennedy: “Some white patriot of the Southern tier will spatter his spoonful of brains in public premises before the snow falls.”

    This is the writer who found his way into a speech by a potential vice president at a national political convention. It’s astonishing there’s been no demand for a public accounting from the McCain campaign. Imagine if Obama had quoted a Black Panther or Louis Farrakhan — or William Ayers — in Denver.

    The operatives who would have Palin quote Pegler have been at it ever since. A key indicator came two weeks after the convention, when the McCain campaign ran its first ad tying Obama to the mortgage giant Fannie Mae. Rather than make its case by using a legitimate link between Fannie and Obama (or other Democratic leaders), the McCain forces chose a former Fannie executive who had no real tie to Obama or his campaign but did have a black face that could dominate the ad’s visuals.

    There are no black faces high in the McCain hierarchy to object to these tactics. There hasn’t been a single black Republican governor, senator or House member in six years. This is a campaign where Palin can repeatedly declare that Alaska is “a microcosm of America” without anyone even wondering how that might be so for a state whose tiny black and Hispanic populations are each roughly one-third the national average. There are indeed so few people of color at McCain events that a black senior writer from The Tallahassee Democrat was mistakenly ejected by the Secret Service from a campaign rally in Panama City in August, even though he was standing with other reporters and showed his credentials. His only apparent infraction was to look glaringly out of place.

    Could the old racial politics still be determinative? I’ve long been skeptical of the incessant press prognostications (and liberal panic) that this election will be decided by racist white men in the Rust Belt. Now even the dimmest bloviators have figured out that Americans are riveted by the color green, not black — as in money, not energy. Voters are looking for a leader who might help rescue them, not a reckless gambler whose lurching responses to the economic meltdown (a campaign “suspension,” a mortgage-buyout stunt that changes daily) are as unhinged as his wanderings around the debate stage.

    To see how fast the tide is moving, just look at North Carolina. On July 4 this year — the day that the godfather of modern G.O.P. racial politics, Jesse Helms, died — The Charlotte Observer reported that strategists of both parties agreed Obama’s chances to win the state fell “between slim and none.” Today, as Charlotte reels from the implosion of Wachovia, the McCain-Obama race is a dead heat in North Carolina and Helms’s Republican successor in the Senate, Elizabeth Dole, is looking like a goner.

    But we’re not at Election Day yet, and if voters are to have their final say, both America and Obama have to get there safely. The McCain campaign has crossed the line between tough negative campaigning and inciting vigilantism, and each day the mob howls louder. The onus is on the man who says he puts his country first to call off the dogs, pit bulls and otherwise.
    Flynn

    Wife to post training CT surgeon; mother of three kids ages 17, 15, and 11.

    “It is our choices, Harry, that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities.” —Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets " Albus Dumbledore

  • #2
    Re: The Terrorist Barack Hussein Obama

    I think McCain has toned it down at the rallies this week. :huh: The hate-mongering really turns me off. That's what set me off about the Palin speech at the convention. Belittling your opponent isn't cool with me. Watching a crowd get all happy when you do it is even worse. Can't we leave that to late night TV?

    I really do hate to see McCain end up this way. I have lost a lot of respect for him as this campaign heated up. He always seemed above the hate-mongering to get elected business, but I suppose I was wrong. I feel better when analysts say he's using Palin because he isn't good at it. That's a plus for McCain. Decency.

    I'm not sure what the political play is here. I've read that these attacks don't play well to the middle....and the base is NOT voting for Obama, so who are they trying to sway? Are they just making sure the base gets to the polls? Or are they just going for all the free press that has come from the nastiness at some of the events? I don't get it. They don't need to win over the folks that like to hear this stuff.


    Interesting campaign tidbits that I read this week:

    McCain pictures and reports from an ACORN rally he attended in 2006 when he worked with the group on immigration reform. I guess they weren't a radical group then?)

    Schmidt (McCain advisor) on NPR stated that bad things had been yelled out about McCain at Obama rallies as well - but he won't provide specifics to Salon after repeated requests today. :huh:

    Absentee ballots in a county in upstate New York accidentally listed Obama as "Barack Osama". They state it was an unintentional error. Man. There's someone that needs to run a spell check or get some editing help, huh?? If you can't get Obama's name right on the ballot, you haven't been paying attention.
    Angie
    Gyn-Onc fellowship survivor - 10 years out of the training years; reluctant suburbanite
    Mom to DS (18) and DD (15) (and many many pets)

    "Where are we going - and what am I doing in this handbasket?"

