At recent McCain/Palin rallies, as Obama is lied about as "pallin' around with terrorists who would target their own country," as we are warned that Obama doesn't see America "the same way you and I see America," and that we don't know "who is the real Barack Obama," supporters have felt increasingly free to advocate the assassination of Barack Obama.
"Kill him!" "Bomb Obama!" "Off with his head!" their supporters have cried. So far, neither McCain nor Palin have denounced or distanced themselves from these murderous outbursts.
Civil rights leader John Lewis has warned that by agitating their crowds to the point where they scream for violence, McCain and Palin are "sowing the seeds of hatred and division." Lewis reminded Americans of an important lesson from the civil rights era:
"George Wallace never threw a bomb, he never fired a gun, but he created the climate and the conditions that encouraged vicious attacks against innocent Americans who were simply trying to exercise their constitutional rights. Because of this atmosphere of hate, four little girls were killed on Sunday morning when a church was bombed in Birmingham, Alabama."
Folks, there is no place in American politics for the kind of rhetoric we have been hearing. Anyone who values legitimate civic discourse would agree. For this reason, I congratulate Sen. McCain for at long last reaching the obvious conclusion:
Barack Obama must apologize.