ATTACK for Fail

[corplinx]

Palin went extremely negative today portraying Obama relationship with Bill Ayers as "palling around with terrorists".

Stick a form in em, these two are done. When this is all you have left, your done. When we're down to the dude Obama did some work with a decade ago or something, its a concession.

[R.Mackey]

Do you have a source?

I found Gov. Palin's "white flag of surrender" crack in the debate to be extremely misleading and offensive... but at the time I chalked that up to being under pressure in the debate. If she's doing more of the same in prepared statements, then my opinion of her will rapidly move from disinterest to outright disgust.

[DavidJames]

Here (http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/)is one source

[chipmunk stew]

Wow. Palin really sucks at this.

In other news, dog bites man.

[corplinx]

The Bill Ayers thing annoys me so much, mostly because if I flip through the channels and hit Hannity/Colmes, Hannity will be harping on it as if it means something.

In the Hannity world it goes like this:
Ayers: greetings komrade, i was a member of a group of militant hippies in the 60s who blew stuff up, would you like to do some local community activities?
Obama: Do you still blow stuff up?
Ayers: nah, these days I mostly watch Wheel of Fortune and take notes on how it subverts people into capitalist thinking
Obama: well.... iduno, you aren't really militant enough for my tastes, but maybe buddying up with you will gain me some street cred with the voting blocks of ex hippie militants
Ayers: Wanna hear some 60s stories?
Obama: sure, you can at least indoctrinate me if you can't teach me how to make bombs

The Ayers connection just isn't there. Hammer Obama on his energy policy. Make the effect of crop subsidies and energy policy real to people. Talk about how Obama's policies will make your dollar buy less food and fuel. Talk about how milk and hamburger to feed your family are affected. There are so many legitimate ways to attack Obama on his policies and mix it with a middle class message, that I wonder who the clowns are who are running the McCain campaign at this point and voting "aye" on these negative messages.

[R.Mackey]

Here (http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/)is one source

Thanks. Not that I inherently doubted the OP, just that so much of politics is rhetoric and semantics, I like to see the actual quote.

Having seen it, that is inexcusable. The McCain/Palin ticket looks less and less like "Mavericks (http://www.maverickssurf.com/Home/)" and more like familiar Rovian stooges as this goes on.

[Puppycow]

Yes. They are getting more shrill in their desparation.

I know that both Palin and McCain are associated with people who could easily be demonized.

I doubt this attack will get much traction, but we'll see.

[corplinx]

Yes. They are getting more shrill in their desparation.

I know that both Palin and McCain are associated with people who could easily be demonized.

I doubt this attack will get much traction, but we'll see.

Well, it was a stump speech and not a TV ad. Maybe I am blowing it out of proportion.

[kallsop]

The usual media suspects are now running with the theme that McCain is going to attack Obama's character. I have no idea what that means. If it's talking about Obama's relationship with rotten preachers and the like, it's a legitimate talking point but it's not going to be an effective strategy. This campaign isn't about what Obama has done to make him qualified to be President, which would be a very short discussion and McCain towers above in that area. The media will avoid that line of thought at all costs.

McCain had a chance to really drive home his economic prudence by opposing the >$800B pork rich bailout. McCain just got in line with the other pickpockets. Barring an October surprise, McCain just lost the election.

[ZenFountain]

Most of us agreed in What's McCain's Next Play? thread that going on the negative was really all McCain had left. It's unfortunate that when our economy is on the brink of meltdown we're going to have the news channels plastered with this frivolous crap and I find it shocking that McCain is going to go down the road of past associates. If this becomes a campaign theme in TV ads in such, Keating Five will inevitably jump out of the closet on McCain. How does he defend himself then?

[GreyICE]

Yeah, we're going to go deep into the negative zone for McCain to whip up some anti-Obama fervor. Unfortunately for him I think Americans are just sick and tired of it. After the insane heights of anti-Clinton fervor which have been equaled by anti-Bush fervor, I think people are just tired of it all. I really haven't heard many good anti "X" rants. Republicans are mostly just actually disagreeing with Obama's issues, when I talk to them, and Democrats have burned out on Bush hatred. Oh they'll still agree that he was a terrible president, but it's something that happened in the past, like a bad breakup or a friend's betrayal.

