Palin Proves She's "Country Last"

Nothing has proven the utter hollowness of John McCain's "Country First" slogan than Sarah Palin's vile behavior the past few days.

We all know by now that her low-blow, guilt-by-association stump speeches, in part claiming that Obama is "palling around with terrorists" -- called "unsubstantiated," and "racially-tinged" by the Associated Press and "appalling" and "the dark territory of race-baiting and xenophobia" by the New York Times -- are part of a negative attack strategy announced publically by senior Republican operatives on Saturday.

If the goal was to rally the base -- it worked.

During the speeches, the hateful McCain-Palin faithful boo and hiss and shout that Obama is a "terrorist!" They scream "Off with his head!" with impunity. Apparently, the Secret Service is investigating after one Palin groupie issued a death threat to Obama during one speech. "Kill him!" he screamed.

Another Palin worshipper even fired off a racist remark, telling a black camera man covering the event to "Sit down, boy!"

Wow. This is truly ugly stuff.

Will the disgraceful and desperate attacks hurt Obama? Maybe, maybe not. But one thing is clear: they will hurt our country.

Most pollsters agree Obama's distant association with Bill Ayers will probably not save McCain in this election. Barring a major terrorist attack, Bush somehow causing World War III, a massive race-based (Bradley Effect) discrepancy in the polls, or the outright theft of the election, Barack Obama will most likely be the next President of the United States.

How is President Obama supposed to lead our country through two wars and the worst economic disaster since the Great Depression when candidates have spent a month trying, through ugly innuendo, to convince half the population that he's an evil, black Muslim terrorist who hates America?

If anything proves John McCain and Sarah Palin put country last, this is it. (And we won't even get into the Palin family's own connection to violent anti-American extremists)

For argument's sake, let's just say these attacks work beyond McCain and Palin's wildest dreams. By spewing this filth around they sour enough voters to stay home and they actually win. So, imagine it's January 2009 and (God forbid) John McCain is president. Or maybe (even more God forbid!!) the four-time cancer-ridden oldest president-elect of all time croaks on Day One and Sarah Palin is president.

The fact is there's going to be a Democratic Congress no matter who wins the Presidency.

In order to get anything done they're gonna have to work with the Democratic Party and rally the half of the population that didn't vote for them.

How eager will the Democratic Congress and the millions of Obama supporters be to trust and work with people who've spent the last month in essence calling them terrorist sympathizers?

Joe Biden gave a brilliant answer when he was asked during his debate what made him think he could work with the other party. He said that the reason he could do it was that he never, ever questioned the motives of his opponents. Despite 26 years in congress and repeated claims he'll "reach across the aisle," John McCain hasn't learned that lesson.

So, I say, McCain and Palin cease and desist this deranged spectacle. Apologize to Barack Obama. Admit that your attacks are outrageous and fundamentally dishonest. Or else take down your obnoxious signs that say "Country First!"

Comments

[BarackMarley]

As a former(or current) Radical Alaskan Secessionist of course she is putting Alaska first and USA last as a country she believed in seceding from.

Here is an Interview With the Chairman of the AKIP on Palin's Involvement
http://newsone.blackplanet.com/elections/akip-interview-on-palin/

[anon004]

I know it's hard to tell people's motives from a distance, but I'm not sure Palin actually believes a word she says. (Remember how she kept repeatedly lying about the Bridge to Nowhere, even after she was called on it?) I think it's just horrifically overweaning ambition that drives her to say whatever she's told it will take to win. Which is even scarier than if she actually believed this drek. I think that's the scariest thing about her -- she seems to have no moral core, despite all her churchgoing and professed faith. She will literally say anything to win. How does a person like that govern? We should all be very worried about that.

[martymartymarty]

Palin and McCain do not need to peform any ceremonial apology, they just need to stop their behavior and move on. McCain strikes me as a person who *never* apologizes, and Palin would trot out some deflection to put blame on somebody she could then fire. They just need to stop. Someone in the GOP outside of the McCain campaign needs to scold them and insist they stop feeding "the base" that gets so incensed and fired up at their rallies. The fact that it is *only* those base rallies that they are able to play to with this crap should be speaking to them loud and clear. If only they could listen.

[hlthlvr]

Thank you for writing this! It sickens me to realize that Palin's (and some others') hate-filled invectives are--if nothing else--setting Obama up to be not trusted, not respected.

With our country in this serious and desperate situation, can we afford to have half the country divided again? What would it take for us to get back to a country where the president is a man we all look up to? Obama is a good man with integrity. But people too susceptible to falling for the things the McCain camp are saying will be reluctant to believe in his ability to help this country heal from the many wounds that it has sustained in the past 8 years.

We need to find a way to come together around our next president--hopefully Obama.

I would also like to know why Palin is not arrested herself by the secret service for (deliberately) stirring up the audience in such a way that some unstable people go off the deep end and start saying those dangerous things. If they would say those things--what else would they do? I do NOT understand why she isn't considered dangerous to Obama (in a serious way) and have someone remove her from her platform?

[JimGroom]

Nice article Chris. It would be nice to see Palin and her running mate apologize to Obama and the nation for all of the heated nonsense they have been dropping all over the place. It will not happen because they are exactly the 'small' people they are showing everyone and the world. If they were truly in this race for the good of the country they would act like adults. I'm sure that most of us have seen some of the recent audience reaction at their rallies and have been repelled. 'Off with his head,' 'Kill him' and alike show the result of hate mongering and race bating. When you call for the base to sink to the lowest level...THEY DO!

[nj2pa2va]

Despite the vicious rhetoric from palin and the other attack dogs, Obama will prevail simply because he bears their scorn with grace. The man refused to be drawn into the slime and we will all be better off for it.

[DrShilps]

Honestly, as the last couple weeks and debates have shown, most of the undecideds and independents are completely turned off by the negative attack strategy. None of them are falling prey for the Ayers/BFF with terrorist stories, nor are they being turned off when another Palin campaigner refers to Obama as Barack Hussein Obama on the trail. You certainly don't see Obama or Biden bring up the fact that, um, Sarah's husband was part of a group to have Alaska secede from the United States. Uh, yah, country first...if your country consists of just Alaska. I'm actually a little bit bewildered by the fact that McCain/Palin haven't tried to come up with a new strategy, as clearly the fear mongering tactics have seemed to wither on the vine. It's actually refreshing and reinvigorating to see that (maybe, fingers crossed) this time around Americans aren't going to fall for swift boating tom foolery, and are genuinely perhaps interested in putting the country first. McCain Palin should change their slogan to "Politics First".

[BillZBubb]

The Republicans know if they win the presidency, the Democratic congress will cravenly fall in line no matter how badly Obama is treated. The Democrats always have, they always will. The Republicans have nothing to fear on that account. The Democratic congress will cave on every issue.

That is why Obama must win.

[Chris Goldberg - Huffpost Blogger]

That's an excellent point! If the Dem Congress has been unable to stand up to Bush, why would they start on McCain.

[obamadeus]

I've been saying this for a long time. McCain and Palin are campaigning in an attempt to turn 50.1% of the population against the other 49.9% of the population, but if they're elected, McCain will have to be President for 100% of Americans. I don't think they can do that. McCain is basically saying that anyone who supports Obama is friends with terrorists and hates America. He's saying that if you're not from a small town or aren't white, you're not as American as he is. If he hates me, how can he be my leader?