http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/washington/2008/10/john-mccain-hea.html


Harsh words, false allegations and downright bile increasingly marked a series of John McCain/Sarah Palin rallies in recent days. . . .

In Lakeville, Minn., McCain sought to put a stop to it. In doing so, he found himself in the unusual position of defending the decency of the man he is running against . . .

. . . [at the rally] a man who said his wife was pregnant said he was "scared" as he contemplated an Obama presidency during the first years of his child's life.

McCain, after letting the fellow finish his thoughts, took the microphone from him and replied: “I have to tell you, he is a decent person, a person that you do not have to be scared [of] as president of the United States.”

A woman in the crowd remained unconvinced. Saying she didn't trust Obama, she added: “I have read about him. He’s an Arab.”

McCain, shaking his head, this time quickly reclaimed the mike and said: "No ma'am. He is a decent family man, a citizen who I just happen to have serious differences with on fundamental questions.”


Well, McCain has rose above the sea of idiots. Lets see if Palin will do the same.

I guess I learned that if you are an Arab that you do not make a decent family man or citizen.


thank you.

That's not all you learned. You learned that you can't put the genie back in the bottle. He's fine with the subtle whisper campaigns...until he actually has to confront. Then, you know, he caves.

But hey, if McCain wants to really set the record straight, he should probably start with Palin.

Maybe McCain had a sudden realization as to where this hate could lead.

But I'm also concerned that it may be too late to put the genie back in the bottle.

http://www.jfk.org/go/collections/item-detail?fedoraid=sfm:1999.023.0017

That's my thought too.

I'm quite sure he thought a little dirty pool would be ok. Now that it's an issue, those people he enabled, along with Palin, want to go the distance. They had a moment when it was ok, and they don't want to let it go.

Look at this & tell me if you see McCain wince a bit at what he's hearing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xVFWahLTdUo&feature=related

If anyone does anything stupid to obama, I want to be first in line to help stone them. What makes this country great is the rule of law. We
settle our differances at the ballot box. Unlike other counties.

I want to believe you are absolutely right about that Steve.

Steve I want to believe the same thing but I am starting to think that A) Obama is running away with this election and B) The Secret Service is going to possibly overwhelmed in the next 4-8 years in defending this man's life literally.

The population as a whole should be scared for our country. While this old lady who made the "arab" comment was an obvious dischiveled loon with everyone out there like her there are thousands more who feel the same way and can and probally will take the oppurtunity to act upon these vieled threats.

The GOP and to a lessor extent the McCain-Palin campaign are doomed as its the end of the line for the GOP. As the way I see it there is without a doubt going to be a permanent split in the GOP with a radical evangelical party rank spliting from the educated old school republicans. Which faction stays and which faction goes is anybody's best guess.

If I were the Libertarian Party I would start to prepare to welcome and embrace alot of new members to this party although the same could probally be said of the Constitution party as well. For the record I don't see the formation of a new party but instead a split with certain factions leaving and joining one of the above parties and strengthing these parties from the bowels of no name political parties to a finally very viable third party.

But while the GOP is getting to this point of breakdown and meltdown there will be many threats and infighting as well as outward bursts of anger towards other Americans.

Has alot to do with another thread started by Craig.

Well, what do expect from the crackers of the right wing base?

Obama was right, they cling to God and guns, real idiots and I'll be standing right next to Steve for the stoning.

Me too. I'll bet that's actually a significant deterrent. People will absolutely hit the streets over that.

Won't be pretty. Globally there will be some impact as well. We are supposed to lead on these things. Should something like that happen, whoever did it won't have very many friends in this world at all.

I bet, in private, McCain is thinking " Fuck these idiots. I can't wait until I can just retire. They don't want change or a leader. They want a civil war. Fucking ingrates."

And in a weird way, his credibility went up for me when he took the mic from that whack-job who was given a voice and called Obama an Arab. His body language was sincere. His words were genuine. And you could just SEE him being SO disappointed in his own supporters for perpetuating this bullshit.

If he was smart, he would go with that as hard and for as long as he could " You guys need to wake the fuck up. I'm taking all of my negative ads off the air. I call on Obama to do the same. Follow MY lead, Obama. Let's fix this country and blow off the lowest common demoninators in both parties."

Amen Chickenjuggler!

We were just talking about that.

I think he is thinking exactly that. The party is a mess, and it's his shot too! He's just gotta hate it.

I believe that this recent anger from mostly Republicans and many of his rally attendees was fueled when McCain laid on this 300 billion dollar carve out bailout plan for individual home mortgages and subsequent explanations on his website of how taxpayers would pay full market ORIGINAL value for this bad paper, to allow the occupants to remain in their homes. It was a surprise to everybody, including his chief economic advisor Mitt Romney.