I think we've had our fill of hatred, and I think that the McCain campaign will only bring echoes of 2000 and 2004. With Bush's 22% approval rating, I think flashbacks to the Mudboaters is not going to get McCain anything.

[Puppycow]

Well, it was a stump speech and not a TV ad. Maybe I am blowing it out of proportion.

According to the CNN article it was actually comments at a fundraiser. So I guess this could just be red meat preaching to the choir. But the McCain campaign did release the comments as a press release.

My understanding is that comments at a fundraiser are not necessarily the same as a stump speech given for the general public.

[UnrepentantSinner]

Well, it was a stump speech and not a TV ad. Maybe I am blowing it out of proportion.

The meme is spreading. Yesterday on Washington Journal this hysteric woman called in not only saying Obama was pals with terrorists, but he was one himself and just couldn't understand why the MSM and C-SPAN weren't trumpeting this fact 24/7.

[ZenFountain]

McCain Plans Fiercer Strategy Against Obama

Sen. John McCain and his Republican allies are readying a newly aggressive assault on Sen. Barack Obama's character, believing that to win in November they must shift the conversation back to questions about the Democrat's judgment, honesty and personal associations, several top Republicans said.

Washington Post (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/10/03/AR2008100303738.html?hpid%3Dtopnews&sub=AR)

Obama to call McCain 'erratic in crisis'

Branding his opponent as “erratic in a crisis,” Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) is preempting plans by Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) to portray him as having sinister connections to controversial Chicagoans.

Obama officials call it political jujitsu – turning the attacks back on the attacker.

Politico (http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1008/14283.html)

Oh boy this last month is going to be...exciting :rolleyes:

[JoeTheJuggler]

From what I read, Palin based her remarks on a NY Times article that doesn't say what she seems to think it says.

I guess now we know why she wouldn't answer the question about which newspapers she reads.

[corplinx]

See, all Obama has to do is to act cool to deflate these attacks. Cool is cool.

[chipmunk stew]

See, all Obama has to do is to act cool to deflate these attacks. Cool is cool.
Here's Obama's pre-emptive strike on McCain's new strategy:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/10/05/obama-ad-responds-to-comi_n_131982.html

[chipmunk stew]

Palin is truly bad at this. Here she is misquoting Madeline Albright as saying, "There's a place in Hell reserved for women who don't support other women."
S03ZfFf_gGQ
What a horrible, horrible person.

[Oliver]

Here's Obama's pre-emptive strike on McCain's new strategy:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/10/05/obama-ad-responds-to-comi_n_131982.html


Y42RErUjfAc

Pwnd.

[Magyar]

Palin is truly bad at this. Here she is misquoting Madeline Albright as saying, "There's a place in Hell reserved for women who don't support other women."
S03ZfFf_gGQ
What a horrible, horrible person.

well, ignoring the misquote for a moment - can this bimbo complete a SINGLE thought without misinterpreting or miss understanding it -

Did you catch how ALL the women in the audience bood when Madeline Albright's name was mentioned ?

Can you say express elevator to hell - going down please!

[dudalb]

Now the Obama campaign will hit back with Palin's Husband's membership in the Alaskan Independence Party,a group certainly as kooky as the Weather Underground.
This is not to excuse or defend Ayers membership in that bunch of dangerous wackos, it's just to show that Palin might be forgetting the "People Who Live In GLass Houses" rule.
And the Palin incident is a lot more recent.

My "Plague On Both Your Houses" attitude is growing daily.
And the worst idiots of all are those who criticise the other party for doing exactly what their party is doing.

[dudalb]

And,yeah, Obama has had some dealings with some pretty unsavory characters in Chicago politics. You don't get anyplace in Illinois politics without dealing with some fairly scummy people. Niether Party in Illinois is know for being a shining example of clean politics.

[chipmunk stew]

Now the Obama campaign will hit back with Palin's Husband's membership in the Alaskan Independence Party,a group certainly as kooky as the Weather Underground.
This is not to excuse or defend Ayers membership in that bunch of dangerous wackos, it's just to show that Palin might be forgetting the "People Who Live In GLass Houses" rule.
And the Palin incident is a lot more recent.

