Monday, October 13, 2008

We really need to get the ugliness out of this campaign

Warning: some very repulsive rhetoric and images. (That is no joke: horrible language, I do not exaggerate.)

Update: by contrast, the MSM has been working in overdrive to create a McCain-and-supporters-are-haters story. Here's part of Jim Treacher's send-up of the "reporting":

McCain Refers to Obama as "My Opponent"

By Every Reporter Who Still Has a Job
Every Newspaper in America
Page 1 above the fold

John McCain.jpgMedia Bubble, Oct. 8 -- John McCain's bid for the Oval Office suffered another stunning blow yesterday when the Arizona senator referred to Barack Obama, the 44th President of the United States, as "my opponent." The campaign-shattering remark came during a vicious, Hitlerian speech before an audience of drooling right-wing drones in one of those states in the middle, possibly rectangular.

"I believe that we should do things one way," McSame sneered, his shrunken, twisted body and hideous visage producing overwhelming revulsion in all sane people who beheld him. "But my opponent feels we should do things a different way."

In a comment appearing simultaneously on every single blog, newspaper site, and message board on earth, a number of private individuals completely unattached to the Obama campaign replied: "On behalf of concerned Christian conservatives everywhere, this is the sort of eliminationist rhetoric we've come to expect from the evil, cancer-riddled liar John McPain. We get it, old man: Obama opposes you, therefore he must be destroyed. This sort of disgraceful hate-mongering might be a big hit at your next cross-burning, assuming you live that long, but America knows better. The NVA should have finished the job, you miserable piece of garbage."

McLame lashed out at this levelheaded appeal to reason, firing back that his detractors "have every right to their opinion" and "raise some concerns that, while I might take issue with how they're expressed, are worth considering." It is widely believed that McShame will have conceded the election by the time this story goes to press, hopefully followed by his gruesome death in a fire....
Read the rest.

25 comments:

JackW said...

Every time I come across the media bias (which is so often now it's almost a constant) I remind myself that holding the GOP to a higher standard is a good thing.

CR said...

I'm not surprised. By the way, I really did contemplate wearing a Palin T-shirt and/or putting a Palin bumper sticker, but for the same reason in one your pictures below, I think people will get really violent - probably slash my tires.

I did get yelled at one time for wearing a W T-shirt.

I lost at least one friend because he became unhinged over politics. Pretty sad.

Truth Unites... and Divides said...

I got as far as the defecating monkey and stopped.

DJP, if you have time, could you do a quick scan and comment on Donald Miller's interview here.

donsands said...

Wow Dan! That's some way, way, over-the-top extreme nasty hateful stuff.

I remember the Howard County MD people. I saw the signs they destroyed.

It sure is getting more and more ugly in the political arena. I wonder, has it ever been this ugly before?

The Madonna video was removed BTW.

Mike Westfall said...

That Sandra Bernhardt! She's so charming. I'd marry her if I could....

DJP said...

Hey — who wouldn't? You know? Who... wouldn't?

Sam said...

I wouldn't: too polite for my tastes.

Rachael Starke said...

So - serious question -

Given that the only name I recognized is Madonna's, and she's an entertainer (I use the term sarcastically, not literally), not the MSM...

And given that, if we are Christians before we are Americans and our understanding of depravity compels us to admit that probably for every repulsive image/quote here, there is an equal and opposite image/ out there from our guys...

Perhaps those other names are familiar, mainstream figures, and so I'll definitely stand corrected if they are. But it seems that this is yet another example where the collision of the Internet and and man's depraved wickedness is resulting in an ideological WMD of the vilest kind.

God have mercy on us. I'm seriously considering going on a complete media fast for, oh... ever.

donsands said...

I just had another thought. "But for the grace of God..."

I always have to remind myself, that I could be as nasty as these people, and at one time was, to be honest.

"And such were some of you; but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit or our God." 1 Cor. 6:11

DJP said...

Um... was there a question, Rachael? (c;

Well, I'll guess at the question, and give this answer. The media, to prop up their candidate and ideology, are trying hard to hush McCain and Palin by depicting them and their audiences as rabid, white-sheeted, insane, dangerous, racist haters.

I'm suggesting that — surprise! — the coverage is far from objective, and far from even-handed. At minimum.

DJP said...

TUAD, my comment would be: useful idiot.

CR said...

40% of the American electorate want socialism so Obama appeals to them. 40% of the public know better and while not excited for McCain, would not in a million years vote for Obama.

The concern is the other 20%. Some of that 20% is undecided. Some of the 20% are "independents" and "moderates" (read - leaning liberal) and want a reason to vote for Sen. Obama. They know they want change but they are not involved enough with the issues to know any better.

I'm wondering if all this race baiting by the Obama camp and the MSM is enough to sway these undecided that they are so offended by the insinuation, they vote for McCain?

I don't know.

Rachael Starke said...

