The Secret Service Should Investigate the McCain-Palin Campaign Incitements to Harm Obama

If the late, mercurial prize-winning novelist/journalist Norman Mailer were alive, he might very well say that Sarah Palin's political perfume has more than a whiff of fascism about it. Or, he might have said that Sarah Palin is the newest generation of hate and fear and that she loves her role as Empress of venality and slander.

He might have made either or both of these remarks, because he was a writer who loved to stroll into and out of the psyches of other people. This, of course, is entirely to be expected by a man of letters, an intellectual, a poet of the darkest of souls, and certainly a literary provocateur.

Unfortunately, the McCain-Palin ticket's only chance for electoral success this presidential campaign year is to start a street fight about Obama and ignore the economy and health care and the war in Iraq. In other words, Mailer would have been right about Palin and her surrogate McCain, but wrong about arguing with them on their turf.

Instead, I suggest the following solution to forestall the McCain-Palin lowest-common-denominator tactics. I propose changing the game and raising the ante by formally requiring the Director of the Secret Service to investigate the McCain-Palin campaign for inciting crowds at rallies to make threats against a presidential candidate.

To point out the obvious, this request for redress does not have to be done by Senator Obama himself. It could literally be done by anyone of good conscience. In fact, this editorial itself would easily serve as justification for contacting Senator McCain and Governor Palin and questioning them and their speechwriters about their incendiary remarks about Senator Obama.

I know. I know. I know. The first amendment of the U.S. Constitution protects freedom of speech for all American citizens. In addition the case law (see New York Times v. Sullivan) adds even a further layer of protected speech where public figures are involved. Nonetheless, the Secret Service is statutorily mandated to protect major presidential and vice presidential candidates and their spouses within 120 days of a general presidential election.

Let me put this particular law in perspective. Journalists in print and in broadcast have documented astounding incidents of threatening remarks directed at a presidential candidate, Senator Barack Obama. A very, very brief recounting of such phrases and epithets directed at Senator Obama by McCain-Palin supporters would include: "Kill him"; "Off with his head"; "Treason"; and "Terrorist."

Simply pause for a moment and imagine in your mind's eye either of the following two scenarios. I rise from my desk, pick up a simple black pen, find a piece of blank white typing paper, print the words, "Off with his head," and mail it to the Obama for President campaign headquarters after I have inscribed my return address on the envelope. Or, I attend a presidential rally for Senator Barack Obama or Senator John McCain, and while standing in the crowd, I yell, "Kill him." "Treason." "Off with his head." "Terrorist."

In either event, I assure you -- in fact, I would bet you a nickel -- that I would soon understandably and justifiably find myself being detained by the Secret Service for a lengthy questioning and possible felony arrest.

Governor Palin and Senator McCain individually and collectively speak of Senator Obama as someone engaged in direct or indirect acts of terror against the United States of America. To accomplish these elaborate public accusations, Governor Palin and Senator McCain must first meet with their staffs; draft the specific language of their speeches; review, edit and approve the specific language of their speeches; deliver their stump speeches repeatedly; and then witness and enjoy the effect their speeches create in the crowds.

Again, if I sat down in a room with a group of men and women tacitly sworn to a common goal that involved violently haranguing a presidential candidate, I would for a second time submit that I would be detained by the federal authorities and questioned and possibly arrested.

Every few years or decades, we are taught or re-taught that the United States of America is a nation of laws and not of men or women with power and influence. Presidents have been impeached and resigned office. A vice president pleaded nolo contendere and resigned his office. Congressmen have been fined and jailed. The laws of the United States apply to everyone all the time equally. Presidential candidates are no exception.

Year after year, the security of the President and other high officials becomes more precarious. Yet, Governor Palin and Senator McCain are now engaged in the pattern and practice of inciting hate groups of every sort. They give their political crowds the red meat of hatred and bigotry and racism. When public figures behave in such an atrocious manner, it gives others permission to ape their opinions and permission to act upon their own deepest prejudices.

No one expects the Secret Service to sit Senator McCain and Governor Palin down and read them the Riot Act about inciting acts of violence. However, it would not be out of balance in the real world for the Secret Service to point out the security risks involved in McCain and Palin daily roiling their supporting crowds to the point of their becoming a mob and thereby endangering another presidential candidate.

Lastly, it may possibly be true that technically neither Senator McCain nor Governor Palin could ever be convicted of threatening Senator Obama, a presidential candidate. But this metaphor is true. Senator McCain and Governor Palin have walked right up to the line of what is legal and illegal and have spit across it.

