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“A dream you dream alone is only a dream; a dream you dream together is reality.” — Yoko Ono
Oct
11
The Racist Campaign
Filed Under 2008 election, Democrats, Republicans, assholes, bigotry, media, politics, race and racism | Posted by Cara |
I’m not usually a Jezebel fan, but this is right on:
The new hallmark of McCain and Palin rallies is anger: anger stemming from the increasingly likelihood of an Obama win, as the more generous writers at Politico have put it; or from frustration at the media, according to Time; or at Democrats and the bailout more generally, as the New York Times sees it. Well, as I and plenty of other people, including Greg Sargent at Talking Points Memo, see it, it’s time to stop pretending that this is some grassroots anger movement. This is something that the McCain campaign was counting on, planning for, deliberately fomenting and is happy to see happening.
Don’t believe me? Let’s go to the video. When the worst of this began at McCain and Palin rallies on Monday, the talking point from the surrogates was that there was no evidence that the candidates heard their supporters shout “Terrorist!” or “Kill him!.” Watch the videos — it’s not only audible from where the television cameras are, it’s plain as day that both candidates heard it. In another video, Sarah Palin addresses a different guy shouting “Terrorist!” with “Bless your heart” and remarks that her son is in Iraq protecting his right to say those things. That’s not exactly calling off the dogs. At another rally, she even acknowledges a different guy calling her “a hottie” — but, then, she chastises him and asks him to stop. And McCain let another supporter rant on about “socialists” and “hooligans” taking over “our country” yesterday. The candidates have had numerous, direct opportunities to interrupt their stump speeches and call for an end to the increasingly vitriolic and hate-filled speech of their supporters and have no only declined to do so, but continued to encourage it.
Head over to read the full post. While the increasing desperation of the McCain campaign may in itself be amusing, this shit we’re talking about here is no joke. It’s outright racist, and it’s downright dangerous, and it’s something we just can’t afford to ignore.
Call this what it is: racist, fearmongering and unacceptable. And do it loudly.
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“Men, their rights, and nothing more; women, their rights, and nothing less.” — Susan B. Anthony
I believe that McCain always intended to fall back on racism as a political tactic. Many see this for what it is but how many will value whiteness enough to internalize his message as good? He could not have been more obvious as to his intentions than when her called Barack “that one” and then that same night refused to shake his hand.
While what McCain is doing is terrible by the same account viewing this election on a referendum on race is equally wrong. Even if Obama is elected racism will not disappear the next day. Voting for Obama because you think that it shows how “liberal you are” vs whether or not you think he is capable of leading is also a racist act. To me this has been nothing more than a great display of privilege with no real change on the horizon.
I agree. Especially given weeks of not calling out racist comments about Obama – and quips about terrorism or secret Islam – and while using talking points that seem to goad them. Of course, now, a couple of days before the final debate (and right after Obama issued a veiled challenge to bring it up there) he starts distancing himself from that a bit. All that suggests calculation to me.
I’ve already did. I spent most of last week (it is Sunday morning here in the Eastern Time Zone) searing the McCain-Palin camp and the Augusta Chronicle for their cheap attacks on Obama.
These displays are definitely troubling, but I take solace in the fact that more than anything they bespeak desperation. These death rattles (while racist) are less fear mongering than transparent overcompensation. We’re going to win this one! Woot!
Great article you linked to. I haven’t seen it getting any ink, so in case you haven’t heard, the McCain camp is now, as it turns out, openly racist:
In defense of one of their creepy Obama/Ayers hate America commercials, the McCain Camp has cited two “radical” projects that the education foundation they worked on had funded: “one having to do with a United Nations-themed Peace School and another that focused on African-American studies.”
Of course, the SAME commercial reminds us that Ayers was a terrorist, so the McCain campaign officially considers promoting diversity to be in the same class of radicalism as blowing up the capitol building. And they even had the nerve to spell this out, referring to the schools as
“radical in the eye of this campaign and we imagine in the eyes of most Americans.”
I can’t find a single opinion piece about this anywhere.
http://www.politifact.org/truth-o-meter/statements/790/
Ha, my reaction to that article was the same as yours–not usually big on Jezebel, but credit where credit’s due.
Also, I am inclined to agree with Renee that this is not something McCain has accidentally fallen into or whatever. You might think after the racist tactics employed against him by Bush way back when he would have the decency not to turn around and use racism for his own gain, but then you’d probably remember that any shred of decency he could have ever claimed to had has been completely demolished over the course of the past five months.
Not just using it, but hiring the very people who used those tactics against him. He knew exactly what he paying for.
Help stop the hate – here are three things you can do to make a difference right now:
1. Sign the petition to end incitement of hatred by McCain/Palin.
2. Write your Congressperson about it.
3. Write a letter to the editor of your local paper.
And spread the word!
[...] line of attack was losing them more points than it was winning them — and you know, inciting hate-based violence — the McCain/Palin campaign has seemingly switched tactics again. On Saturday, Palin started [...]