I'm interested in all of your thoughts on this. For the past week now, hateful McCain/Palin supporters have shouted barbaric, inappropriate things about Barack Obama in public rallies.
I agree with many calls here on DailyKos and elsewhere that McCain get control of his campaign, to summarize Keith Olbermann's excellent point, or at least reprimand the hate-fueled individuals who make such outrageous pronouncements.
But what, if any, responsibility should other attendees of these rallies have? How much of the blame falls on their shoulders?
If you were at an Obama rally, and a fellow supporter shouted "Kill him!" about John McCain, or "Kill her!" about Sarah Palin, what would you do? What would you say to the individual responsible? Would you tell them to settle down? Would you inform them that their words are being televised and they'd do well to keep their emotions in better check?
Or, if like so many, you believe shouting "Kill [anyone]" constitutes a threat on someone's life, would you report it to a secret service agent?
All it takes is to approach one of the guys in the suits and say, "Excuse me sir. I thought you needed to know that the man in that section wearing a purple tee-shirt is using threatening language." Or, if the secret service is otherwise occupied (which they likely would be), find a police officer.
Would you rat out a fellow Obama supporter if you felt their actions or words were dangerous? Should McCain supporters turn in the rally attendees whose angry words are a frightening example of the hatred that McCain and Palin stir up?
Obama won't even let his supporters BOO McCain without telling them, gently, "We don't need that." John McCain's response? To tell the media, "Well I've hear similar things said about me at Obama rallies." Really? When? Got an audio or video clip? Because seeing as McCain hasn't personally attended any Obama rallies and no video or audio of Obama supporters sounding such cries (this doesn't, of course, mean it has NEVER happened, but I haven't seen any proof, and McCain hasn't offered any).
What would you do, Kossacks, if you were standing next to or near someone behaving this way? Please answer honestly.