Comments

[TN60]

I agree and for a long time have been calling on the Secret Service to do their job and call the McCain/Palin for incitement directed at Senator Obama.

When rallies are shown on C-SPAN, I enjoy watching the Secret Service try to do their job on the rope line when Senator Obama works the crowd. I noticed the other day that no less than 7 Secret Service agents were behind and beside Obama and can only guess that the number has increased since all the "terrorist" lies from Palin and the hate filled audiences that she generates.

She is, not only inciting hatred during this campaign, but what about when he become president? The hatred won't stop, it will just get more animated for the angry bigoted crackpots out there.

We have a good family man to protect from this filthy spewing who has two beautiful children, We have a president to protect from this ugly discourse once he is elected and hopefully will set this country on a right course AND We have the United States of America to protect from the uncivilized few who buy into this bigoted hate.

I hope to see the day when this Palin character gets her just rewards for this hateful campaign she has chosen to run with her toady, McCain.

[AnalyzeIT]

Not only did McCain, mostly Palin incite hate crimes against Obama, she did it to the American citizens as well.

Anyone, could now be in danger of what she did all because we support one candidate over another.
There have already been quite a few confrontations reported already - and heaven forbid a d*eath should happen due to the out-burst.

She has yet, nor has her campaign managers realized that if anything happens to an American citizen, (harmed) directly related to this election - she can be named as an accessory to create violence.

Is what she did and still doing, CONSIDERED an act of "terrorism" on an American citizen.

She really is not all that bright.

OBAMA-BIDEN

[Michale32086]

Uh....

It was already investigated.

And the US Secret Service found no credible evidence to support a threat against Obama was made..

Michale.....

[TN60]

Would you please enlighten us as to where you got your information????

[robeson]

AFP reported that the Secret Service closed down the investigation because their agents didn't hear any threats, and they're not sure the threats were vocalized.

"We take every threat very seriously. Every time we receive or are reported information like that, we follow up," said Secret Service spokesman Ed Donovan.
However, he cautioned that at the McCain rally, "no Secret Service agent overheard any threatening statement and no threatening statements were reported by law enforcement or the general public."
We did make some inquiries after the Washington Post reported on Tuesday that a someone had yelled 'kill him,'" he added.
Donovan said it wasn't clear whether the threat was actually vocalized...."
For those reasons, he added, the investigation was dropped."

This Secret Service statement should bring concern to everyone.

[nunzia]

Uh....

If those unAmerican attendees were yelling "kill him" about a Repugnican candidate, their
NAMES would be all over the msm. It's a good bet that they're on video, so why don't we
know who they are?? Talk about "domestic terrorism"!

[DebB]

Because they were yelled out by republican operatives in the crowd and then they probably disappear. Do they think we are stupid??

I must admit that Palin's wailin' is inciting hatred. I don't like to use the word toward another person but she is sure pushing the buttons in me - I VERY MUCH DISLIKE her more and more.

[BlueAsh]

I agree with everything you say here and hope the Secret Service aren't hampered by anybody to do their job and do it well. Right now, it looks that McCain and Palin can't win the election fair and square, so they are hoping for an alternative, no doubt.

As for your comment about this land being "a nation of laws and not of men and women of power and influence" -- well, uhumm, not so much. As we have seen over the past eight years, men and women (of this nation) with power and influence have stepped over the lines quite a few times--they even managed to invade another country under false pretenses! And what has happened?

[chf2go]

What they are doing is plotting to incite hate crimes. It does not matter if that was not their intent, it is what most reasonable people could anticipate would happen should they repeat over and over the ties to domestic terrorists that were simply made to scare up some votes. Those words yelled at their political rally cries of those phrases and words mentioned above are nothing less and they must be investigated.

How can we have this team of Mavericks in the worst sense of the word (they will live to regret that battle cry) bringing down the political debate to a Frankenstein mob level of ignorant followers? It's hard to believe in this age of information that these people will believe that Obama is many things other than what he is - a patriotic American running for the highest office in the land so he can make a difference in the lives of everyday people like them.

[hchriste]

The founder of this organization is a John McCain supporter and most of the board were Republicans this set of lies is very disrespectful of the dedicated people who worked for free to improve the education system of Chicago. Maybe the founder should pull her endorsement of John McCain just to respect the people who worked so hard. Maybe Mr. Ayers who the McCain campaign calls a terriorist in their ads should sue the McCain campaign in every state were the ad plays. Ayers would win, he was not convicted of a crime, he is a private citizen slaundered by the McCain campaign and in a lawsuit it would be up to McCain to prove Ayers was a trerriorist which they couldn't do. This should be done by Ayers or some organization helping him so an end can be put to these trash campaigns.

