McCain 'Categorically' Proud of Hateful Rally Attendees

Posted by ZP Heller, Brave New Films at 1:43 PM on October 16, 2008.

"Traitor!"  "A terrorist!"  "Off with his head!"  "Bomb Obama!"

Those are just some of the hateful, bigoted, xenophobic, cries that have been spewed at McCain-Palin rallies in recent weeks.  We can hear these cries loud and clear, and so can McCain, even though he chooses to ignore them.  Until now, both he and his running mate have remained silent, providing tacit approval for a growing atmosphere of violence along the campaign trail. 

Even when confronted directly about this damnable inflammatory rhetoric, McCain weasels his way out of any accountability.  During last night's presidential debate, McCain said he was "categorically" proud of the people who attend his rallies.  He looked twitchingly into the camera and lied, claiming he has always repudiated any "out of bounds remarks" made by Republicans.  Except when his own Virginia state GOP chairman Jeffrey Frederick gave explicit directions to canvassers to link Obama with bin Laden.  Except when someone referred to Obama at a Palin rally in Scranton, PA, by shouting "Kill him!" And except when the Sacramento County Republican Party likened Obama to bin Laden, telling people to "Waterboard Barack Obama."

Instead of directly addressing the incendiary remarks, McCain tried to take offense.  He brought up the offensive shirts seen at Obama rallies, presumably the ones that read: "Sarah Palin is a c*nt" -- ironic, considering McCain once referred to his wife using the same word.  He also cited the recent comments of Rep. John Lewis, the Civil Rights leader and Georgia congressman who compared the atmosphere at McCain-Palin events with those of former segregationist Alabama governor George Wallace.  Yes, Lewis's comments were harsh -- and Obama called them inappropriate -- but his comparison was actually apt:

"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."

Lewis, of course, is not the issue here.  How dare McCain hide behind this relatively minor affront when things have gotten so dangerously out of hand at his own campaign rallies that the secret service has had to intervene and investigate.

What's it going to take for McCain and Palin to stop offering up to their crowds "the red meat of hate," to quote conservative author and former McCain supporter Frank Schaeffer?  What's it going to take to end the fearmongering and race-baiting that McCain and Palin have allowed and even contributed to at their rallies?  Watch the latest Brave New Films video and sign the open letter calling on McCain and Palin to end the politics of hate.  

Tagged as: debate, race, terrorism, hate, secret service, barack obama, john mccain, 2008 election, sarah palin

ZP Heller is the editorial director of Brave New Films. He has written for The American Prospect, AlterNet, The Philadelphia Inquirer, and The Huffington Post, covering everything from politics to pop culture.