Keith sure wasn't shy tonight about openly denouncing the racism and bigotry from the McCain camp

Unfortunately it's been hard for me to even get responses to many of my posts on this here. I think the best way to confront bigotry and racism is to bring it into the open and strongly denounce it. That may not suit politics or this presidential campaign to keep our objections front and center, but it burns me to the heart to witness this EVERY day in this campaign. I'd like more discussion of these issues here, but there is a great deal of timidity and a relative silence about addressing these incidents and statements which is in stark contrast to the obsession with trivialities and nonsense.

Did you see Keith tonight? He's as angry as I am. I hope there's some understanding with my seeming obsession with this subject (as well as more support). This is my most effective and sympathetic outlet.

I know the power of non-violence and the courage it takes. I know the destructiveness of violence and what it unleashes. May those who shout threats be found and silenced. May our candidates and their families remain safe.

I was in elementary school in D.C. when MLK was shot. I watched the city turn into a mass of smoldering brick in the wake of the killing.

What I've experienced in my lifetime has been the same type of coded racism we're dealing with right now. What's striking is the extent that this generation has tolerated these transparently bigoted appeals. I think that the effort to turn the page on our tragic past has allowed many of the defenses and barriers to racism to dissolve, out of indifference or neglect. The demagogues are disturbingly in the open. I won't live like this without speaking out; daily, as I've done in the past, if it's required.

just wanted to give you a kick for bringing up one of the biggest problems facing this country. down with racism! thanks for posting.

. . . about the middle of the show

....(the ugliness in the McCain crowds) --- and that is a positive thing, for sure.

. . . if it was aggressively and widely reported. I might have had my differences with Olbermann, but he's tops in my book tonight.

Tweety's been really focusing on it alot...and pretty much everyone except Fox news. Believe me, people who are paying any attention are seeing it.

and posted on my blog, noting that I was sending email responses so frequently that an open letter was in order. This particular response was to one of the many variations of the "he's anti-American" email, with the subject line: "...and the BOY wants to be president!" (warning: I used the "n" word in the blog but refrained here)

"Trust me when I say I am going to do my best to answer this email with as little profanity as possible. I'm getting better, considering how often I find I'm responding to this type of email, but I feel it's important to correct blatant lies when they're being passed around. About anyone. So, please, grab a cup of tea, coffee, beer, whatever, and allow me to respond.

For anyone who truly believes Obama is an anti-American terrorist, whether or not they have taken time to read anything more than the hysterical emails being passed around, or listen to anything other than Fox News and Rush Limbaugh, there is nothing I can say to change your mind and alleviate your fears. You really aren't looking for facts and information. The rest of the media isn't much better, by the way; thanks in large part to Clinton, the mainstream media hasn't been in the business of acting as a free press -- doing investigative journalism for facts and truth -- since 1996. I haven't seen a "liberal" agenda for a long time, I see a corporate agenda. But that's another story...

All I know is that over the last two years I've read every nasty thing ever written about Obama (remember, Democrats eat their own during the primaries and don't know how to follow in lockstep like the Republicans), and followed up on it from a variety of sources and viewpoints, and I'm completely confident within me that he's not a terrorist (nor is Michelle, by the way...lol). I can't believe I'm even having to type that out, but out of respect for...I'm not sure what...I'll confirm that for those of you reading who are truly seeking other opinions and information.

But, unlike many out there, I don't claim to KNOW anything. Shit, YOU could be a terrorist for all I know. Sadly, those who have such a condescending arrogance about life are just mimicking their idols who have led them by the nose for almost 10 years (Limbaugh, Hannity, O'Reilly), and it's not based on fact or truth. But facts and truths are a pesky inconvenience in the face of righteous ideology, so is humility.

I realize this sounds harsh, but after receiving this same email about 200 times (various versions but the same basic content), I honestly don't think people who assume such emails are factual should have the right to vote. The sheer stupidity has gotten so bad lately, and I'm calling out blind, willful ignorance every time I see it. Needless to say, I'm really busy nowadays. :)

There are positions of Obama's that I don't agree with, but it has nothing to do with the muslim, anti-American, militant black, terrorist bullshit being sent around in a frenzy and has been for the last year. None of that is true.

Instead of arguing about whose tax plan or health care plan or foreign policy stance will be best for us -- or, better yet, having discussions on how to revamp our completely corrupt SYSTEM...to make the government once again work for We The People -- more time is spent on pure smears and lies based in racism and bigotry.

But dealing with complex issues such as our corrupt system is hard, especially when so many things need to be dealt with and are being discussed in an election year. That takes a lot of critical, independent thinking and reasoning. Not something most Americans are willing to engage in. We've been conditioned to not really care about an ISSUE and its complexities, but instead rail against, for example, the image of the "welfare queen" rather than get angry at the invisible corporations our tax dollars are now visibly going toward as part of the decades-old corporate welfare scheme to rape the taxpayer and sell off America.