[HalR]

I agree with your posting completely, especially Mr. Ayers should sue the McCain campaign in every state where the ad is being played, the people who worked in Chicago including ACORN worked to improve the education system. McCain/Palin are of course against this, evidenced by his lack on voting for education bills, especially the G.I. bill. Then after passage trying to take credit for it.

[heartsick]

McCain and Palin are guilty of stoking the fires of hatred. The entire McCain campaign is guilty as charged and the Secret Service does have an obligation to arrest that Virginia Campaign idiot that instructed campaign workers to go out and make comparisons to Obama and Osama. What could his goal in suggesting such a thing have been other than to invite hatred against Obama?
In many people, there is a compulsion to act on their hatred. We all know that! Just look at how the crime rate spirals when people are fearful in this Country. Look at our history!
Palin is particularly good at "throwing the rock and hiding her hand". She knows what she is doing and I have no doubt that she heard the incendiary responses to her obvious race baiting and hate speak. She is a despicable woman and the fact that McCain picked her as his VP shows that he is too reckless to be POTUS.

[Academic]

Just imagine what the US media's response would be if these were Barack Obama's supporters doing the same thing and the Rev. Jeremiah Wright was fanning the flames of racism at an Obama or even a general Democrat Party rally. It's clearly double standards. And while the FBI and other legal authorities should be exercising themselves about every nutcase who vents his ill-educated and racist anger, one can divorce this from the fact that the McCain campaign is behind the scenes actively and vigorously orchestrating this racist conduct. They've lost the argument - if indeed they ever had any, and like the cowardly bullies that they are, are resorting to what they know best - division, hatred and racist attacks in the earnest hope that sufficient numbers of American voters will buy into their odious agenda.

Professor Dr. Stanley Collymore
London, England.

[plafayette]

Spot On!

[nunzia]

YES.

[robeson]

If the roles were reversed, heads would be smashed and mass arrests made. There have already been arrests for wearing anti-Bush t-shirts.

[MsDebate]

I don't think this is over by a long shot. I really feel for McCain's ticket when they lose on November 4th and have this same man as the Commander of Chief of where they live. They will be trying to be his best friend so he will not press charges against them for numerous offenses.

It is absolute treason that they are doing this and then pretending they didnt mean any harm, BULLSHIT!!

[nunzia]

They will do to Obama what they did to Clinton for 8 years.
The reichwing media is assured of jobs, books, speeches, etc.
Let's hope that Obama keeps his truth squads and response team organized
and active during his terms. America is going to need it.

[Glenn1441]

Thank you, Mr. Kearney. I am pleased to know someone else feels as I do.

I believe we have more of a case than one might think. Let us recall that it was Palin's RNC speech, with its Westbrook Pegler reference to 'small town values,' that revealed, with no uncertainty, where things were headed. Beyond Pegler's infamy as an anti-Semite and racist, he is also WELL remembered for his declared wish that some 'white southerner' would spill Bobby Kennedy's brains on the pavement. With that quote -- delivered by a hatchet-mom from Alaska, the call to arms was sounded. Pegler. Hate's hero.

And the phantoms of racial violence and assassinations are ever eager to respond. That's right. Assassinations.

By authorizing and delivering that speech, Palin, and thus McCain, knowingly tossed a deck of murderous intentions onto the airwaves, with a glimmer of the hope that some derailed ghoul would be all too happy to play 52-card pick up.

Together, McCain and Palin are the ultimate Trojan Horse, carrying within their belly the last dregs of the far right demogogues' army of hate.

The Palin speech is the smoking gun, folks. The recent, incendiary rhetoric bears out that statement as fact.

[AnalyzeIT]

Yes, thank you for printing that. I treid to find that in her RNC speech - when I went back to try and find the speech - the speech I found was minus her reference to Pegler.

Why won't the media talk about that?

Hannity, Limbaugh, O'Reilley - where are you on spreading the truth.

"Freakin" hypocrites.....................

OBAMA-BIDEN

[Glenn1441]

Yes, The Pegler quote was excised from transcripts.
But happily, it was Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. who first brought the Palin speech and its subtle tolling of the racist bell to our attention. I believe he has the entire speech recorded, for display in posterity's Hall of Infamy, lol...

It's anybody's guess what the real fallout for McCain will be once the election is over.

McCain has now thoroughly destroyed his reputation. And since I still do not count him out, in spite of Obama's current 10-point lead, I will only suppose that should McCain lose, as he deserves to, he will retire from politics, and nurse his wounds 'til his last day. He cannot seriously believe that he will be treated as anything less than a pariah -- a wire too hot to touch -- and will be ostracized in the Senate with open hostility.