    Comment


    • #3
      Re: The Terrorist Barack Hussein Obama

      I think McCain has been puppeted to much, no that's probably not a word but at the beginning he said he wasn't going to do any negative campaigning and I think he really meant it. I think the RNC higher ups or people on his staff got into his head that he had to go negative to win.

      Now that the election is getting closer and its looking like McCain is going to lose (I know its technically still close) I think he's trying really hard to get the "bad person" thoughts out of his supporters head. I think his responses at the rallies last week were genuine. I think his response that Barack is a good guy they just have differences of opinions was real and I do hate all of the negative campaigning.
      Wife to NSG out of training, mom to 2, 10 & 8, and a beagle with wings.

      Comment


      • #4
        Re: The Terrorist Barack Hussein Obama

        It's the end-of-campaign crazy season for both parties:

        http://elections.foxnews.com/2008/10/13 ... y-problem/

        John McCain has taken a lot of heat from critics who say he's stoking anger and intolerance among his supporters.

        But the Republican nominee is not the only one with supporters whose comments and demonstrations on the race are obscene and, in some cases, violent.

        An array of T-shirts, for instance, displaying the image of Sarah Palin and some variation of the "C-word" are gaining new popularity as Election Day nears. A group of protesters outside Palin's fundraiser in Philadelphia Saturday wore shirts emblazoned with the words, "Sarah Palin Is a C--T."

        Cafe Press is selling a slew of off-color Palin T-shirts, including the one spotted in Philadelphia. (Granted, a shirt with the words "Barack Obama Is a Can't" is also for sale on the site.)

        The Portland Tribune also reported over the weekend that two men in Oregon were arrested for throwing a Molotov cocktail at a large McCain campaign sign, igniting part of the structure.

        And on Monday at a McCain rally in North Carolina, an Obama supporter stood outside and repeatedly yelled, "McCain is a murderer."

        One woman yelled back: "He fought for your right to say that."

        Republicans argue that while neither campaign can curtail every action of its supporters, McCain is being unfairly depicted as the only candidate who attracts audience members with extreme views.

        "It's something that we recognize -- that neither campaign has complete control over their supporters," McCain spokesman Tucker Bounds told FOXNews.com. "We've stood firmly behind our effort to try to hold our rallies to a higher level, and certainly we would expect the same from Barack Obama.

        "It is clear that on many occasions they have failed to keep their supporters above board," he added. "(Voters) should understand that this is a phenomenon that plays itself out at both campaigns."

        Indeed, both candidates are still attracting rowdy supporters.

        The mini-altercation in North Carolina took place a few hundred yards from a sign that read "NOBAMA" featuring side-by-side pictures of Obama and Usama bin Laden.

        Politico.com posted a photo snapped at the McCain rally earlier in Virginia Beach showing audience members holding up signs that say: "Obama Bin Lyin'."

        Bounds said the McCain campaign condemns such signs.

        Georgia Rep. John Lewis, a civil rights icon, accused McCain over the weekend of "sowing the seeds of hatred and division," and compared his rallies to the "climate" created by segregationist Alabama Gov. George Wallace.

        The Lewis statement came after supporters at McCain's rallies repeatedly yelled words like "socialist" and "terrorist" when the Republican candidate was discussing Obama.

        But both campaigns seem to be making an effort to dial back negative rhetoric, or at least calm down their crowds.

        Obama scolded his audience Monday in Toledo when they began booing at the very mention of McCain. "We don't need that," he said. "We just need to vote."

        McCain corrected a woman Friday who said Obama is "an Arab," drawing boos from the crowd.

        The Arizona senator, who objected to the Lewis statement, hasn't been taking questions from his audience since last week, and on Monday made no mention of 1960s radical William Ayers. His campaign has used Obama's ties to Ayers in recent weeks to question the Democratic candidate's character and judgment.

        The charge did come up, however, when country music star Hank Williams Jr. played a warm-up act at a Palin rally in Richmond, Va., Monday. His song lyrics included reference to the "left-wing liberal media" and said the Republican running mates "don't have radical friends to whom their careers are linked."

        Speaking in Rochester, N.H., Monday, Joe Biden criticized McCain for launching "new attacks" on Obama.

        "John McCain wants to attack Barack Obama," Biden said. "Barack Obama wants to attack America's economic problems. It is that basic. It is that basic right now."

        Democratic strategist Jehmu Greene said the offensive audience-member comments don't belong in the race on either side.

        "There are fringe elements on all sides of the spectrum, and that's what we're seeing right now," she told FOX News.

