McCain booed after trying to calm anti-Obama crowd
 

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081011/...angry_crowds_7

Can I call the lady a bleeping idiot? What's wrong with being an Arab in the first place?

wow...just wow:eek:

I find the vitriol being expressed at the Republican rally's to be frightening. It is like a mob mentality taking over, and truly makes me concerned for Obama's safety should he become president. Shouts of 'Arab' , Terrorist, and 'Kill Him' have no place in a political rally and McCain AND Palin should be doing their best to quell this and not encourage it.

PreciousJeni posted the link to a small part of this rally (you get to see the lady who called Obama an Arab)

McCain is definitely not encouraging people!

Are people that stupid? All you have to do is turn on a computer, read a book or watch to news to know Obama is no Arab. BUT, If he was, what does that have to do with not trusting him? Remember, this is a person that will be voting in November... makes me wonder, how many Americans are in the dark? :eek: :eek: :eek: I like how the crowd quietly chuckles at her comment. It made me feel a little better.

ETA: John speaking of respecting Obama is the John I remember. In the past, he wouldn't have ignored these looney comments being shouted out in his crowds. I commend him for correcting that crazy lady and the man in the gray tee. Although, i think he's sending mixed messages--Yesterday: Don't be scared of Obama, Today: He can't be trusted.

I think it's really sad that people believe everything they read on the internets like he's an Arab and he's a Muslim and all that other BS without trying to do a little fact-checking.

I think it's even sadder that they are discriminating against him because of what they think is true. Even if it was true, who the hell cares? Not all Arabs or Muslims or whatever do bad things.

Not true! It was the McCain camp that started it!!! They had Palin telling crowds that Obama was "palling around with terrorists." From there the morons morphed it into Obama being the terrorist. And at first McCain said nothing.

http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpoi...eal_barack.php

He's only correcting people now because it made him look bad.

I beg to differ. It was the Palin/McCain camp who started it all. McCain only came to the defense of Obama after he was criticized for not doing enough to temper some of the uneducated and hateful remarks from his audience. I am a Republican and this concerns me, deeply.

This is true on both sides though. There's a lot of misinformation about Palin that gets repeated as truth, even in newspapers.

Everyone is not educated and some people stand behind their candidate of choice for the wrong reasons. Making rude, uninformed, ignorant comments does not portray this woman in the best light.

True but Palin isn't getting death threats because of it.

Fact: Ayers is a terrorist but not arab.

You know this for a fact?

Or do you just mean that no one is alleged to have yelled "kill her" at an Obama rally?

Yes. I know that. Did you have difficulty reading my post?
You know exactly what I mean.

No, I don't really. Please explain.

The link posted was so asinine that I replied with an equally lame response. I don't hold Obama responsible for his whackjob supporters and I personally feel that attacking McCain for what some guy said at one of his rallies.

Yeah, I'm not sure who would win a competition for who had the craziest supporters. Both sides have their serious nut jobs.

I don't think what they said was McCain's fault. And if you watch the video the first time he got those responses he was shocked. But he didn't speak up.

Now he's spoken up and I give him credit for that, but it might not be enough. And Palin is NOT speaking up. Some of the things that were yelled at those rallies aren't just insensitive or racist, they're threatening a presidential candidate... and the Secret Service isn't exactly cool with that.
Palin and McCain are only responsible for their actions, but it's fair to think that their reactions to the events are poor.


As for the death threats, we don't get to know if Palin's receiving any, but we know that thus far, there haven't been any yelled, on camera, at an Obama rally. (There's not much to say about "alleged" here UGAalum. You can hear it even on poorer quality videos. It saddens me. :()

Ummm terrorist=/= Arab. And furthermore Palin=/= McCain. McCain might not have said anything because he might have thought Americans were smarter than that. Obviously not.

ETA: Since PhiGam left a similar comment and you asked if you he had "trouble reading your post"---NO I didn't have trouble reading your post, but i'd thought i'd clarify things for you.

Where? I've seen the "terrorist" one, but where can you find the "kill him" one?

I don't think it's a big reflection on either of the candidates, unless we want to do a similar kind of association with some of the nuttier Obama supporters, and they are out there.

How about the comedienne who sort of expressed a wish that Palin get ganged raped? Is that Obama's fault?

The crazy woman that claimed Obama was an Arab was interviewed after the rally. Even though McCain tried to set her straight, according to the StarTribune,
"After the rally, Quinnell was unrepentant. "You can't trust Barack Hussein Obama because he is a Muslim and a terrorist," she said."

I honestly wonder if that is also a codeword for him being black and some people are just too afraid to admit that they don't want to vote for him because of it....regardless...as time grows closer people are showing their xenophobia and their paranoia as McCain's campaign slides down the tubes.

America can't afford a muck up in the polls come November 4th

and here is the 'kill him' clip

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jw3o3y77MaA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xVFWa...eature=related

So there's no getting through to her ignorance...it's sad :(.

