It’s hard to imagine the audience of a political stump speech in the United States calling for the beheading of the rival candidate, but that is apparently what some are doing (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081010/ap_on_el_pr/mccain_angry_crowds).
The article relates that McCain was booed by his audience after saying he respected Senator Obama. It’s good that McCain is at least making an attempt to keep things civil. So far the same can’t be said for Palin, who has explicitly linked Obama to “terrorists” and implied that he’s not a real American. That kind of speech sounds like a desperate bid to hook uncommitted voters, but it only really appeals to right-wing extremists who might actually believe someone would try to become President of the United States not because he loves this country, but because he hates it so much he would climb to the highest political office in the government to be better positioned to work against our national safety.
I haven’t heard of crowds of Democrats calling for the deaths of McCain and Palin yet, and I doubt they will. The thought that there are people so convinced that an election could decide the fate of the nation that they would call for his death is frightening. Considering it has been only a couple of decades since the last presidential assassination attempt, this kind of talk is not harmless. In an election as groundbreaking as this one, it is an irresponsible tactic to appeal to the voters’ basest prejudices.
The article relates that McCain was booed by his audience after saying he respected Senator Obama. It’s good that McCain is at least making an attempt to keep things civil. So far the same can’t be said for Palin, who has explicitly linked Obama to “terrorists” and implied that he’s not a real American. That kind of speech sounds like a desperate bid to hook uncommitted voters, but it only really appeals to right-wing extremists who might actually believe someone would try to become President of the United States not because he loves this country, but because he hates it so much he would climb to the highest political office in the government to be better positioned to work against our national safety.
I haven’t heard of crowds of Democrats calling for the deaths of McCain and Palin yet, and I doubt they will. The thought that there are people so convinced that an election could decide the fate of the nation that they would call for his death is frightening. Considering it has been only a couple of decades since the last presidential assassination attempt, this kind of talk is not harmless. In an election as groundbreaking as this one, it is an irresponsible tactic to appeal to the voters’ basest prejudices.
No comments:
Post a Comment