        But Chip Saltsman, former campaign manager for Mike Huckabee, told FOX News that Obama has not taken the steps McCain has to settle down his supporters and rein in bad behavior.

        "Barack Obama needs to come out and say, 'My supporters should not do this'," he said.
        Who uses a machete to cut through red tape
        With fingernails that shine like justice
        And a voice that is dark like tinted glass

        Comment


        • #5
          Re: The Terrorist Barack Hussein Obama

          I wasn't making a lot of the political loops they were showing on cable news as I do think that the media is bent by and large towards Obama (I'm not saying they shouldn't, but in journalism I think it should stay out of the news, and it doesn't). But the things recently I've heard from McCain and Palin are really bothering me. They for sure are hitting below the belt. And IMO any stirring the pot on race/terrorism is a good way to flame up a stupid idiot do to something horrific. It should be OUT of the race and ONLY about issues - why my plan is better than your plan. American's are largely ignorant about race. My aunt has had a number of people as if my cousin is black, she's Indian and obviously so if you look at her. A good friend of mine in HS was Egyptian and she was asked all the time if she was black - she obviously is middle eastern. I hate that race is even part of the conversation, because it's a moot issue. Helping others to be spitting out more ignorance is bad for our society, and for our families. And like it or not we all are different races, just the European immigrants are harder to pick out by looking at them. We need to get over this "fear" and get on to what the election is about. McCain IMO could be ruining his legacy because of this if he doesn't change gears COMPLETELY.

          My only fear about Obama is that he is more big government driven that I prefer, but right now we do need a big injection of it. I do worry heavily though that he will be to influenced by the very hard pushing that Europe and Asia are doing on the economy. I was very frustrated how Europe and Asia approached the US while the bail out bill was being voted on and rewritten, that WE needed to fix the WORLDS fiscal crisis - and then, the worlds own crisis surfaced to the top a few days later. This is maybe the one thing that keeps me from 100% voting for Obama. I'm still chewing on this. While he seems to stand his ground here, I worry he is to young and experienced for this kind of hardball. There is no way to know really. This one thing I think will HUGELY impact all of us heavily the next several years so I'm nervous and unsure in Obama's ability to handle it. We don't have the money to bail out our own country nevertheless the world economy.

          Does anyone have any insightful comments about my above conundrum? I'd love some points of view to chew on. Really my vote is resting on this one issue. I'm still working on reading Obama's new economic plan he just submitted.

          Comment


          • #6
            Re: The Terrorist Barack Hussein Obama

            Originally posted by SuzySunshine
            I think McCain has been puppeted to much, no that's probably not a word but at the beginning he said he wasn't going to do any negative campaigning and I think he really meant it. I think the RNC higher ups or people on his staff got into his head that he had to go negative to win.

            Now that the election is getting closer and its looking like McCain is going to lose (I know its technically still close) I think he's trying really hard to get the "bad person" thoughts out of his supporters head. I think his responses at the rallies last week were genuine. I think his response that Barack is a good guy they just have differences of opinions was real and I do hate all of the negative campaigning.

            I posted this thread and have had no time to comment further! My bad.

            I agree with what Cheri posted -- McCain isn't a bad guy. I do think his comments last week were genuine as well. The idea that Obama is a Muslim Arab is LOL insane, yet it's clear some people truly believe this.

            With that being said, he's REALLY gone down a path with his campaign I didn't anticipate however. All politicians play to win but his "America first" montra is sounding extremely hollow right now.

            Tonight should be interesting!
            Flynn

            Wife to post training CT surgeon; mother of three kids ages 17, 15, and 11.

            “It is our choices, Harry, that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities.” —Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets " Albus Dumbledore

            Comment


            • #7
              Re: The Terrorist Barack Hussein Obama

              Originally posted by Chrisada
              Now back to the topic, I think that the Republicans are feeling very desperate at this time, and so yes, they are definately playing dirty. They will continue to try and make Obama seem very scary to all of those good middle Amrican people.
              Trying to scare people into voting for McCain on anything other than platform issues is reprehensible in my opinion.

              I think this tactic turns undecided votes OFF because it's so transparent.
              Flynn

              Wife to post training CT surgeon; mother of three kids ages 17, 15, and 11.

              “It is our choices, Harry, that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities.” —Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets " Albus Dumbledore

              Comment


              • #8
                Re: The Terrorist Barack Hussein Obama

                Originally posted by Flynn
                Trying to scare people into voting for McCain on anything other than platform issues is reprehensible in my opinion.