My "Plague On Both Your Houses" attitude is growing daily.
And the worst idiots of all are those who criticise the other party for doing exactly what their party is doing.
Why don't you wait until the Obama campaign (and not some independent left-wing group) does what you say they're going to do before you cast a plague on their house.

I'm all for parity, but not parity for parity's sake.

[Ausmerican]

Now the Obama campaign will hit back with Palin's Husband's membership in the Alaskan Independence Party,a group certainly as kooky as the Weather Underground.
This is not to excuse or defend Ayers membership in that bunch of dangerous wackos, it's just to show that Palin might be forgetting the "People Who Live In GLass Houses" rule.
And the Palin incident is a lot more recent.

Not only is the Palin incident a lot more recent it is a lot more relevant. Obama isn't married to Ayers and Palin wasn't 8 years old when her husband was a member of AIP. To use your glass house analogy, she was living IN the glass house, Obama was just living in the same neighborhood as it.

[Plantfoam]

The usual media suspects are now running with the theme that McCain is going to attack Obama's character. I have no idea what that means. If it's talking about Obama's relationship with rotten preachers and the like, it's a legitimate talking point but it's not going to be an effective strategy. This campaign isn't about what Obama has done to make him qualified to be President, which would be a very short discussion and McCain towers above in that area. The media will avoid that line of thought at all costs.

McCain had a chance to really drive home his economic prudence by opposing the >$800B pork rich bailout. McCain just got in line with the other pickpockets. Barring an October surprise, McCain just lost the election.

The catch is that McCain can't really even use the preacher card on Obama anymore. Beyond the fact that Obama has criticized Wright, Palin's minister isn't that clean as well. I mean, the guy used to conduct real live witch hunts....and even Palin thinks that the last refuge in the end times will be Alaska.

[corplinx]

Palin's minister isn't that clean as well. I mean, the guy used to conduct real live witch hunts.

I don't believe that is Palin's minister. I believe it was a guest speaker.

[boloboffin]

I don't believe that is Palin's minister. I believe it was a guest speaker.

That's right. Palin's minister is the one that thinks the Jews control the world's banking.

[Plantfoam]

That's right. Palin's minister is the one that thinks the Jews control the world's banking.

I stand corrected. However, the alternative isn't that pleasing, either. :D

[MattusMaximus]

Most of us agreed in What's McCain's Next Play? thread that going on the negative was really all McCain had left. It's unfortunate that when our economy is on the brink of meltdown we're going to have the news channels plastered with this frivolous crap and I find it shocking that McCain is going to go down the road of past associates. If this becomes a campaign theme in TV ads in such, Keating Five will inevitably jump out of the closet on McCain. How does he defend himself then?


In that thread, on Friday I actually predicted that McCain's campaign would resurrect this William Ayers thing. Damn, it's like I'm psychic :rolleyes:

Yes, McCain/Palin are unbelievably desperate when they resort to such blatant lies such as these. Usually, such "swift-boating" would be done by a separate group, such as a 527, rather than by the actual candidates or campaign. By making these comments publicly, Palin has tied McCain's campaign to them, for good or ill (I'm betting ill - I sense big blowback on this). Now McCain will be forced to defend these outrageous statements, whether he wants to or not.

There is already blowback, according to this article...

Analysis: Palin's words may backfire on McCain (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081005/ap_on_el_pr/palin_s_words_analysis)

... In her character attack, Palin questions Obama's association with William Ayers, a member of the Vietnam-era Weather Underground. Her reference was exaggerated at best if not outright false. No evidence shows they were "pals" or even close when they worked on community boards years ago and Ayers hosted a political event for Obama early in his career. ...


So the press is already debunking this one (it's been debunked numerous times before) and challenging McCain's campaign on it. I read another article that stated that when questioned on her false statements, Palin said that the "Associated Press was wrong." :rolleyes:

Wow. This is going to get way worse before it gets any better.

[MattusMaximus]

McCain had a chance to really drive home his economic prudence by opposing the >$800B pork rich bailout. McCain just got in line with the other pickpockets. Barring an October surprise, McCain just lost the election.


I think this may be one of the reasons why McCain's campaign has drunk the Kool-Aid with the nutty "Obama pals around with terrorists" gambit. Because of his support of the economic bailout, McCain pissed off a whole lot of conservatives, so he has to do something to bring them back into the fold, as it were.

