Sandra Bernhard said some crap about Palin getting gang raped by her black brothers if Palin came to Manhattan, and Bernhard got dropped from a violence against women benefit as a result.

I don't expect Obama to say anything nor do I consider it a reflection on him really, but I'm not sure that Leslie Ann's "well at least she's not getting death threats because if it" is actually accurate. Palin's getting rape threats (there's another really weird Margaret Cho comment out there; what's up with Palin affecting bisexuals so much?), and I wouldn't be surprised by death threats. People out there are nuts.

Honestly, when McCain grabbed the mic from the woman, I got the feeling he was trying to prevent the election rally from turning into a KKK Gathering. You could see he was aghast and embarrassed at what was said. Whatever he was responding to (Ms. Quinnell, the man who spoke before her, or the terrorist chants), he didn't want to be part of it.

What I find more amazing are the clips on You Tube of Ms. Quinnell after the rally. She sounds a little more like "aliens will abduct me if Obama is elected" than "I have facts that he is an Arab". How much you want to bet, the McCain campaign has found a way to prevent her from additional damage.

I agree. There's just a little unexpected comedy in defending people against the accusation of being Arab.

I have to say though, I don't think that McCain or Palin have really said anything themselves to incite this particular reaction.

Linking Obama to Ayers who everyone pretty much has to admit did, at least at one point, advocate domestic terrorism isn't the same as suggesting that Obama is some kind of Muslim Jihadist, which is what the nuts are latched onto.

I think the point in linking him to Ayers it to show how far left he is. Ayers is not a centrist kind of guy. But the nuts are taking it in a different direction when they hear terrorist.

I really don't think the Ayers stuff was supposed to be a code for this craziness. And I don't fault McCain or Palin for the ignorance of some of the people at their rallies.

I am curious to know which party ethnic minorities other than African-American and Hispanics are pulling for. I know the news always focuses on the largest two minorities...so I am just wondering. I did notice a few Asians at the Republican convention.

In regards to the "promises" many of his opponents are making, I think this election has set us back at least 50 years in regards to race relations.

What do you mean?

The overall mob/riot mentality made me immediately think of integration in the deep south years ago...

Where are you getting mob/riot mentality? A couple of people yelling out dumb stuff at rallies equals turning fire hoses on people and bombings?

I know John Lewis said something to this effect this week, but it just seemed crazy to actually compare the two. What "promises" were you referring to?

And how in the world can you say a campaign that may result in the first multi-racial President in US history set us back 50 years? How does that compute?

I did not say fire hoses or bombings. I think anyone can see the tone of this election has definitely changed.

Well, what did you have in mind when you said you immediately thought of integration in the deep south? What was the comparison you were making?

I don't see that the tone has changed in regard to race. I see the media giving coverage to some nuts who have probably been there all along. And again, I see Obama leading in the polls. How is that a set back?

Damn! Are we reading the same thread???

I was talking promises in terms of the "Kill him" and "Lynch him" comments.

I know they're nutjobs - but often it only takes one nutjob, you know? By no means are they the entire McCain supporter demographic, but still... I haven't heard people saying similar things about McCain. I might be wrong on that one, though... mainstream media is generally less forgiving when Obama is attacked.

Oh, and the comedienne who said that about Palin? That was a dumb move. It was right to drop her from that benefit, obviously. Joking about gang rape doesn't really jibe with an anti-violence against women group.

Where are you getting this? I never said this is a typical McCain supporter reaction. It's not. It's just the nutjobs that both parties have. Please don't put words in my mouth.

I wasn't aware that Palin is getting rape threats. That's truly disgusting. I still think you're missing my point though. It seems that all of these threats flying around aren't phasing you. Things have gotten really ugly. If you don't see it, fine.

See this is where we differ. Palin repeating the word "terrorist" at rallies in relation to Ayers has spawned the actions of the nutjobs. I don't believe for a second that the McCain camp didn't actually count on the fact that the loonies out there would start thinking that Obama was the terrorist.

I just think that's wreckless and that was the entire point of my original post. The link to the video showed McCain saying nothing in response to the person who shouted "terrorist." I give him credit for correcting people now though.

Excellent Campbell Brown piece:

http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/10/...ama/index.html

Did you read the article I posted in this thread? You might find it interesting and informative, particularly since you were asking for links earlier.

