An Open Letter to John McCain

Senator John McCain: If your campaign does not stop equating Sen. Barack Obama with terrorism, questioning his patriotism and portraying Mr. Obama as "not one of us," I accuse you of deliberately feeding the most unhinged elements of our society the red meat of hate, and therefore of potentially instigating violence.

At a Sarah Palin rally, someone called out, "Kill him!" At one of your rallies, someone called out, "Terrorist!" Neither was answered or denounced by you or your running mate, as the crowd laughed and cheered. At your campaign event Wednesday in Bethlehem, Pa., the crowd was seething with hatred for the Democratic nominee - an attitude encouraged in speeches there by you, your running mate, your wife and the local Republican chairman.

Shame!

John McCain: In 2000, as a lifelong Republican, I worked to get you elected instead of George W. Bush. In return, you wrote an endorsement of one of my books about military service. You seemed to be a man who put principle ahead of mere political gain.

You have changed. You have a choice: Go down in history as a decent senator and an honorable military man with many successes, or go down in history as the latest abettor of right-wing extremist hate.

John McCain, you are no fool, and you understand the depths of hatred that surround the issue of race in this country. You also know that, post-9/11, to call someone a friend of a terrorist is a very serious matter. You also know we are a bitterly divided country on many other issues. You know that, sadly, in America, violence is always just a moment away. You know that there are plenty of crazy people out there.

John McCain, you're walking a perilous line. If you do not stand up for all that is good in America and declare that Senator Obama is a patriot, fit for office, and denounce your hate-filled supporters when they scream out "Terrorist" or "Kill him," history will hold you responsible for all that follows.

John McCain and Sarah Palin, you are playing with fire, and you know it. You are unleashing the monster of American hatred and prejudice, to the peril of all of us. You are doing this in wartime. You are doing this as our economy collapses. You are doing this in a country with a history of assassinations.

Change the atmosphere of your campaign. Talk about the issues at hand. Make your case. But stop stirring up the lunatic fringe of haters, or risk suffering the judgment of history and the loathing of the American people - forever.

We will hold you responsible.

This post first ran in the Baltimore Sun as an op-ed on Oct 10, 2008. Frank Schaeffer is the author of Crazy for God: How I Grew Up as One of the Elect, Helped Found the Religious Right, and Lived to Take All (or Almost All) of It Back. Now in paperback

Follow Frank Schaeffer on Twitter: www.twitter.com/frank_schaeffer

Comments

[myravensong]

Thank you for your words to the McCain / Palin ticket. I think we as citizens of the United States of America have the right to demand that McCain and Palin should be held responsible for any and all harm that occures as a result of this hateful campaign . This is a treasonable act, a disgraceful siege and assault on the American psyche. They have conspired to fuel the fear and terror brought on by 9/11, Influencing some of the most vulnerable in our society. When we are warned of a terrorist attack on our county we assume it is from a foreign foe ....not from within our own souvereign borders. I pray that Obama will beable to help heal this nation and "WeThe People" the Beating Heart of the Republic will Unite once and for all. Thanks again , Myravensong

[smart won]

Sorry, Frank, you'll have to speak up- the man's a little hard of hearing. Oh, he also drifts in and out of reality at times, even calling his wife the "c" word in front of reporters recently in a rage...Jus­t don't let get into anything dangerous. Thanks.

[Roxanna]

Thank you Frank Schaeffer !

We need more people like You (out of Christian Churches)speaking out on this important issue !

We can not afford to stay in this dangerous and kind of ignorance running our country.

[mbrlr]

Well-put, sir. Bless you and, first amendment absolutist though I am, may God save our nation and allow us to get through all this.

[Carolab]

McCain and Palin: APOLOGIZE

[Bex29]

I am hoping that Sarah Palin is just a ploy of the Republican party, a place holder who will drop out at the last minute only to be replaced by someone actually able to serve this country in a positve manner. As a life long Republican, I am being forced for the first time in my life to vote for a Democratic candidate for President. Sarah Palin is a joke, in this country and others and has no place as a candidate for VP. Come on Sarah, do your party a favor and drop out while there is still time or this will be the largest landslide presidential election we've ever seen.

[johnie2xs]

Megalomania has a tin ear to reasonableness.