Weird. The same clip that was supposed to be the "terrorist" clip is now labeled as the "kill him" clip. I don't really hear either one.

what kind of speakers r u using i heard it clearly in both

Hmmm I think right after 0:04, McCain asks "What does he plan for America?" And an angry woman yells "Kill him".. then a guy calls him a Terrorist after McCain asks "Who is the real Barrack Obama". The "terrorist" remark is around 0:10 of that clip. I can't make out what is said after that because there are too many people are yelling different things at the same time.

CNN article on recent Republican rage

Apparently at the Waukesha WI rally someone yelled "Lynch him." I love my hometown. :rolleyes:

I love how these yahoos are becoming the vocal representation of my party. Great job guys.

So, she didn't even believe John McCain when he told her? If it was the truth, wouldn't he have just said so? How does she not believe the man whose rally she was attending?

What an idiot.

ETA: It looks like she has a fanny pack on in the video. Everything that woman says must be discounted because of the fanny pack.

She would be if she were on top in the polls. It's easy to be magnanimous when all signs point to an easy victory.

Just ask the Nebraska Cornhuskers (the 90's versions) :)

If you don't think this angst and vitriol is on both sides, I guess you didn't watch the same left-wing protests surrounding the conventions. There's a lot of crap out there and a few nutbag extremists to lap it up.

To say that McCain's supporters 'typically' believe this tripe is about as accurate as saying that most Democrats are too stupid to use a butterfly ballot.

all i know is that the underlying racism that we have assumed was on the down low, is now out and vocal. Lynching? killing people? seriously, did it occur that maybe if more than half the country wants an "arab" as president, maybe you should move yourself, because whats worse than one "arab"??? several million "arab" supporters!...its sheer ignorance and i cant believe im hearing it. that mob mentality mentioned earlier scares the hell out of me! i have friends who live in predominately white areas who are nervous about voting now.

i do give mccain half a kudo for correcting this ignoramus, he looked disgusted lol, as if to say "lady, if there was any proof of that, dont you think we would have used it?" lol!

To be fair, I don't think anyone in this thread is saying that. If they were saying that, it would be pretty ignorant, but it seems like people on this board, for the most part, have been careful to sort out the nuts from the normal people when discussing McCain's supporters.

I can't blame the internet on all people, such as the two that took the mic in Minnesota. I blame pure ignorance and the fact that some people just don't want to believe their statements are wrong and defamatory. Even when McCain told Ms. Quinnell to her face that her statement was not true, she still didn't believe him.

Some people were born with the "dumb gene".

ETA: So what is wrong with Arabs anyway? I have many friends who are from Arabic nations and they are not terrorists. They come from all religions, as well.

Is it a dumb gene or a hate gene? That lady's not going to like Obama whether or not he's actually Arabic.

Muslims, particularly Arabic Muslims, have been so vilified by both parties (even though they say they're not), but specifically the Republican Party, that I'm not surprised that Obama is so feared by a part of the population. They're still living in 2001, or the 2004 Presidential election. It really makes me worried that if Obama is elected, these nutjobs may actually follow through with their promises.

Which sucks, because not all Republicans think he's a terrorist, and most Republicans have moved on from the massive fear-mongering campaigns by Bush/Cheney in the 2004 election.

Even after the rally, ol' Fanny Pack insists that he is a Muslim terrorist that will do "bad" things. She can't say what they are specifically, but they're "bad."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1YLbwntBO_k

Here's one of a guy who brought a Curious George plush toy to a rally, calling it "Little Hussein."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bKUov...eature=related

Of course, both sides are equally culpable. A college classmate of mine was quoted on a fairly popular satire site calling Trig Palin a "retard." That was despicable and crass--just as bad, in my opinion, as calling Obama "Curious George."

Even after the rally, ol' Fanny Pack insists that he is a Muslim terrorist that will do "bad" things. She can't say what they are specifically, but they're "bad."


I love her response, "It's a long story"

Oh Johnstown, PA - what more needs to be said? I'm sure those of us on GC that are from or have lived in that area aren't very surprised by that guy.

Ugh I know. :( That rally made our state look pretty awful. Everyone seemed so angry and hateful.

Did anyone read Frank Rich's column yesterday? Somewhat relevant and the online version has a lot of links.

The McCain/Palin campaign is playing with fire. I hope they teach future politicians a lesson that this kind of tactic is just too dirty to work. I'd be so embarrassed to have my name tied to any of those exploits!

The fault isn't in what was said but the candidate's response to the words. If this was at an Obama event I expect that the candidate would say something. From the word "sort of" I'd need more information.

No one expects a candidate to be responsible for everything a supporter says.

Yeah, Ann Althouse has a kind of funny comment on that. McCain is obviously responding to the "terrorist" commenting hatefulness at previous rallies, but when you look at what she actually said in this instance, it's not really in need of the defense McCain gives.

It'd be a reach to accurately describe Obama as Arab even though there's some Arab influence in Kenya, but what the women actually said is not the sentiment that McCain is responding to.