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

[Terriac]

What I have been saying for days now. Only much better. I hope he sees this letter and I hope he takes heed.

[JoeSausage]

Why do you people continue to cut John McCain so much slack? I'm incredulous! He was a smug smart-mouthed party boy at school, just like Dubya. He finished near the bottom of his class. He was a failed fighter pilot who got shot down. He came home from war and dumped his sick wife, for a 23 year-old beer heiress. He became embroiled in a huge economic scandal. He fought for deregulation; was a friend to lobbyists. He voted against veterans. He voted against alternative energy. He was against Bush's tax cuts before he was for them. He supports torture. He's flip-flopped on immigration. He was wrong about Iraq. He knows nothing about the economy. He's got a famous temper. He's played the press like a fiddle, once even referring to them as his base. He's always been a two-faced opportunist, and now you can add hate merchant to charge. I'm sorry he suffered as a POW, but for Christ's sake people, examine the facts! Who IS John McCain? The picture's not pretty.

[gopnot4me]

Amen! Blow back is nice to watch once in a while.
When you have nothing but hate to live on, it's difficult to see what is good.

[TimSledge]

Very well said!

[wingman1]

Well said Frank Schaeffer!

[BrooklynTalk]

I can only concur with the previous comment. Thank you very much - this really had to said. I hope that the message will spread and that people will listen.

[Via]

I made this comment yesterday on another blog, but would like to say it again. I am reading 'The Nazi Seizure of Power' and the similarities between what McCain and Palin are attempting to do and what the Nazi party did are striking. Cannot the Federal Election Commission step in and put a stop to this vile and dangerous hate and fear mongering? Observing the campaign that they are running, I shudder to think what a McCain/Palin presidency would do to this country and the world.

[paulita]

Amen! Thank you so much Mr. Schaeffer! My concern was that he was definitely inciting violence as well.

You only forgot calling him by his middle name, Hussein as if it is an automatic act of terroism to have an Arab middle name, or for that matter even to be Arabic, which Obama is not.

Someone needs to make the point, that though he is not a Muslim, the mere being a Muslim does not equate one with terroism, any more than being a Christian equates one with bombing abortion clinics!

[uc1000]

If you notcie during the primary campaign, Obama would immediately address hecklers of Hillary Clinton. The actions stopped pretty quickly. McCain is a man incensed with attack and confusion. Palin is full of ignorance. McCain was a POW simply because he wasn't treated like the rest of the soldiers and was allowed to fly even when evidence showed he showed poor judgment as a pilot before his crash. McCain also showed poor judgment as a Senator during the Keating 5 scandal. These actions are documented for the public. Do we have any instances on when Barack Obama has been noted on showing poor judgment on public record? I haven't seen any.

[MPeter]

Thank you Frank. You are a courageous and honest man. Thank you for standing up and calling McCain and Palin on this hatred and reckless attitude. It is sad that NO leader in the Republican Party, the National media or even the government has found courage to call him and ask him and his supporters to tone down. They are inspiring and inciting hate and violence but when that violence happens as they wish, no one will be able to control it. Is this what they want? They need to stop the nonsense.

[suzonne]

The hatred and lies being spewed by the Republican party is disgusting.

[robiform]

I'm glad to see that this post also appeared in the Baltimore Sun. Frank, you write some terrific posts here, but you're basically preaching to the choir at Huffington Post. The Baltimore Sun is in the MSM, and hopefully, people who might not have made up their minds about who they will vote for in 3 1/2 weeks will see what you've written and will make up their minds to vote for real change!

Obama/Biden 2008/2012

[whognu]

Mr. Schaeffer, thank you for saying what needed to be said. McCain's headlong rush down this evil path is a frightening thing to behold. All good Americans need to stand up and say "enough."