Republican party loyalists were appalled. Especially the Conservative Right Wing. This Liberal Left socialistic plan outdoes ANYTHING Obama has ever proposed. It is not that Barack would not do something like that if he got elected, but for someone like McCain to bring it up like he did was unthinkable to many Conservatives and down right un American in their eyes. Socialism is the key word that really rubs the Right raw. And I think it did, big time !

I doubt Obama makes it two years as President.

President Biden.

Well as they say the 'the devil is in the details'.

I had a negative knee jerk reaction to McCain's idea about buying up home mortgages in distress the very evening he proposed it in that debate. But when, the next day , I find out that he really believes that the taxpayers are stupid enough to endorse a ' buy in ' for 100 % of the original market value of the property , less equity paid from what payments the buyers have paid, geez louise how dumb is that??? The taxpayers subsidize a whole lot of "pay down" in the form of reduction of principal owed and probably a reduction in interest rate in many cases, and get nothing in return, except for those who benefit from the debt reduction.

I am having a hard time swallowing this idea. And this comes from a 'free marketeer' a Maverick deregulator?? This election is topsy turvey in many respects. We have a VP candidate who turns up the heat on Obama about Bill Ayers et al ,but then is found reasonably guilty of Abuse of Power as a Governor of Alaska. What goes around comes around, she criticizes Obama for having bad judgment with his associations, and then is essentially convicted of having bad judgment as a high official in a State Government.

Talk about 'chickens commin' home to roost'??

I admit, I haven't been able to follow McCain's most recent idea. And details aside - but - would I be wrong in saying that it is a bailout for the bailout? How do we know if the first bailout is going to even work? I thought we were ebing asked to be patient and remember that this is just the first step.

I guess there will be tri-weekly bailouts going on for a while? I cannot help but recognize this pattern of staggering the requests for money.

I doubt McCain would make it two years as President.

President Fin Palin?????

OUCH!

Mc74, what exactly are you implying?

"I believe that this recent anger from mostly Republicans and many of his rally attendees was fueled when McCain laid on this 300 billion dollar carve out bailout plan for individual home mortgages and subsequent explanations on his website of how taxpayers would pay full market ORIGINAL value for this bad paper, to allow the occupants to remain in their homes."

Wrong.

Those idiots can't even comprehend what's going on, most likely don't own homes or have 401K's, so they only care about the fact that he's a terrorist Arab in their little pea brains. It's what they've been told, and it's what they believe. They're basically ignorant amateur racists.

I read an excellent Frank Rich rant in the New York Times today. When I finished, I scanned the comments and ran across a very poignant response from one of our neighbors:

October 12, 2008 10:29 am

As a Republican I hope that every time John McCain pulls out a five-dollar bill or passes the Lincoln Memorial he mouths a silent "Sorry".

Many of us who had looked to John McCain to restore some semblance of a sensible conservatism to the Republican Party have been dismayed and disappointed as instead he surrendered to and embraced the extremism which has captured it.

We have watched while to be Republican has meant to trample the Constitution, to be fiscally irresponsible, to pursue a savage and unfocused foreign policy abroad, and to encourage a rapacious and counterproductive package of economic policies domestically.

But when John McCain had one last chance to restore some honor to the party in this campaign he instead chose to turn the VP nomination over to someone who seems to take pride in being unethical and ignorant, and now unleashes the ugly forces of racism and social conflict.

In practice this is a Republican Party debacle, not just John McCain's, but it is the small shrill voice of his ambition and arrogance which pushes the country ever closer to a dangerous abyss.

-- Jack, Portland, Ore.

Thank you Jack. I firmly believe that you are not alone in that feeling within your party.

Sorry but I do not want the secret service knocking on my door.

I think you know what I am saying.

Absolutely. It's entirely possible and a difficult thing to even talk about.

Ha..ha...

So much for John McCain's townhall style meetings

Nice format in theory, but look at what the downside of that can be like. But then, the flip side of that argument is that travesty we saw the other night with Tom Brokaw.

Town Hall Lynchings or Controlled Town Hall moderated 'Robo Debates"....You decide

And I am curious>...Vitalogy...what is the difference between an amateur racist versus being a Professional racist.

Regarding debate format;

How about no moderator? No audience. And a one camera two-shot. The WHOLE time. 4 hours. Each candidate gets to ask whatever questions of the other they wish. No advance notice. Just the two of them, asking each other questions and if they go over the time allotted during their answer, their mic gets cut. Onto the next question. But it would be telling to not only hear the answers, but you could ( ok, I could ) REALLY get a handle on what kind of person each candidate is just by their respective questions.

I would describe an amateur racist as someone who doesn't think they are an outward racist, but believe that blacks are a slightly lower form of people compared to whites. They are allowing their views and opinions on Obama to be molded through the lens of their racial attitudes. They may not go out and burn crosses or call blacks the "n" word, but they feel they are racially superior.