[alvdh1]

He should be suspended without pay and forced to write a letter of apology to Obama and then forced to work on the Obama campaign until November 5, 2008. Just what America needs is another law enforcement official filled with hate.

[mnash]

I did send an email to the appriopriate people regarding the sheriff. I did hear some action is pending.

[Icantbelieveher]

Like what? A suspension with pay? I thought it was illegal for a law enforcement officer to endorse a political candidate while in uniform!

I would hope he would be fired! Then he could join the soup lines everyone else has to be on when he loses his home! How much would he love John McCain then?

[SeanGardner]

Thanks Mr. Kearney. I wholeheartedly agree with you.

Actually, most people don't know that Senator Obama received Secret Service protection earlier than any presidential candidate in history - literally right after he announced his candidacy. That was pretty disjointing at the time, but there was good reason. Like most black, latino, asian-american and jewish members of congress, Senator Obama gets hate mail. But the volume of hate mail was ridiculous even months leading up to his announcement.

I only volunteer for Obama, but I know a few people who actually work for him. They have told me that he has received hateful e-mails, postal mail, and phone calls daily, and, in certain Southern States states, his offices have been vandalized and his canvassers have heard people call him racial epithets that will not be repeated in my post here.

So I have to believe that The Secret Service has confiscated tapes from network and/or cable news sound technicians, and private citizens, to pin point the bomb throwers at McCain-Palin rallies who have yelled "Kill him." "Treason." "Off with his head." "Terrorist."...As well as the person who called an African-American sound technician a racial epithet and then told him to "Sit down boy."

Unfortunately, I expect it to get a little worse over the coming weeks before it gets better, as Obama is pulling away from McCain in most early voting, and in state polls and newspaper endorsements...

[demfriend]

I have been absolutely sickened by the racism and hate that the GOP ticket is spewing all over us. Knowing how old McCain is and that he is older than me I know he also share memories of three men who wanted only to make our country and us better. They stood up and made speeches about how we together could make changes and heal and we believed them and in them. It only took one man (supposedly) one weapon and hate/anger a desire to stop these men for them to be silenced. Thankfully we have their words to read and learn from still but the men were not allowed to do what they saw as a way to hope and a future we all could live together in. For McCain to have whipped up this hatred at the level he has with his campaign makes me wonder where he was when these great men fell? There is no control of the hatred once unleased in a place where perception says it is ok to hate and to be as racist as you want to be. McCain has said it's ok.

[LewDan]

Brilliant! Let's respond to the hate by becoming an openly fascist state. We know what they are doing is protected speech, but let's use the Secret Service to harass and intimidate them! One question though. If what they were saying were TRUE would you still be calling for felony investigations? If Sen. Obama WERE a terrorist would calling him a terrorist be a felony? If Sen. Obama WAS committing treason would calling out treason be a felony?

Do you want courts deciding what's protected speech based upon whether or not they agree with it? A court like the conservative republican packed Supreme Court that overruled the voters and gave us George W. Bush as President?

We all know McCain/Palin are not actually inciting violence. The are recklessly inflaming racial prejudice which could well result in violence. The former is illegal the latter is protected speech. As a nation we long ago decided we'd prefer the danger of incidental violence over the danger of government deciding what we could and couldn't say. If that were to change I'd vote for libel and slander laws with teeth over brown-shirt intimidation by the Secret Service.

[Itchybiscuit]

Did I miss something? Are you saying that anyone, regardless of background can just up and run for president without extensive national security checks? Are you mental? All you have is two 'IF's'. What if the moon was made of cheese? What if there was no such thing as gravity or the laws of physics? These are absolutely pointless ruminations - just like your 'what IF Obama was treasonous?' or 'what IF he were a terrorist?'.

If this is what passes for debate in your life, I suggest you get out more and stop watching Murdoch's henchmen at Fox.

[Yermammy]

Thank you, Mr Kearney. Look at my profile. My thoughts exactly. The SS is supposed to react immediately- and did not. The mere mention of the phrase "kill him" should have prompted the agents to action. Who the "kill him" shout was directed at could have been determined later- after the shouter was subdued and arrested. This inaction puts the Secret Service in a dismal light. I admire them much the same way I admire firefighters and policemen, but admonishment is due. And accountability from this female provocateur calling herself a Vice Presidential Candidate. I wouldn't trust her, as librarian, let along leader in waiting, with control of the Nuclear Football.

[Glenn1441]

Actually, the Secret Service did investigate immediately. What Kearney is calling for, I believe, is something much, much broader.