Straight Talk Express is the New Hate Train

Kill him! Off with his head! Bomb Obama! The Terrorist! Those are not the cries heard at skinhead rallies. Those are the lizard-brain rantings of a small fringe of GOP loyalists at political rallies as a hate talk express moves from one small town to the next.

I'm proud that my hometown was not a place where Sarah Palin's presence caused rally-goers to abandon their decency. There were no pitchfork-toting mobs screaming with red-faced rage when Palin came to my hometown.

But nationally, the GOP is in the midst of a meltdown that is so serious that they run the risk of branding themselves for a generation. The new brand is one that they won't be proud of. When the smell of fire and brimstone disappears at these rallies, the progress of democracy will have been set back decades. Hopefully, historians will hold the Palin fringe crowd responsible for this new violent voice. McCain is a bad choice for the presidency, but I don't believe he has the heart of a bad man.

However, the water Palin swims around in is murky and turbulent as she panders to her party's lowest nature. McCain's political experience is telling him that all of that Palin-driven rage will not save the GOP. It is likely that McCain will lose this election. At this point he knows that. But he also sees the bigger picture. He and a majority of party leadership are concerned that the reptilian Republican image that is being created by the Palin fringe could cause a catastrophe. Polls are showing that a landslide defeat for the GOP is in the works. My prediction is that the Democrats will gain eight new senate seats and as many as 25 new House seats. No desperate mobs screaming "Kill Obama" will change that. McCain has the good sense to understand that this election cycle will only be one lost battle. But he also seems to recognize that the GOP runs the risk of losing an entire war if they continue down the Palin path.

I'm old enough to remember hate politics that were brought to life in small, desperate places like Birmingham, Alabama and Jackson, Mississippi in the 1960's. I remember the faces of four young black girls who died in a Birmingham church. Hate and ignorance caused those deaths. The firebomb that killed those children was built by the same kind of hate that McCain is concerned about today.

Last week, McCain was booed by rally crowds when he tried to urge his flock to find their moral compass. As this campaign moves to a close, it is apparent that McCain sees the dangers of hate while Palin continues to develop it as big political capital.

1964 was the year Palin was born. It is also the year when a dozen Americans were murdered by thugs who despised the people they murdered simply because of race, religion, and politics. Palin tells us she reads "everything." If that is true, she should go back and read that history or at least look at the pictures that show what is possible when we are urged to despise one another.

Comments

[ElBruce]

I think too many people give McCain too much credit. I'm tired of hearing "he's smarter than that," or "he's better than that," or "he's a decent person, but..." We're past that. He created this mess, on purpose. He should be held responsible for the behavior of his campaign. Quit giving him a pass.

[thefirehorse]

Its not that he's smarter, a decent person, or even have smart people around him, its his responsibility because he is the big War Hero Leader. So now he should use his leadership and stop this madness.

[Progress08]

Ignorant people are always quick to hate. This will backfire on Palin. Hopefully the Buckley's and Kristols will try to wrest control of their party back from the Jesus-freaks.

[BarackMarley]

How will these angry mobs react when they find out that Palin is an America-Hater

CNN Just Did a Story Covering Palin's Relationship with the Radical Alaskan Secessionist Group, AKIP

Watch it Here
http://newsone.blackplanet.com/elections/cnn-covers-palins-akip-connection/

[bygollymissmolly]

Well, it's about time. Imagine what the MSM would have done if it was Michele Obama affiliated with a similar group. It would have been news 24x7. I find it absolutely amazing that the MSM has ignored this important story. I read today that if Sarah happened to make it to the VP slot, her association with AIP might get in the way of the government giving her a security clearance.

[Kindheart]

I agree that he is bad for the presidency, but disagree with your other premise. It is his campaign who is allowing this hateful behavior and the person in charge of that campaign is Johnny, himself. The fish smells from the head down.

[thefirehorse]

You are so right.

[Nishnabe]

Mike, right on target. Consider another historic situation. After the Custer defeat in 1876, for more than ten years native people were targets of rabid attacks by the media and politicians. Constitutional guarantees for Indian rights went out the window. Here and there were small victories in protecting our people but the sum total of this period was the Wounded Knee Massacre in 1890 where 300 unarmed Lakota men, women, and children were slaughtered. 23 Medals of Honor were given to soldiers who bayoneted children and eviscerated women as they lay bleeding in the bitter cold. Don't know about all this? Consider why that episode of US history has been swept under the rug but continues to this day. Pine Ridge, where the massacre took place, is the poorest place in America. Not Appalachia, not the Missippie rural river delta, but Pine Ridge. Images of Redskin football and casino cash, both lies, dominate the discussions about Indians. It is not hard to stop this, McCain and the MSM need to step up and say, "we will not tolerate this kind of hate and racism in our nation."

