Silence In The Face Of Hate Makes McCain-Palin Unfit To Lead

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/baratunde-thurston/silence-in-the-face-of-ha_b_132660.html
Baratunde Thurston
Posted October 7, 2008 | 04:50 PM (EST)
Silence In The Face Of Hate Makes McCain-Palin Unfit To Lead


The Washington Post has reported on a Palin rally in which the crowd turned on the media and hurled racial epithets at a sound man:



Huffington Post has reported on screams of "treason" launched in reference to Obama.

I've written about the ugliness of McCain and Palin in painting Obama as a mysterious, scary terrorist and ignoring calls to "kill him."

Everything we need to know about John McCain and Sarah Palin is summed up by their reaction to these incidents. Their positions on health care no longer matter. Their tax policies are irrelevant. Their talking points have been made moot. Not only do they bring out the worst in people, but they feed the worst in people. They are basing their campaign on painting Obama as a terrorist and monster. They are cultivating prejudice, racism, fear and ugliness.

America has been down this path before, and it is the exact opposite of what this country needs right now.

History awaits moments like these. We are on the brink. When a society's pent up frustration and anger searches for an outlet, it is a leader's job to step up and focus those wild emotions away from destruction and toward something productive. At least that is what a good leader would do.

A true leader would stop their politicking for a moment to remind the crowd that we are all Americans, that a sitting U.S. Senator is not a terrorist, that calls for murder have no place in a democracy because we work out our differences through debate and argument and law.

A true leader would recognize the pain ripping through his or her people and would seek to comfort them and then inspire them. A true leader would empathize with his or her people and then ask the nation to rise above our baser instincts, to come together as we've done before.

A true leader would lift his or her people up, not prey on their fears, their insecurities, their ignorance and their anger.

John McCain and Sarah Palin are not fit to lead this country. They have seized on a terrified populace and encouraged terror. This way leads to war, to hate, to self-destruction.

We can be a better nation than this, and we deserve better leaders than these.

Selective hearing? Cowardice? Or a deliberate effort to elicit just that sort of violent rhetoric, so that some wackadoodle out there decides to take a shot at the "terrorist" for beloved Miss Alaska?

A pleasure to give this its first recommendation for the Greatest page. You are absolutely right, and have said it very well.

and how we should be responding as Americans. I'm glad you enjoyed this, The Magistrate.

In any case, thank you for sharing it with us all here.

Despite the trashing they've been getting from the Palin/McCain campaign, the media seems desperate to build up McCain and less than willing to build up Obama. In other words, I doubt that the GOP race-baiting and hate-mongering will ever see general discussion.

I would very much like to eat those words, however. :hi:

and a lot of that is coming from conservatives. Even Tweety now, he thinks the candidates should concentrate on what's important, not the trivial b.s. McBush is slinging.

Rather than choosing a strong, capable female running mate, McCain accepted a photogenic, racist hate monger on his ticket. In a matter of a few days she has turned this race a dark shade of ugly. Imagine her leading us out of the horrible mess Bush will leave behind.

at the toxic junkpile.

And they will have lots of company with the corporatemediaWhore$ still kissing their rotten corpseass'.

I want that on a bumper sticker.

I wish I could recommend this 10 times.