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Republicans surprised at the hateful feeding frenzy they caused

By David W. Shelton | October 11, 2008 |

This year’s presidential election campaign has brought plenty of surprises, upsets, and great moments. It’s also produced some of the lowest and most disgusting examples of vitriolic hate and ignorance. Neither campaign is innocent of mudslinging and misleading ads, but the McCain/Palin campaign actually pretends that they’re surprised at the reaction they’re getting to their horrific campaign.

The snake-oil blathering reached its fever pitch last week just after the Vice Presidential debate when corrupt governor Sarah Palin accused Obama of “pallin’ around with terrorists who would strike at their own country.” Well, imagine the reaction that she got. As if on cue, the rallying supporters shouted their jeers against the Democratic candidate. What they didn’t expect was the shouts of “off with his head” or “kill him!”

Never mind the fact that the accusation is completely false. CNN reviewed the claims and the project records, and points out that the William Ayers, a founding member of the radical Weather Underground group, was involved with a series of bombings in the 1960’s — when Obama was eight years old. Ayers is now Distinguished Professor of education at the University of Illinois at Chicago.

Both Ayers and his wife Bernardine Dohrm, who were fugitives at the time, surrendered themselves to the authorities in 1980. The charges were later dropped due to improper evidence gathering, and both “domestic terrorists” avoided prison. Oh, by the way, no one was hurt in any of their attacks.

Let me be clear: His actions of damaging public property was irresponsible, dangerous, and potentially deadly. One thing is certain, though: they made a point NOT to attack people or individuals. Their fight was against what they viewed as “the system,” which was in the middle of an unpopular war at the time. Their actions were illegal, and they were wrong. In my opinion, they should have served hard time. Alas, they did not, and were given a second chance.

Apparently that second chance is exactly what they needed. Since then, they’ve given back to the community and Ayers has received high recognition for his service by Chicago mayor Richard Daley. In fact, Daley has gone on record for his support of both Obama and Ayers, as reported in the Chicago Tribune back in April.

With Sarah Palin’s (and John McCain’s) irresponsible and incindiary accusations that Obama is “pallin’ around with terrorists,” the frenzied responses really aren’t all that surprising. Apparently, they’re surprising to McCain, though. CNN now reports that the Republican candidate is now trying to calm people down:

At a rally in Minnesota on Friday, a woman told McCain: “I don’t trust Obama. I have read about him and he’s an Arab.

McCain shook his head and said, “No ma’am, no ma’am. He’s a decent family man…[a] citizen that I just happen to have disagreements with on fundamental issues. That’s what this campaign is all about.”

One man at the rally said he was “scared of an Obama presidency.” McCain later told the man he should not fear Obama.

“I want to be president of the United States, and I don’t want Obama to be,” he said. “But I have to tell you, I have to tell you, he is a decent person, and a person that you do not have to be scared as President of the United States.”

Really, Senator? You think he’s decent? I thought he was so contemptable that he was reduced to being “that one.” I couldn’t believe my eyes! This man — who wants to be our PRESIDENT - is actually behaving as if he’s surprised at the fear and hate that he helped to produce! Not only is this a classic case of deception in politics, but it’s downright revolting; horrifying, even.

Please, Senator McCain, stop with the personal attacks and get back to the issues. No, wait. You can’t campaign on the issues because you know that the American public doesn’t want another four years of Republican thrashing.

Corrupt Alaska governor Sarah Palin, who has already proven herself to be the perennial pit bull in drag, throws gallons of fresh new blood into the frenzy with every stump. By using words like “fearful” and “terrorist,” she has defiantly created one of the most volatile situations in recent history:

At a rally Tuesday in Clearwater, Florida, Sarah Palin said Obama was being “less than truthful” about his ties to Ayers. “His own top adviser said they were ‘certainly friendly.’ … I am just so fearful that this is not a man who sees America the way that you and I see America — as the greatest source for good in this world,” she said.

Palin told the crowd that she sees “a pattern in how our opponent has talked about one of his most troubling associations.”

One member of the Palin audience in Jacksonville, Florida, Tuesday shouted out “treason.” And at another rally in the state Monday, Palin’s mention of the Obama-Ayers tie caused one member to yell out: “kill him” — though it was unclear if it was targeted at Obama or Ayers.

Truthfully, folks - who are we kidding? Palin is willingly fanning these flames of hate. No amount of “aw shucks” hockey-mom-and-Joe-sixpack” excrement will excuse it. With each passing statement, she reveals her true ignorance and contempt for intelligence more and more.

When the hell are the American people going to wake up and realize that it’s just this kind of political wrangling that will destroy everything we stand for? Clearly, the Republicans know that they’re in a losing battle, so they’ve pulled out all the stops in this hateful, fear-mongering, damn-near race riot-inducing onslaught.

They’ve appealed to the uneducated, the racists, and the bigots. Is it any surprise at the response they’ve gotten? Every time I think that America has gone beyond this kind of hate and stupidity, this kind of thing comes up.

Please, America — Grow. The. Hell. Up!

As posted on Skipping to the Piccolo

About David W. Shelton

Posts by David W. Shelton are copyright (c)2006, 2007, 2008 by the author. All rights reserved. David W. Shelton is a writer, speaker and activist in Clarksville, and serves on the Clarksville Human Relations Commission. His passions include film and complete equality for all people, and he has worked in various capacities to work toward this goal. He is currently an illustrator, graphic designer, trainer, and is the owner of Imagine Media Solutions. He is an Adobe® Certified Instructor in Photoshop®.

Web Site: http://www.skippingtothepiccolo.com/

Email: dwshelton@att.net