When the subject of hate speech at McCain and Palin rallies over the last few weeks came up in the final presidential debate, McCain had this to say:
Let me just say categorically I’m proud of the people that come to our rallies.
But to somehow say that group of young women who said “Military wives for McCain” are somehow saying anything derogatory about you, but anything — and those veterans that wear those hats that say “World War II, Vietnam, Korea, Iraq,” I’m not going to stand for people saying that the people that come to my rallies are anything but the most dedicated, patriotic men and women that are in this nation and they’re great citizens.
McCain has shrugged off some of the worst hate peddlers as “fringe” people. Now, you’d certainly think that by far most people at these rallies are there because they are proud of their nominees. And yet, if you were to watch a video such as this one below, you don’t hear anyone yelling out things like “Military wives for McCain!” or “Proud of Palin!”
This video gives you the impression that the phantom fringe is all there is (which I know cannot be true; of course there are dignified, thoughtful people who support McCain). Why are these people more audible, why does their energy seem to dominate the mood? Perhaps the media is just feeding off of and amplifying them? But this video captured the vitroil without any filter at all.
Many Americans found themselves repelled by the ignorant, divisive and rascist tilt of Rev. Jeremiah Wright’s sermons. It strikes me as only logical that people should be just as disgusted with the ignorant, rascist venom countless “fringe” people have expressed at McCain Palin rallies. In fact, the rallies seem to be the place to go and vent their hate.
I’m proud to be an American. But I am ashamed of Americans who would embrace this hate. If McCain can’t bring himself to say, “I categorically do not want the support of anyone supporting violence against my opponent,” he has no business running for president. Luckily, that is something on which more than fifty percent of Americans can agree.