It may work, but I think at the same time it will backfire and alienate a great number of independents and undecideds that McCain needs to win. There simply aren't enough hardcore conservatives in the country for him to win without a decent amount of the political middle.

I agree with you - McCain is finished, barring some kind of amazing October Surprise or phenomenal gaffe on Obama's part.

[ZenFountain]

gi3oP74kMjA

Perhaps I'm over analyzing, but there really is a sense of desperation in the air in this clip. If you're going to attack someone don't be disingenuous and trite.

[MattusMaximus]

Here's Obama's pre-emptive strike on McCain's new strategy:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/10/05/obama-ad-responds-to-comi_n_131982.html


Wow, that is a smart move. Politically, I think it's a master stroke. Obama has some really savvy, smart people working on his campaign.

[chipmunk stew]

Another way it could backfire is that McCain's Christmas Card List includes his own version of Ayers: G. Gordon Liddy (http://mediamatters.org/items/200810040004)

[MattusMaximus]

Another way it could backfire is that McCain's Christmas Card List includes his own version of Ayers: G. Gordon Liddy (http://mediamatters.org/items/200810040004)


The word on the Internet is that the Democrats are going to hit back at McCain hard - recall that it was McCain who was involved with the infamous "Keating Five" of the massive savings & loan scandal in the late 80s. That will likely hurt McCain much more than this Ayers business will hurt Obama, because McCain is actually on record as stating that his involvement with that group was one of the biggest mistakes of his life, and it also ties right into the economic & financial situation facing the country.

One thing is for sure, this last month of the election will not be boring.

[R.Mackey]

The word on the Internet is that the Democrats are going to hit back at McCain hard - recall that it was McCain who was involved with the infamous "Keating Five" of the massive savings & loan scandal in the late 80s.

I rather wish they wouldn't, but I don't think they can afford that luxury. Until the election is over, there are always going to be those who wonder why they aren't hitting back, why they didn't use all the tools it took to win. Just the nature of the contest, unfortunately.

That doesn't mean one can't hit back in a more or less factually accurate manner. There is a line, one that "Obama associates with terrorists" crosses and leaves over the horizon. I'd hope the responses are more... responsible.

[GreyICE]

The word on the Internet is that the Democrats are going to hit back at McCain hard - recall that it was McCain who was involved with the infamous "Keating Five" of the massive savings & loan scandal in the late 80s. That will likely hurt McCain much more than this Ayers business will hurt Obama, because McCain is actually on record as stating that his involvement with that group was one of the biggest mistakes of his life, and it also ties right into the economic & financial situation facing the country.

One thing is for sure, this last month of the election will not be boring.

Ugh. I can't say if I'm pleased or displeased. On one hand I really, really, really hate the politics of dredging up every single association or scandal in a person's past and smacking them in the face with it.

On the other hand, after 2004, it's very fair to say the Democrats tried fighting fire with water. They tried answering the mudboat veterans, they tried to avoid that. And like John McCain himself learned in 2000, it doesn't work. If the Republicans really haven't learned their lesson maybe it's time to pull out all the stops, fire with fire, MoveOn.org style, and take no prisoners. It won't do much for a spirit of cooperation, or any sort of coalition, and even though I think Obama can win without it (and probably be in a better place) it might be worth it just to demonstrate that you don't want to go that route.

I won't support that, but I definitely won't decry it like I've done in the past. And I will defend it by citing multiple instances of the neoconservatives doing the same. At some point, it is time to say:


Cry 'Havoc,' and let slip the dogs of war;
That this foul deed shall smell above the earth
With carrion men, groaning for burial.

[SezMe]

Listen carefully to the first seven words Palin said in the clip Zen posted in #31: "I was readin' today a copy of ..." What the hell kind of accent is that? I've been to Alaska many times but never heard anyone talk like that. Idaho - I don't know. Or is this just more effort at being folksy?

[SezMe]

One thing is for sure, this last month of the election will not be boring.
I'm not so sure. Nothing, I mean NOTHING new is going to come out in October. More mindless stump speeches. More character attacks. More contentless ads. Blah, blah, blah. I'm tired of it and ready for the whole thing to be over. We've been at this for nearly two years. Think of the money being wasted.