                I think this tactic turns undecided votes OFF because it's so transparent.
                I'm not so sure it turns undecided voters in general off. Thing is, I don't think McCain is hoping to attract well-educated voters with scaremongering tactics, so the message may not be as transparent to the target audience as we may perceive it to be. Will Joe Sixpack shrewdly analyze the tactics and be put off by such cynical behavior or will he feel it's his duty to keep them Eye-rabs out of the white house? Now, I don't know Joe Sixpack personally, but I can certainly see that kind of tactic work on working class voters in the country where I live.

                Oh, and I agree with whomever it was that said McCain isn't a bad person. He's just doing what he feels is necessary to win.

                Comment


                • #9
                  Re: The Terrorist Barack Hussein Obama

                  Originally posted by McPants
                  Originally posted by Flynn
                  Trying to scare people into voting for McCain on anything other than platform issues is reprehensible in my opinion.

                  I think this tactic turns undecided votes OFF because it's so transparent.
                  I'm not so sure it turns undecided voters in general off. Thing is, I don't think McCain is hoping to attract well-educated voters with scaremongering tactics, so the message may not be as transparent to the target audience as we may perceive it to be. Will Joe Sixpack shrewdly analyze the tactics and be put off by such cynical behavior or will he feel it's his duty to keep them Eye-rabs out of the white house? Now, I don't know Joe Sixpack personally, but I can certainly see that kind of tactic work on working class voters in the country where I live.

                  Oh, and I agree with whomever it was that said McCain isn't a bad person. He's just doing what he feels is necessary to win.
                  Great points -- I agree. I hesitate to say this because I fear I will sound "elitist" towards Joe Sixpack :huh: .
                  Flynn

                  Wife to post training CT surgeon; mother of three kids ages 17, 15, and 11.

                  “It is our choices, Harry, that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities.” —Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets " Albus Dumbledore

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Re: The Terrorist Barack Hussein Obama

                    Originally posted by LilySayWhat
                    If this is what someone upthread was referring to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G_HcBQfPDto - I totally believe those were plants. All audience members are screened prior to entry to ensure the candidate (McCain, Obama, whoever) doesn't get embarrassing or unanticipated questions. If the shoe was on the other foot, and Obama was taking questions and defending Palin and McCain, I would think the same thing.

                    I do worry that Obama will be assassinated. But what can you do - vote out of fear for the white guy that he won't?
                    Honestly I never thought about the "plant" issue. Good point.

                    I worry Obama will be assassinated too.
                    Flynn

                    Wife to post training CT surgeon; mother of three kids ages 17, 15, and 11.

                    “It is our choices, Harry, that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities.” —Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets " Albus Dumbledore

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Re: The Terrorist Barack Hussein Obama

                      Originally posted by Chrisada
                      I definitely worry about him being assassinated. I remember actually telling DH a while ago that Obama will get assassinated if he wins. There are a whole lot of people living in this country whose hearts fill with hatred at the thought of a black man leading this country.
                      I hope it doesn't happen but unfortunately I would not be surprised if it were to happen. I am constantly sickened by the comments from my white step family members who are upper middle to upper class and educated, I can only imagine the possible thoughts in the minds of those who are not. I think it would be the same for any person of color, not just black..

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Re: The Terrorist Barack Hussein Obama

                        Originally posted by Chrisada
                        Originally posted by Color_Me_Sulky
                        My aunt has had a number of people as if my cousin is black, she's Indian and obviously so if you look at her. A good friend of mine in HS was Egyptian and she was asked all the time if she was black - she obviously is middle eastern.
                        Just had to respond to this quickly as a black in America. I know it's off topic. The vast, vast majority of blacks are very mixed, so we do not obviously look one type of way, and we look like many races. So to a lot of people, your good friend could have looked as if she was black. BTW there are some Egyptians who consider themselves black. For instance, my sister has been asked if she is hispanic, my brother has been asked if he is from India or Somalia, my father has been asked if he is Native American, my mother has been asked if she is Irish. I have been asked if I was 1/2 white, from the Middle East, white, or just a plain "what are you?" I especially get this from foreigners. Now to us, it may be obvious that we are black, but to others is is not. Race is not such an "obvious" thing in this day of time.

