The last couple of days of the desperate and despicable McCain/Palin campaign has devolved into what the New York Times Editorial Board has called "one of the most appalling campaigns we can remember." The rallies look more like lynch mobs with the crowd referencing Obama with hateful and dangerous words like "terrorist," "treason," and "kill him." And because McCain and Palin are purposefully trying to strike fear in the hearts of their audience and have never rebuked their audience to stop spewing hateful words, they have implicitly condoned it.
Some have said that maybe McCain and Palin did not hear what the crowd was saying. I'm not buying it. First, when the guy at McCain's rally said "terrorist" McCain was taken aback. There was no way he did not hear it. Yet, he continued with his speech without calling that guy out.
Even if they hadn't heard it at the time, they certainly heard it reported in the news and they still have not said anything. It's disgusting.
And today, First Read reports that
this afternoon's crowd was vocal in their support for McCain and their anger with Senator Obama. At one point one man could be heard yelling, "Off with his head," when McCain spoke about Obama's tax plan.
This is really sick. I guess by Friday, McCain and Palin will be wearing white sheets and hoods and their lynch mob rallies will have torches and burning crosses at the ready. It's just plain nuts out there and it makes me sometimes really angry and sometimes really sad. But one thing I won't be is afraid. There is just too much at stake and we are too close to our goals.
I admit that I have been taken aback by the stories of harassment, from the guy who was shot with a bb gun in London, to the reports of trying to scare off people in black communities from voting. It's jarring -- both an old and a new fight for many of us.
I remind myself that we all knew this was going to be a struggle. And we know that we can't look to people like John McCain and Sarah Palin and their ilk to be decent when all they see is power slipping away from them. It's up to us to recognize these acts of desperation for what they are: the sputtering last gasps of a dying, antiquated political machine. I do know this: there are a lot people out there of every race, ethnicity, walk of life, and age group working hard every day to overwhelm all that hate-filled garbage that the Rethugs are spewing. I've seen it for myself, and it is amazing. And so, we press forward.
Hillary Clinton's speech at the convention stays in my heart. I continue draw strength and courage from her quote of Harriett Tubman:
If you hear the dogs, keep going. If you see the torches in the woods, keep going. If they're shouting after you, keep going. Don't ever stop. Keep going. If you want a taste of freedom, keep going.
And that's exactly what I intend to do.