Yeah, yeah, here I am posting in the election forum. Shoot me. Please. :)

[BenBurch]

Listen carefully to the first seven words Palin said in the clip Zen posted in #31: "I was readin' today a copy of ..." What the hell kind of accent is that? I've been to Alaska many times but never heard anyone talk like that. Idaho - I don't know. Or is this just more effort at being folksy?

Maybe the result of a stroke?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foreign_accent_syndrome

[Puppycow]

Now the Obama campaign will hit back with Palin's Husband's membership in the Alaskan Independence Party,a group certainly as kooky as the Weather Underground.
This is not to excuse or defend Ayers membership in that bunch of dangerous wackos, it's just to show that Palin might be forgetting the "People Who Live In GLass Houses" rule.
And the Palin incident is a lot more recent.

My "Plague On Both Your Houses" attitude is growing daily.
And the worst idiots of all are those who criticise the other party for doing exactly what their party is doing.

And Obama isn't married to Ayers either.

[MattusMaximus]

Maybe the result of a stroke?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foreign_accent_syndrome


Or it could be the result of living in states like Idaho and Alaska?

Just because Palin is racing to the bottom doesn't mean we have to, Ben.

[Malerin]

well, ignoring the misquote for a moment - can this bimbo complete a SINGLE thought without misinterpreting or miss understanding it -

Did you catch how ALL the women in the audience bood when Madeline Albright's name was mentioned ?

Can you say express elevator to hell - going down please!

Somebody wake up Hicks.

[BenBurch]

Or it could be the result of living in states like Idaho and Alaska?

Just because Palin is racing to the bottom doesn't mean we have to, Ben.

I thought it would have been understood as an attempt at humor... I guess I should have used a smiley.

[uk_dave]

Somebody wake up Hicks.

:D Nice one!

[bozothedeathmachine]

Listen carefully to the first seven words Palin said in the clip Zen posted in #31: "I was readin' today a copy of ..." What the hell kind of accent is that? I've been to Alaska many times but never heard anyone talk like that. Idaho - I don't know. Or is this just more effort at being folksy?

To continue the derail, her accent drives me up the friggin' wall. Coming from the south, that nasaly midwestern twang is like nails on a chalkboard.

[shuize]

McCain had a chance to really drive home his economic prudence by opposing the >$800B pork rich bailout. McCain just got in line with the other pickpockets. Barring an October surprise, McCain just lost the election.


Agreed. After the recent bad economic news, I though McCain was going to have his work cut out for him battling back. But after he lined up with everyone else on the bailout, I figured he was f'''ed as the bad news hurts him worse than Obama.

Still, this may end up being an election in which the winner ends up wishing he hadn't.

[LawnOven]

Keating 5 gets its own webpage:

http://www.keatingeconomics.com/

[Pookster]

Palin went extremely negative today portraying Obama relationship with Bill Ayers as "palling around with terrorists".

Stick a form in em, these two are done. When this is all you have left, your done. When we're down to the dude Obama did some work with a decade ago or something, its a concession.


Palin is toning down the message just a tad today ...

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27049473/

"This is someone who sees America as 'imperfect enough' to work with a former domestic terrorist who targeted his own country," Palin said of Obama.

That was a tamer description than Palin used at rallies in California and Colorado over the weekend. But it still showed that Palin was slipping into the traditional attack-dog role of vice presidential candidates.

Palling around has turned into "work with".

[not_so_new]

I posted this on another thread but I think this is pretty important (and sick actually) so I wanted to cross post it here for reference.....


"And, according to the New York Times, he was a domestic terrorist and part of a group that, quote, 'launched a campaign of bombings that would target the Pentagon and our U.S. Capitol,'" she (Palin) continued.

"Boooo!" the crowd repeated.

"Kill him!" proposed one man in the audience.


http://voices.washingtonpost.com/the..._the_roug.html

Again, I think we are kidding ourselves if we think this stuff can't work. It has in the past it just has never been tried when the economy was on such shaky ground.