[bodo]

John McCain committed a major strategic mistake by picking Palin. She contributes no constituency of her own to the ticket, unlike Lieberman, for example, who would have done so. She merely rouses the racists who would have voted for McCain anyway. At the same time she turns off undecided voters. Even many Republicans are now beginning to worry about McCain's erratic decisions.

[EverAnOptimist]

My fear is these hate-filled people at the rallies don't read. Only John McCain can stop this. He must change the direction and tone of his campaign and be clear that this is wrong. It would take courage to stand up at this point, but it would probably go along way toward restoring his image as an honorable man.

Also, Hussein is simply a name. Let's use it and take away the implied stigma. I'm proud to be voting for Barack Hussein Obama, an honorable American.

Ellis

[LUCKY 1]

In the United Kingdom, 'Inciting Hatred', is a criminal offence, under the new terrorist laws introduced after 2001.

Without a doubt, this is what McCain and Palin have been doing quite openly, to the distgust of the decent majority of us.

It would appear, that now that Palin has had a wift of the scent of the White House, she is prepared to get there by any means possible, including deliberatley endangering Barrack Obama, a man who clearly has only honorable intentions.

McCains' campaign should be called to account by the U.S authorities.

[grizhead63]

Outstanding! Mr. Schaeffer has a very unique and inside perspective on this entire phenomenom. Should be front page on Huff Post.

Maybe McCain read this yesterday and it touched his conscience. I really do not believe he was one of the neo-humans who want to take over the country and worse before this race.

[JohnGrrr]

Thank You Sir for injecting your salient thoughts. This hatred and fear mongering MUST NOT STAND

[bucks1414]

Well said!

Bucks Burnett
Dallas, TX

http://TheDemoCats.com

[bucks1414]

Thank you for writing this powerful letter!

Bucks Burnett
Dallas, TX
http://TheDemoCats.com

[gehrhart]

This should be very frightening to any rational person! I was in the U.S. Army and deployed to Bosnia and Kosovo in 1999. Before my deployment we studied the culture, language, and history of that region especially what led up to the civil war and genocide that ultimately consumed the now nonexistent nation of Yugoslavia. Yugoslavia's downfall began with the Serbian leader Slobodan Milosevic and his supporters clamber for power based on stoking the flames of smoldering divisions and cultural hatred. Yugoslavia, while not as advanced as many other western nations, was not a simple third world country accustomed to tribal and ethnic clashes. Remember it was industrialized enough to have hosted the olympics in 1984. While I was there I was amazed at the absolute devastation. I remember standing in an abandoned neighborhood that looked like any American track housing construction site for blocks and blocks but it was actually the reverse of construction these homes were destroyed by shelling. I realized that people just like us lived in that neighborhood, got in their cars in the morning and went to work just like us. A shock went through me when I imagined that I was looking at a neighborhood in America and how with enough of the right stresses that it could happen here too. I see an eerie similarity between Palin and Milosevic with the willingness to approach and cross that line to achieve a goal. It's very hard to put that fire out once lit.

[FrankfromPA]

gehrhart - Thank you for your service to this country. While I do not have your unique perspective on this subject, I will never forget seeing news footage, during the Balkan conflict, of men and women, dressed in Western clothing, running for their lives from sniper fire. Seeing people, who looked like me, in this horrible situation had a profound impact on me. I remember thinking, "how could people who lived together in these communities hate each other so much, as to actually kill each other?"

I never understood how this could be possibly be, until recently, watching the Palin and McCain rallies. What is most disappointing to me is that a United States Senator, a man I used to admire, has allowed his campaign to get so out of hand, that we are now seeing citizens acting like an angry mob, looking to commit harm to another United States Senator. Where is the respect and "love of country" in this conduct? How could a man, who loves to talk about his love for this great country, be a partaker of such a hate filled campaign? While I am grateful for his military experience and cannot imagine the suffering he went through as a POW, this is NO excuse for his current behavior. John McCain can show the American people that he still loves his country by first loving ALL of its people and stop trying to divide us!

[jayburd]

It has become our patriotic duty to educate any and all supporters of John McCain and Sarah Palin who do not know that their campaign has descended into vitriol, hatred, and incitement to violence - and to publicly SHAME those who do know and either don't care or are actually in favor of this tactic.

Shame!