An easy target, that's what most people need. So focusing on "he's a muslim terrorist/he's black!!!" is much easier. It's a black-and-white issue...pun intended. Much less effort has to go into that approach. Life is easier when it's like a game: we need a solid opponent, someone to be against, a clearcut enemy, a bogeyman. The right-wing aspect of the Republican Party is brilliant at producing that target and focusing attention on this, in order to divert attention away from issues.

Bottom line, that's what the Obama smear is about -- racism and bigotry -- and there are people from both parties (yep, there are racist Democrats, too, though I don't believe nearly as many) who won't vote for someone based on race or them having a scary name. If they'd just admit that, instead of spewing stupid lies, maybe we could get somewhere. No sense denying it's racism. Look again at the subject line of the one email going around: "...and the BOY wants to be President."

I wish people would just admit it. Why are people who have shouted about the "politically correct libruls" suddenly being all politically correct? Call a spade a spade, for crying out loud. Quit being such hypocrites and, dare I say it...what is it the right-wing republicans have always called democrats and liberals? Oh yeah, quit being such pu**ies! Say you can't stand him because he's black! You want to say it, so why don't you? I'd personally respect that a helluva lot more than trying to cloak it in baseless bullshit like this pledge/anthem non-issue.

This, sadly, is reminiscent of 2000. I was fighting the same types of lies and smears being flung at John McCain at the time from Rove and company to destroy McCain, and that smear campaign unfortunately worked. When I saw McCain is now employing these same people who attacked him and his child back in 2000, I knew he wasn't the same man. Family values my ass (see post below of same title for more information). He threw his integrity and his family under the Straight Talk Express and I lost respect for him as a candidate; his choice of Palin solidified that view, as he chose her rather obviously to appeal to the very same people within the Republican Party who voted against him in 2000, in large part because of racist views. Yet there are plenty of other reasons I'm not voting McCain-Palin.

Honestly, if I wasn't voting for Obama already, I would be inclined to vote for him just to rebel against the completely ignorant attacks from the right-wingers, attacks prodded by the cowardly chicken hawk entertainers like Limbaugh and Hannity. There are plenty of policy issue differences if you are paying attention, but none of the stuff in emails like the one below is based in fact.

It's all based in fear, and people are scared to death of that black man with a scary name getting into the White House.

So much so that the latent racism is coming out of the shadows and getting more vocal at McCain-Palin rallies with people yelling out regarding Obama, "He's a terrorist!", "Kill him!", "Off with his head!" and bringing lovely KKK-type items like a Curious George monkey doll saying it's Obama. If they could just come out and say they don't like him/hate him because he's a ni**er, things would be volatile but perhaps less dangerous, in my opinion.

It's the hiding of the racism that makes it dangerous (by the way, I realize there is racism that goes in all directions, not just white toward black/brown/shit, any color other than white). Because certain oh-so-enlightened people are pissed that they don't feel the freedom to be open with the "ni**er, towelhead" comments, they're now veering into even MORE dangerous territory and implying Obama is a terrorist(and thus Obama supporters are terrorists).

Lies such as the ones in the various bullshit emails are feeding that frenzy, and taking America to a very dangerous crossroad, in my humble opinion. We're already at a dangerous crossroads as a nation for many reasons; we don't need false enemies.

To respond to the claims in the email, I've included links below. By the way, snopes.com is nonpartisan and has not ever been accused of being wrong or partisan to the best of my knowledge. There are many other places which dispute the blind ignorance in this email chain letter, and the link below is simply one of them.

Finally, about the specific charge in this email about Obama not putting his hand over his heart for the pledge. Not true. The pic in question says they are saying the pledge, but instead the National Anthem is being played (those facts are pesky, inconvenient little things, aren't they?). And, about the anthem versus the pledge, there is a difference. If you think about it, at sporting events when the anthem is played, some people put their hand over the heart and others don't, but everyone stands at attention and faces the flag. If I'm in a group and I notice others are putting their hand over their heart, I would probably do the same, but it's not an automatic thing as it is with the pledge. The image they caught in the infamous pic, claiming Obama didn't salute when the pledge was being said, was actually a pic taken when the anthem was being played and he was in front of the line.

http://www.snopes.com/politics/obama/stance.asp

Here is a link to the same information at Obama's website: www.fightthesmears.com, with video, if anyone cares.

I could go on and on and on, but I'll stop there since I'm just addressing this particular email. But, hey, if there's more "scary information about that boy" being thrown around and you'd like me to comment on it, bring it on! But, since anyone who believes emails such as the one below wouldn't vote for him anyway, our energy can probably be put to better use.

I'm not trying to get anyone to vote for Obama or not vote for McCain. I'm just asking that people think and not be so eager to receive spoonfed lies...by anyone...and to, most of all, be honest with yourselves about why you are so afraid and/or angry and if the target of that anger is rightfully placed.

Good luck, and may God bless America. We sure as shit need it.

. . . very well said.

I do believe this generation will define the state of our progress on race, ethnicity, gender, and the rest by the level and nature of our advocacy and protests. I'm encouraged, but, like everything important, vigilance is essential. Good on you for your efforts, TFAR.