[DavidJames]

I posted this on another thread but I think this is pretty important (and sick actually) so I wanted to cross post it here for reference.....




http://voices.washingtonpost.com/the..._the_roug.html

Again, I think we are kidding ourselves if we think this stuff can't work. It has in the past it just has never been tried when the economy was on such shaky ground.On any other day or week, the negative would have an effect. But somehow, the U.S. economy flushing down the drain is making more noise.

[not_so_new]

On any other day or week, the negative would have an effect. But somehow, the U.S. economy flushing down the drain is making more noise.

I guess.... it is getting a whole lot worse out there so the attack stuff might not get any traction... Still worries me that this stuff is being said out there and the nut jobs that McCain and Palin are stirring up make me a little concerned.

[Malerin]

Palin is toning down the message just a tad today ...

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27049473/



Palling around has turned into "work with".

Yeah, I saw that too. Now riddle me this: why would someone who repeated the Bridge to Nowhere lie ad nauseum flip-flop that quickly? She supposedly doesn't care what the MSM thinks. Was she too over the top even for Mccain?

[MattusMaximus]

Here's an interesting analysis by FiveThirtyEight.com which explains why McCain/Palin's "terrorist" charge against Obama is (probably) doomed to failure...

Why It (Probably) Won't Work (http://www.fivethirtyeight.com/2008/10/why-it-probably-wont-work.html)

... I am not here to dispute that this is McCain's best strategy -- in the same way that an onside kick is a team's best strategy when it trails late in the game with no timeouts left. But like the onside kick, it is fairly unlikely to work.

For one thing, increasing numbers of middle class Americans may already have decided that Barack Obama is their home team. One of the more powerful dynamics during the first Presidential debate is that Obama, in the first 15 minutes of the proceedings, pointed to himself and said, "Hey! Middle Class! I'm your guy!". McCain did not mention the middle class, instead reverting to traditional Republican talking points about supply-side economics. From there forward in that debate, dial testers reacted poorly when McCain attacked Obama, or appeared to be contemptuous of him. ...

... It may be quite difficult for McCain to attack Obama in this fashion without significantly damaging his own brand. The chart below presents a smoothed curve of each candidate's net favorability ratings since the first of the year:

http://forums.randi.org/imagehosting/thum_774748ead5db82da1.png (http://forums.randi.org/vbimghost.php?do=displayimg&imgid=14028)

What's interesting is that, with the exception of the past couple of weeks, McCain's and Obama's ratings have been fairly strongly correlated, tending to rise and fall together. This is not to say that negative campaigning doesn't work -- it sometimes does -- but it works at diminished efficiency, because you may be giving back 50 cents on the dollar by harming your own approval scores.

If the McCain campaign brings up William Ayers -- or Jeremiah Wright -- it will almost certianly be seen as attack politics. This might seem to be stating the obvious. But remember that this wasn't the case during the primaries. The Wright and Ayers stories were instead driven by actual news -- ABC's reporting of Wright's inflammatory sermons, for instance -- and were largely not pushed by the Clinton campaign. So unless McCain's oppo research team is sitting on some fresh news about Obama's ties to Ayers or Wright, the stories are liable to be reported as a typical partisan attack, which will impeach their credibility in the public's eyes and reduce their staying power. ...


Having said that this doesn't really put Obama into any political danger, I will agree with other posters here about one thing: the real danger of these veiled references to Obama "palling around with terrorists" is that some whackjob will decide to kill him "for the good of the country". That might actually be one reason why Palin has backed off her previous comments since Saturday, because if something were to happen to Obama the Secret Service might be looking her direction. I've got the feeling that McCain has told her to tone it down as well - let's hope he's that smart.

[MattusMaximus]

I posted this on another thread but I think this is pretty important (and sick actually) so I wanted to cross post it here for reference.....

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/the..._the_roug.html

Again, I think we are kidding ourselves if we think this stuff can't work. It has in the past it just has never been tried when the economy was on such shaky ground.


The link doesn't work.

[SezMe]

Having said that this doesn't really put Obama into any political danger, I will agree with other posters here about one thing: the real danger of these veiled references to Obama "palling around with terrorists" is that some whackjob will decide to kill him "for the good of the country". That might actually be one reason why Palin has backed off her previous comments since Saturday, because if something were to happen to Obama the Secret Service might be looking her direction.
This is over the top. Palin would have to go much, much further than she did today for the Secret Service to even glance in her direction. Remember that guy who killed a couple of people in a UU church? He apparently was partly motivated by extremist right wing talkers on the radio. Nothing happened to them.

