nytimes.com— The McCain campaign has crossed the line between tough negative campaigning and inciting vigilantism, and each day the mob howls louder.
Oct 12, 2008View in Crawl 4
FTA: No less disconcerting was a still-unexplained passage of Palin’s convention speech: Her use of an unattributed quote praising small-town America (as opposed to, say, Chicago and its community organizers) from Westbrook Pegler, the mid-century Hearst columnist famous for his anti-Semitism, racism and violent rhetorical excess. After an assassin tried to kill F.D.R. at a Florida rally and murdered Chicago’s mayor instead in 1933, Pegler wrote that it was “regrettable that Giuseppe Zangara shot the wrong man.” In the ’60s, Pegler had a wish for Bobby Kennedy: “Some white patriot of the Southern tier will spatter his spoonful of brains in public premises before the snow falls.”This is the writer who found his way into a speech by a potential vice president at a national political convention. It’s astonishing there’s been no demand for a public accounting from the McCain campaign. Imagine if Obama had quoted a Black Panther or Louis Farrakhan — or William Ayers — in Denver.
Recently I posted a letter in our local paper regarding Sarah Palin and her campaign tactics. I was called a "Nazi" for trying to supress "Free Speech"! Then yesterday the same paper ran an editorial decrying the "Left wing attack on Free Speech". I am sorry to say free speech is one thing, hate speech is quite another!
It's disheartening to read a comment like that of jonolan above. Now there's a person who took the time to read Frank Rich's Op-Ed in the New York Times and despite all that, still missed the point in a monumental way. It makes one wonder -- it makes me wonder, at least -- if we are not now a nation of reactionary illiterates no longer able to read and absorb information conveyed to us and make reasonable decisions and opinions from it. A few days back the conservative journalist, George F. Will referred to Sarah Palin as 'Sancho Panza.' I mentioned this in context to an intelligent acquaintance who did not know whom Sancho Panza was, even despite the reference to Cervantes' "Don Quixote."Ignorance is not bliss. It is a base, bloody-minded justification for hatred and yes, murder.To Frank Rich: Thank you, sir. Each Sunday your New York Times Op-Ed gives me renewed belief that there is hope in mankind and that there still exists fair-minded and reasonable men and women. Sorry, jonolan above. You are not among that number. And please handle your punctuation and spelling, too! There's even a friggin' spellcheck available.
Three cheers to PattySoandSo for insightful reading of the Frank Rich op-ed piece and her rebuke to jonolan. I've had to dumb down my conversation for quite some time now as to not make friends and associates uncomfortable with how uninformed or uneducated they are. Exactly when did classic literature stop being mandatory in the school curriculum?I'm painfully aware that incendiary speech has been the run up to political assassination here in the good ol' USA since the time of Lincoln. The silence coming from the McCain campaign co-signs that sort of behavior because he would do anything to become president at any cost.
Good luck with the hate when the Democrats control the house, senate and presidency. Maybe you'll find a rally of like minded people you can meet with.
onyxcoltraneOct 12, 2008
FTA: No less disconcerting was a still-unexplained passage of Palin’s convention speech: Her use of an unattributed quote praising small-town America (as opposed to, say, Chicago and its community organizers) from Westbrook Pegler, the mid-century Hearst columnist famous for his anti-Semitism, racism and violent rhetorical excess. After an assassin tried to kill F.D.R. at a Florida rally and murdered Chicago’s mayor instead in 1933, Pegler wrote that it was “regrettable that Giuseppe Zangara shot the wrong man.” In the ’60s, Pegler had a wish for Bobby Kennedy: “Some white patriot of the Southern tier will spatter his spoonful of brains in public premises before the snow falls.”This is the writer who found his way into a speech by a potential vice president at a national political convention. It’s astonishing there’s been no demand for a public accounting from the McCain campaign. Imagine if Obama had quoted a Black Panther or Louis Farrakhan — or William Ayers — in Denver.
Closed AccountOct 12, 2008
good you did not say 'phoenix' :P
Closed AccountOct 12, 2008
Recently I posted a letter in our local paper regarding Sarah Palin and her campaign tactics. I was called a "Nazi" for trying to supress "Free Speech"! Then yesterday the same paper ran an editorial decrying the "Left wing attack on Free Speech". I am sorry to say free speech is one thing, hate speech is quite another!
pattysoandsoOct 12, 2008
It's disheartening to read a comment like that of jonolan above. Now there's a person who took the time to read Frank Rich's Op-Ed in the New York Times and despite all that, still missed the point in a monumental way. It makes one wonder -- it makes me wonder, at least -- if we are not now a nation of reactionary illiterates no longer able to read and absorb information conveyed to us and make reasonable decisions and opinions from it. A few days back the conservative journalist, George F. Will referred to Sarah Palin as 'Sancho Panza.' I mentioned this in context to an intelligent acquaintance who did not know whom Sancho Panza was, even despite the reference to Cervantes' "Don Quixote."Ignorance is not bliss. It is a base, bloody-minded justification for hatred and yes, murder.To Frank Rich: Thank you, sir. Each Sunday your New York Times Op-Ed gives me renewed belief that there is hope in mankind and that there still exists fair-minded and reasonable men and women. Sorry, jonolan above. You are not among that number. And please handle your punctuation and spelling, too! There's even a friggin' spellcheck available.
renegadeprOct 12, 2008
Three cheers to PattySoandSo for insightful reading of the Frank Rich op-ed piece and her rebuke to jonolan. I've had to dumb down my conversation for quite some time now as to not make friends and associates uncomfortable with how uninformed or uneducated they are. Exactly when did classic literature stop being mandatory in the school curriculum?I'm painfully aware that incendiary speech has been the run up to political assassination here in the good ol' USA since the time of Lincoln. The silence coming from the McCain campaign co-signs that sort of behavior because he would do anything to become president at any cost.
Closed AccountOct 12, 2008
Good luck with the hate when the Democrats control the house, senate and presidency. Maybe you'll find a rally of like minded people you can meet with.
Closed AccountOct 12, 2008
He didn't take the time to read it.