I don't really think I value Frank Rich's opinion as much as you do.

We have relatively few actual documented instances of people yelling crazy stuff at rallies and a whole lot of speculation about what that means. I don't think it points to anything new or actually dangerous in any real way, anymore than all the Bush=Hitler crap we've been hearing for the last eight years meant anything for him (ETA: well, not eight year, but you know what I mean).

And I especially don't think that anyone is going to take any "Republican rage" out on black people generally, which is why I find the race relations setback comments so strange.

http://www.timesleader.com/news/brea...nfounded_.html

Granted this is about a new charge, rather than the Florida one, I think.

Jon Stewart did a piece the other day about McCain as Dr. Frankenstein and his rallygoers as the monster. It includes the clips from the beginning of the thread.

Here's the full Daily Show episode for when you get a chance.

GOP Women's group leader issues "Obama Bucks," a fake food stamp with Obama...along with some Kool-Aid, watermelon, KFC, and ribs.

Apparently the black members of the group ripped her a new one, but she says it was "just a joke."

http://www.pe.com/localnews/inland/s...6.3d67d4a.html

This is the real issue behind all of the racial comments, and the candidates standing up against the people making them. Some people just hate others based on absolutely nothing. This woman could have read on the internet that Obama is actually a weird shade of purple, and she would have said, "He's the one-eyed, one-horned, flying purple people eater!" Whatever she hears about him is just more information she can use to rationalize her pre-existing hatred for him.

Because of that, candidates should not be required or expected to say anything to these wacked out crazies. If John McCain, or anyone else, said something to this woman, or to anyone else who yelled out, "kill him," their efforts to change their opinion would have been futile.

And the reason that people associate being an arab with being evil is because of 9/11. Back in 2001, people would make this assumption because the twin towers fell, the pentagon was hit, and a plane full of good people were killed in PA trying to bring down some of the terrorists. And those people that made that assumption were just as ignorant as the people making that same assumption today. At least for the people who thought this 7 years ago, they were worked up, that event just occurred, and it caused them to fight back "in the heat of the moment." But now, as I said before, this has simply become a way of justifying harsh criticism and hatred concerning who Obama is and what he plans to do.

While I agree with most of your argument, ASTalumna06, I completely disagree with this statement:

Whether or not the effort would be futile is not the point. There's a moral imperative here. If someone threatens violence against the opposing candidate, a message is given by McCain or Obama by what they say and what they fail to say. The crazies on either side will probably continue to believe their crazy thoughts regardless but the presidential candidates must be the voices of reason.

I give McCain credit for what he has said to the crazies. I've been told that some crazies on the left have said Palin deserves to be gang raped. I haven't heard that during an Obama rally but if I did I would absolutely expect Obama to call those people out forcefully. If he didn't, I would be shocked, disappointed and livid.

It's about the character of the candidates on both sides. Nothing speaks more to character than what one chooses to ignore or fight against.

RIGHT EXACTLY.

McCain should come out against these type of statements. It may not do any good in the crazies' opinions, but rational voters will respond better to him if he defends Obama against his crazies rather than ignoring them.

A journalist I know was roughed up at a McCain-Palin rally recently:

http://blog.news-record.com/staff/ca...from_pal.shtml

Crazy stuff...Joe's an incredibly nice guy, so I can't really think of any good reason why this other guy should have gone after him.

I guess I should have stated that differently. It is not their responsibility to get involved in the argument. Trying to calm them, and briefly make a statement in disagreeing with them is fine. But to go much further than that could honestly put their own lives in jeopardy. To know that your candidate "supports" someone who you absolutely hate could set some people off.

I'd also like to add that this entire process has been dragging for so long that people are looking for anything and everything to keep it interesting. With negative ads, debates that are uneventful and less than inspiring, and speeches being interupted by insane protestors, I am so anxious for this thing to just be over. And I'm sure the rest of the country is, too.

I'd also like to say that if either candidate wins, I'm worried. And not because one is going to die (because of an assassination or a heart attack, or whatever other reason everyone is coming up with), but because I don't believe these attacks and comments are going to end. The only difference is, if Obama wins, the people who were against him at the McCain speeches will show up at events featuring him, and vice versa. I think that either way, each candidate is going to have difficulties rallying the entire country behind him following the November election.