That said, I do hope the SS has a VERY sharp team guarding Obama. I think the probablility of an assasinaton attempt on him is higher than background noise.

[not_so_new]

The link doesn't work.

Hummmm... that's interesting. I checked the link before I submitted my post. That was the correct link but the page is now gone. Here is the link again, maybe they changed something with the file path? I didn't look at the original.

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/the-trail/2008/10/06/in_fla_palin_goes_for_the_roug.html

Here are some other people talking about it if this link goes down as well.

http://www.talkleft.com/story/2008/10/6/22537/3821

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/10/6/142116/783

In fairness, the guy who yells "Kill him" could have been talking about Ayers but that is also unethical. Palin should have backed the whole thing down at that point but she does not have enough experience with the big leagues.

[not_so_new]

*sigh*

Worse, Palin's routine attacks on the media have begun to spill into ugliness. In Clearwater, arriving reporters were greeted with shouts and taunts by the crowd of about 3,000. Palin then went on to blame Katie Couric's questions for her "less-than-successful interview with kinda mainstream media." At that, Palin supporters turned on reporters in the press area, waving thunder sticks and shouting abuse. Others hurled obscenities at a camera crew. One Palin supporter shouted a racial epithet at an African American sound man for a network and told him, "Sit down, boy."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/10/06/AR2008100602935.html

I don't see this ending well for the country and that makes me very sad.

[Malerin]

*sigh*



http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/10/06/AR2008100602935.html

I don't see this ending well for the country and that makes me very sad.

She seems to inspire a certain fanaticism in her followers. Think Goebbels with a beehive and Fargo accent.

[MattusMaximus]

*sigh*

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/10/06/AR2008100602935.html

I don't see this ending well for the country and that makes me very sad.


Good gawd - I just read that story. If Palin keeps this up, I'm going to start getting genuinely concerned about the rage that she's stoking. Most people will just get whipped up for a rally, but there are those who will take her words to heart and go over the edge. Yikes. :boggled:

[Malerin]

Good gawd - I just read that story. If Palin keeps this up, I'm going to start getting genuinely concerned about the rage that she's stoking. Most people will just get whipped up for a rally, but there are those who will take her words to heart and go over the edge. Yikes. :boggled:

Yeah, that was a sobering article from the Post. I've said it before: she's Stillson from "The Dead Zone".

[not_so_new]

She seems to inspire a certain fanaticism in her followers. Think Goebbels with a beehive and Fargo accent.

Oh snap.... you just Godwin'ed (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Godwin's_law) my post.....

:p

[not_so_new]

Good gawd - I just read that story. If Palin keeps this up, I'm going to start getting genuinely concerned about the rage that she's stoking. Most people will just get whipped up for a rally, but there are those who will take her words to heart and go over the edge. Yikes. :boggled:

I know. It is kind of scary actually.

This goes COMPLETELY to Palin's inexperience. She is too experienced on the national stage to handle a crowd like that. What happens if a crowd just goes over the top and turns to actual violence?

I was not at the rally she gave today, these reports could be WAY out of proportion to what really happened but this sure does sound like a pretty charged situation to me.

The GOP thinks the media is at fault for McCain's decline, they think that Liburals are the enemy, and some of these folks already have a thing with blacks..... how does that turn out?

I don't see this as a positive for nation or the election.

[Malerin]

Oh snap.... you just Godwin'ed (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Godwin's_law) my post.....

:p

Well, Corp started the thread and he's had me on ignore for awhile, so I won't lose any sleep tonight.

All kidding aside, I'm starting to get creeped out by this. The Mccain of just three months ago would have torn that guy who shouted "terrorist" at his rally a new one. I gave Mccain a lot of credit for denouncing that radio host who'd used Barac's middle name. That Mccain seems to have vanished, and they're really playing with fire here. All you need is one nut who thinks he has to "protect" America from "Obama Bin Laden".

[R.Mackey]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/10/06/AR2008100602935.html[/url]

I don't see this ending well for the country and that makes me very sad.

Alas.