He opened the show tonight by saying that McCain and Palin were openly targeting Obama for assassination. They know damn well what kind of fucking freepers and freaks are in their audience. Even McCain himself had to talk some crazy Medusa-haired troll down from calling Obama an ARAB. I know freepers are stupid, but do they actually think Kenya is located somewhere in Saudi Arabia?

tuning in . . .

I have gotten in trouble here on the DU for pointing it out in the past when it was being spoken. It is not hard to understand, you just have to understand that certain words and terms have deeper/different meanings. I knew all these words growing up, but it was not until I had children who were darker than their white classmates that I knew the full harm these words do.

Racism can be overt or covert, and I am not sure which is more harmful. When it is overt it can be dangerous because it seems unchecked and threatening, but you can see it and know where it is coming from. When it is covert it may seem less dangerous because it seems in check, but you don't always see it and don't know where it is coming from and it can strike at anytime from anywhere as soon as it becomes unchecked. That is what the mccain/palin rallies are doing, it is unchecking the racism that has laid in waiting for just this moment. It has been released with words straight from the 'word speak' dictionary. There is nothing covert about these words, many of us know them, recognize when they are spoken. But we are afraid to say that we recognize them, afraid to admit that we too know those words of hate that stay hidden in the vocabulary of covert racism. My children face these words every day of their lives and my family, who are white, cannot understand what that is like, so they deny its existence.

Are we going to be like those that cannot see what these words mean, or are we going to open up our eyes and look realistically at the world we have made. Look at others as they are, not as we want them to be. Say it is wrong for others and ourselves to use these words, whether they are used overtly or covertly coded under the disguise of other words, whether it is done to hurt others or just to win an election. Now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of our fellow men. (a misquote of kind)

Almost all of the racism was undercover there. I've come to realize, though, how many things that I had accepted at their face were deliberate attempts to limit access or acceptability where I wasn't welcome.

I liked it undercover, though. There was an understanding in my town that any open expression of the ugliness would bring shame and ostracism to those who dared. It was considered classless. It still is. McCain is attempting to mainstream these cretins. It's sad. It looks like he really believes in them, or, is just so craven for power that he's prepared to elevate them for support.

was covert to a point but not really. When I first arrived back in town with my small town, a woman I knew stopped me in a store and told me that I should not have brought my non-white children back there. She was not showing concern, she was like the woman in NYC that told me that I should have died rather than give birth to my infant daughter. Racism exists in both places, urban and rural, you just have to be in the right place at the right time to get hit in the face with it.

In the rural home town; my daughter at five years old was called the 'N' word on the school bus. My son at around eleven had his well being threatened because he had a crush on a little white girl. The school my daughter went to at five took action about the incident on the school bus, but the other schools in the town were not so understanding years later when it was my son undergoing open racism in the Middle and High schools. The reason I was given at the High School for their non-action was that the ones doing the harassing were the sons of the town's elite. The people at the Middle school just didn't give a care. They were horrible.

Things had deteriorated though the years of the eighties and nineties, and it was probably because a few non-whites had come to town. My daughter was the first non-white to attend school there, that was how bad it was. I left there in the mid nineties and moved to a town where I was working, only to find out that although the town was more diverse, there was a yearly KKK rally held on a farm in the more rural sector of the town. It was not until 2000 that we moved to an area where the racism exists but is forced to be more covert due to the diverseness of the area and the University population. It feels good but there are still problems for my son, whose job demands him to go into the less tolerant areas. I HATE RACISM AND WHAT IT DOES TO PEOPLE!

but I hate to say that I really get tired of the angry, sarcastic Keith. It's gotten so lately I just wait for Rachel to come on because she is so steady and even-tempered and just basically breaks it down intellectually and tells it like it is. Not harsh or smarmy, just right.

Sorry I missed Keith's rant tonight. I saw he was windin' up to throw a fastball so I just went back to DU.

. . .but, even when I wanted him to shut up about the celebrities and be more balanced over the primaries I realized that he's the best hammer in town against the administration and the republican cabal. Rachel is very good. Keith helped me vent tonight. I gotta appreciate that or find the tallest platform to let go myself. I'll take Keith tonight.

They smile may know a black person or two but when they get around their friends it's n this and that n that. Pat & Joe of MSNBC comes to mind when I talk of these types.

:shrug:

You can't change the way adults think most of the time, but you can shame them enough to not say destructive and hateful things in the presence of the young and impressionable.

especially the politicians who espouse it and use it to smear the other guy.

shame serves a purpose and at times like this, shame is called for.

I write SHAME on my digg and youtube comments about the McKKKain rallies. I do it on purpose. People need to know this is NOT mainstream, it is not OK, it is shameful and you will be humiliated publicly for this behavior.

Also, a little of that righteous indignation goes a loooong way. I know it's not our thing, but try it out on this topic. It needs to be called out without rest.

KO- you rock. KO is the best counter of much of the craziness that is out there and he goes places no one else will. I love how he has no liberal "shame", he isn't trying to get the right to approve of him like most liberals in the media are. It's important to be non apologetic. I am so tired of the "liberalism is a disease" bs.