[LewDan]

My paternal great-grandfather was a slave until he was 21, at 5 he witnessed his mother's sale on the auction block. My maternal grandmother, though very light-skinned was the darkest of her siblings and as such something of an embarrassment. People generally assumed the others were white until they saw my grandmother. Her brothers and sisters were all "passing for white, " living as if they were white to avoid the problems associated with being black in America. But, I'll never forget the day my grandmother explained to me that while she also had native American ancestors we didn't generally recognize it because they had been "passing for black."

I was a teenager in the sixties during the civil-rights movement, so when as a child grandma told me that I was shocked. Until that day it had never occurred to me that there were people in America so vilified and abused that they would willingly pretend to be black and consider it a step up! It was also the day I began to understand why white America has trouble even recognizing racism. Its far less obvious if you're living with it but not living under it.

[SaintZak]

I truly believe the moment this election is called the Republican Party will blame SP for the disaster . After this (plus troopergate and tthe looming house scandal) she's finished politically.

I've mentioned this before. In the video showing supporters being asked about BO, one woman smiles and calmly says, "Its all in the bloodline." That' has very definite neo-nazi/white power overtones. The Republican Party will need to disance itself from this thhe moment the election is over. They will need a major re-tooling and change of direction if they want tto remain at all credible.

[LoloZ]

What a great post. The hate train, that's what it is.

[bob8788]

The republican party needs to change and separate them selves from the few who are just preaching hate, Like hannity , ann coulter and the rest of the hate mongers out there and they wonder why they don't have the black vote

check out these videos and what I am talking about , just hate hate hate

http://www.barackobamacans.blogspot.com/

[LoloZ]

That's about the scariest video i've seen in a while. My God.

[voter42]

I wonder where the Black Republicans are. JC Watts, Michael Steele,what do you think of your party at this time?

[thefirehorse]

What will McCain say if something happens to Obama or someone close to him, It's not my fault, I didn't do nothing, I don't have responsibility for those people. Well that's not enough. I spent time in the military to, and I was taught that the leader is responsible for his troops. Now is McCain a leader or a cheerleader?

[michiganfan]

"Now is McCain a leader or a cheerleader?"

I think the answer to this question should be obvious...

Give me an H
Give me an A
Give me a T
Give me an E
What does that spell?...

[rex2112]

PALIN

[Insearchoftruth]

Let us not think that Palin has come this far without significant and influential support. Clearly, her conservative credentials are defined by her strong evangelical beliefs, which leads me to ask, where is that leadership? To what extent do evangelical leaders find truth in the hatred Palin incites and encourages? It is my understanding that the GOP is essentially controlled by the evangelical faction. Is Palin the lone voice for them? SHE IS NOT ALONE! Out of concern for the clear and present danger to the peace in this country, the leadership of the extremists must be known and their true purposes revealed. Their conversation and underestandings must be moved from the darkness into the light. The impact on the GOP is of no concern. The health and well being of our society is of great concern. Our diversity is our strength and those who think otherwise do not have the best interest of the nation in their hearts.

[rex2112]

Well stated. I too am gravely concerned. There is cyclical evidence Sarah, every so many years, religious zealots say God has given them the directive and tehy wreak havoc on the rest of the more normal Christians, Jew, Muslims, every where they can trample those less powerful. We've seen it throughout history. Are we to go back to burnign those that don't follow the exact religious doctrine they follow?
The poeple pressing this path need to be taken out of power, out of their places that control any form of government! This needs to stop, we can't allow it!

[Glenn1441]

Thank you, Mr. Papantonio...

You write: "McCain is a bad choice for the presidency, but I don't believe he has the heart of a bad man."

I respond: Yes, he is a very bad choice for the presidency, but I think it pointless to try to discern the inner workings of John McCain's heart.

McCain is the author of his presidential campaign. As much as Palin seems to enjoy her racist role, she cannot be held solely responsible for the rhetoric. Indeed, her ambition dictates that she parrot whatever rhetoric is handed to her. She could very well be stumping for peace, love and tye-dye had that been the campaign message.

But John McCain must be held responsible for the nature of his campaign. Period. For whatever reason he chose to engage this hateful round of attacks, he nonetheless remains very much 'on the hook' for inciting volatile emotions and menacing remarks. By choosing racist rhetoric as a campaign strategy, McCain in fact becomes a racist. His admonishment to the now infamous 'He's an Arab' rally goer did nothing for Arabs or Arab-Americans, and his response to Representative Lewis' remarks were outrageously self-righteous -- the words of a man in denial.

McCain has been engaged in a very public battle with his own demons the moment he stepped onto the military stage. That battle has only grown more intense, and we are all the losers for it.

[KateinAZ]

This was a really excellent post. Thank you.

[robbie44]

McCain talks his @#$% to Hannity,lets see if he talks it to Obama tomorrow at the debate.and if he does will he look him in the eyes?

[perclidestide]

As said before, to see this explosive MCain/Palin spectacle and the fact that they want to be president/vice president respectively, is a very shameful display of arrogance and political ugliness.
I feel badly for their ordinary, but gullible American followers.

[Britobserver]

Sarah Palin " a breath of fresh air for the Republicans or a whiff of poison gas?