NEW PORT RICHEY, Florida (CNN) — With a smiling Gov. Charlie Crist at her side, Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin kicked off a three-city bus tour of central Florida on Saturday by focusing on the financial concerns of the nearly three million Floridians over the age of 65.
As Palin wound down her remarks, a group in the rear of the audience began a noisy chant of "John McCain! Not Hussein!" — but the governor did not appear to hear or acknowledge them.
Look, one time, I can chalk it up to background noise. Twice, I can chalk it up to a crowd that is just really terrible at chanting in unison. Beyond that, however, I have to wonder: is Sarah Palin hearing impaired, stupid, or just plain evil?
From "Kill him" to "terrorist" to "not Hussein," Barack Obama's good name has repeatedly been dragged through the mud by a mob of bleeting sheep flocking to their Hockey Mom Messiah (and yes, I can say this, because how many times have you, fellow Democrats, been identified as drinking the Kool-Aid and worshiping Obama as Christ?). And at these rallies, Sarah Palin and John McCain simply blink in the sun at their followers, who shout racial epithets and invent frightening chants, her responding with her pageant wave, him with his stiff two thumbs up.
They don't admonish Michelle Bachmann or even McCain's own brother Joe for identifying Obama, his supporters, or states where he has a lead as "anti-American" or "unpatriotic" (we've always known Bachmann was batty, but I guess we should also expect no less from a man who calls 9-1-1 to report traffic). They don't even chuckle and say, "now now" when their crowd heckles an African American cameraman less than thirty feet away.
As a speechwriter, I'm aware that reading a teleprompter before a crowd of thousands can be, for a novice speaker, intimidating and distracting. It's easy to lose your focus. But Sarah Palin proved at the RNC that she was unquestionably capable at public speaking and McCain has been flapping his jaw for decades. If Barack Obama can hear a lone voice in the back of a crowd shouting "WE LOVE YOU" enough that he can respond "We love you back," if he can hear a few boos amid numerous cheers and respond, "We don't need that," there are limited explanations as to why Sarah Palin and John McCain don't behave with the same civility.
They are either severely hearing impaired (or just old, in McCain's case), stupid enough to believe that what's happening before them is harmless, or, and this one gets my vote, they are deliberately encouraging these chants with their silence.
Imagine if Obama crowds chanted "Redneck Palin" or "Geezer" at our rallies. Imagine if Obama or Biden said nothing and just grinned about it. What would happen in the press? What lengths would be gone to in order to identify the persons responsible for those jeers?
We can't imagine, because our candidate has character and class. And I can guarantee you he wouldn't defend that sort of behavior by jutting out his lower lip sulkily and whining, "Well you should've met me in town hall meetings."
I have never seen a bigger parade of nutjobs, circus clowns, assholes, and half-wits than the McCain campaign; and that includes two Bush administrations.