This kind of scorn heaped on the press reminds me of the silly knee-jerk gun-fondling conservative wing of the Republican Party periodically clamoring to withdraw from the United Nations, which hit its zenith recently when Bolton was nominated for UN Ambassador...

They're doing it wrong. The press is not the enemy. Nor is it a given right or a force of nature. The press is a tool. Treat it well, use it skillfully, and it can pay off handsomely. (Same goes for the UN.)

It's a poor workman who blames his tools. Or a sore loser. Surely some of the Republicans are smart enough, skilled enough see this is not the way to do business?

[Puppycow]

That Milbank article is quite an eye-opener. The ironic thing is, the press been quite forgiving of Palin, as this column by Richard Cohen (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/10/06/AR2008100602634.html)points out.

Reading William Kristol's column in yesterday's New York Times, I discover that Sarah Palin and I have something in common. Kristol, who was once Dan Quayle's chief of staff and therefore, shall we say, has a Mister Rogers approach to certain politicians, got Palin on the phone and reported that "she doesn't have a very high opinion of the mainstream media." This is where we are in agreement. On account of Palin, neither do I.

In her debate against Joe Biden last week, she mischaracterized Barack Obama's tax plan and his offer to meet with foreign adversaries of the United States. She found whole new powers for the vice president by misreading the Constitution, if she ever read it at all. She called one moment for the federal government to virtually disappear and a moment later lamented the lack of its oversight of the financial markets. She asserted that she "may not answer the questions the way that either the moderator or you want to hear" because, apparently, the rules don't apply to her on account of her being a hockey mom. Fer sure.

Not enough? Okay. Palin also said that she "and others in the legislature" had called for the state of Alaska to divest itself of investments in companies that do business with Sudan. But, as the indefatigable truth-hunter at The Post found out, the divestiture effort was not led by Palin. [B]In fact, her administration opposed the initiative, and Palin herself only came around to it after the bill had died.

In spite of it all, much of the media saw a credible performance. I could quote the hosannas of some of my colleagues, but I spare them the infamy that will surely follow them to their graves. (The debate's moderator, Gwen Ifill, used the occasion to catch up on some sleep.) Many of my colleagues judged Palin simply as a performer and inferred that her performance would go over well in homes with aboveground swimming pools.


Sounds like her claim about the "bridge to nowhere." She opposed it before she supported it.

[Peephole]

There appears to be no video of the "kill him" shout, so we can give them the benefit of the doubt on that. But this is just way over the line:

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This is pure hate speech, simply sickening. Isn't this borderline criminal?

[Upchurch]

um... yeah.
wBsE8GbLM8U


"Mr. Obama, we all know the truth..."
...we are completely out of ammo at this point.

[Peephole]

You mean Obama is a democrat? One that votes liberal?

My, this surely is a revelation that will open the eyes of all his supporters that thought he was the second coming of ReagaN.

[Regnad Kcin]

I know. It is kind of scary actually.

This goes COMPLETELY to Palin's inexperience...As is just so gosh-darned Christian. You betcha.

[Regnad Kcin]

All kidding aside, I'm starting to get creeped out by this. The Mccain of just three months ago would have torn that guy who shouted "terrorist" at his rally a new one. I gave Mccain a lot of credit for denouncing that radio host who'd used Barac's middle name...Yet the McCain of a year ago had no problem with a town hall questioner referring to Hillary Clinton as a bitch.

So he's a good guy one day, not the next. Perhaps he works on a lunar cycle.

[Tricky]

Yet the McCain of a year ago had no problem with a town hall questioner referring to Hillary Clinton as a bitch.
That could have been just the result of weak hearing-aid batteries.

[GreyICE]

Yet the McCain of a year ago had no problem with a town hall questioner referring to Hillary Clinton as a bitch.

So he's a good guy one day, not the next. Perhaps he works on a lunar cycle.

To be fair, even her supporters know she's a bitch. Just to us, it's a compliment. Bitch:Strong Leader::Female:Male

[SezMe]

Speaking of being creeped out, I wish Tricky would stop winking at me.


/OT

[Upchurch]

When one attack per commercial doesn't seem to be working, try throwing in an extra ambiguous, generalized non-sequitor attack on the other party. Why not? Costs the same.

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