                        Totally true points. My sister's husband is from Houston, and his family defines themselves as hispanic, even though family bloodlines aren't clear cut from Spain. My SIL's husband is half hispanic, looks only white, and isn't believed when he says he is mostly hispanic. Then, other people I have met from South America say if you are from Mexico you are Mexican, but if you are from the southern countries of South America you are then "latino". But then I've met others who disagree. I get that families aren't by face value one type of race. My point was from growing up in Missouri, many people (especially mid America), are very very ignorant of even basic race recognition. This comes from a lack of awareness outside of their society. I'm not saying it is their fault they are ignorant, they don't see as many minorities as other states, but it is a real ignorance. When I was growing up we had 4 foreign exchange students live with us, and it was a real eye opener. When people aren't aware, fear of the "unknown" often seeps in whether they mean it to or not. So for me, this ignorance (as defined as something they don't know or relate to) is really not helpful with some of the issues McCain/Palin are bringing to the table. I especially think maybe someone should cork Palin to keep her from saying things that can be taken the wrong way. I don't think she is evil or McCain is evil and they want to invoke racism into the campaign. But I think that the issues that they are asking America to look into have to be carefully spoken about or it will be taken very wrong. And I think Palin is an excellent example of that.

                        That's what I meant to say

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Re: The Terrorist Barack Hussein Obama

                          When people aren't aware, fear of the "unknown" often seeps in whether they mean it to or not.
                          It's my impression that the GOP exploits this for votes in some areas of "red territory". I don't think McCain has traditionally gone that route- but I do think that Schmidt is running the Rove playbook in this point to make sure these particular base votes "come home to mama" this election. I think that the "unknown" also encompasses more than race. New York City is described to me so often as a den of unfriendliness and crime....and dirty and corrupt by people that have been there for a weekend visit. :huh: It always surprises me because I lived there for seven years. If you try to make the unknown "known" by telling them you've encountered this and find their assumptions untrue, they call you out as a liberal/Democratic defender.

                          *sigh*

                          i don't like it when politics exploit our more base instincts.

                          I know I'm exploitable as well and I'd resent that in leaders on the left as well. For example, from all I've read about Palin's governing style, she hasn't brought her views on abortion to any policy making. She believes they are personal and has not worked to alter the law. When left wing groups suggest that she'd personally push an agenda for a constitutional amendment to ban abortion, it plays on my fears of a U.S. theocracy developing....and those fears are totally unfounded by the facts at hand. I am happy that Obama seems (like McCain) bad at pushing those buttons hard. (They can both push them gently....but their hearts aren't in it.) Palin rubs me the wrong way because her heart *is* in it and she's been given that job.

                          I'd like the campaigns to appeal to our better selves. I was very depressed after the GOP convention -- because they showcased this style of politicing. McCain is NOT good at it. Obama is not either - and he has resisted it since the flap over the "bitter" comment. Obviously, it doesn't play well for him with his base or independents. I hope it goes out of vogue. I think (honestly) campaigning by belittling your opponents (and by extension -their supporters) is dying off. I think it appeals to the older generation fighting off a new world (global, digital, information based....and very fast moving) that they reject. They want to return to a simpler time (small town) and fighting against " the other" is a protectionist way of acting. I think most of us have realized we have to work with the world we have and make it better. No use rowing backwards against the stream. Now if we could only decide where we are going together as a nation....
                          Angie
                          Gyn-Onc fellowship survivor - 10 years out of the training years; reluctant suburbanite
                          Mom to DS (18) and DD (15) (and many many pets)

                          "Where are we going - and what am I doing in this handbasket?"

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Re: The Terrorist Barack Hussein Obama

                            Originally posted by Flynn
                            SCARY! This is getting BEYOND underhanded and reprehensible.



                            http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/12/opini ... ref=slogin


                            Until now. At McCain-Palin rallies, the raucous and insistent cries of “Treason!” and “Terrorist!” and “Kill him!” and “Off with his head!” as well as the uninhibited slinging of racial epithets, are actually something new in a campaign that has seen almost every conceivable twist. They are alarms. Doing nothing is not an option.

                            The idea that someone yelled "Kill him!" (directed towards Obama who was not present) is bogus. At least, it's bogus according to the secret service investigation that followed:

                            http://www.timesleader.com/news/breakin ... nded_.html

                            A healthy amount of skepticism is a good thing to have. The liberal media are really full-throttle on the Obama propaganda now. If I liked McCain I'd feel sorry for him. Instead, I think it is a new level of absurd to have "unbiased observers" (purportedly the news media) become so vested in a single political candidate.
                            Who uses a machete to cut through red tape
                            With fingernails that shine like justice
                            And a voice that is dark like tinted glass

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                            • #15
                              Re: The Terrorist Barack Hussein Obama

                              It's not bogus that someone designed this "ad" and posted it on the internet.

                              Click only if you want to be utterly disgusted by the depiction of Obama and a hangman's noose.
                              Alison

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