:) Sorry Dan, I was rendered termporarily insensible by the lovely, um, artwork, and think I missed your point, which I now take as facetious, and thus well put.

But here's my real source of dismay. I'm sure that before this month is out, the trading of vile images/quotes issued from the nether regions of the Internet on both sides is going to increase by the hour. And the MSM is going to do what it does - apply the Internet reality distortion field to it all and make McCain look like a knuckle dragging racist.

But here's the problem. This campaign is rapidly deteriorating into the national equivalent of a neighborhood fight between two six year old kids saying things like -

"Your dad is a poopy head."

"Well your dad is a poopy POOPY head."

Now, most mature parents would overhear this and take steps to intervene, perhaps calmly and logically explain how to engage someone in a rational exchange of ideas, using logic, reason, maybe even math.

And John MCCain was going to be a maverick. He picked Sarah Palin to prove he was a game changer. Things were going to be different with his hands at the tiller. And what do we get?

John McCain is going to kick Barack Obama's donkey.

Maybe it's naive to think that a campaign based on logic, reason, ideas, character, MATH, would would resonate with today's average American.

And it probably won't, if those messages are communicated using all the conventional methods like T.V. ads / WSJ and FoxNews articles / debates where Tom Broken picks the questions.

But McCain vs. Madonna ain't gonna work either.

Fred Butler said...

I don't think I have seen such fomenting paranoia among those in this unique Christian sub-culture.




I couldn't resist.

CR said...

Krauthammer had a good point. To highlight the association that Obama had with Wright - is racist or Ayers - is irrelevant.

But, in a crowd of 10,000 people where 4 or 5 people that Sen. McCain don't know shout some real nasty remarks against Obama --the MSM highlights. If this election wasn't so important, this would be laughable.

Truth Unites... and Divides said...

TUAD, my comment would be: useful idiot.

Yep. That's my analysis of the much-lauded Don Miller as well.

Gilbert said...

I am not surprised at any of this either. This generation is really starting to make Sodom and Gomorrah look like a kid stealing candy out of a cookie jar. I saw a YouTube video of Republicans going on a march in a burrough(sp?) of New York City, and one guy had his camera rolling. You couldn't count how many people shouted nasty comments and gave them "the bird". Of course, out in Oregon, a few slightly upset people decided to try to torch campaign signs.

"We really need to get the ugliness out of this campaign"? I'm writing you a reality check: ain't gonna happen, and it will get worse in the days to come, unless God decides to do a huge revival or if Jesus comes back before November. This is one piece of paper that your bank will cash without question. :-(

Obama and their campaign is extremely media savvy, and unlike McCain/Palin, they really know how to con the young, the poor and minority voters into voting for them. And people who think that will be labelled racist, hate-mongers and all sorts of names for saying that, but it's absolutely true.

Why didn't this generation hear about Jesus?

Unknown said...

First, I wholely agree that this campaign has become increasingly nasty. However, I found something today that really impacted me and I wanted to share. It is a story from August in the Chicago Tribune. You can read it here:

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-mccain-faithaug15,0,575244.story

The story is of McCain in a POW camp, and how faith aided not just himself, but his fellow POW's. I have not been impressed with Senator McCain during this election, and I still will probably not vote for him. However, after reading this I have new respect for John McCain. Not as a Senator, or future President, but as a Christian.

Anonymous said...

I realize you are being humorous but what is happening right now isn't very funny.

A friend of mine knows Charles Krauthammer and he said Charlie is sick about this whole campaign. He personally believes Palin is unqualified and was a huge mistake. He also thinks the tone of this campaign is spiraling out of control and may hurt conservatives for years to come.

Living in the DC area I have been lucky enough to attend campaign rallies for Palin, McCain, and Obama. Of the three, the Obama rally was respectful and quite positive. McCain's rally was rather somber but John was very polite in his references to Senator Obama. The Palin rally was downright scary, people were
badmouthing Obama (I heard at least five people say he was a muslim), others said he was a terrorist, and there were shouts of death to the n****r. Governor Palin just smiled and winked at the crowd. I was frightened and I am as white as can be.

I can't say if this is typical of these rallies but having been to these three I'd have to say the press coverage has been pretty accurate.

CR said...

Ironman: The Palin rally was downright scary, people were
badmouthing Obama (I heard at least five people say he was a muslim), others said he was a terrorist, and there were shouts of death to the n****r. Governor Palin just smiled and winked at the crowd. I was frightened and I am as white as can be.


Let me correct your misrepresentation ( bordering on slander) here. First, these are crowds of 20,000 or more people sometimes. They are very loud and sometimes the candidate can't hear what's going on. One time Gov. Palin thought a bunch of people that were just shouting her name in support were protesters and she wrongly criticized them and said that people were fighting for their freedom to protest. She just mistook their cheers for protests.

Gov. Palin would not just wink at disgraceful language. Okay?

Secondly, Krauthammer is one of the greatest conservative minds in DC. But because he lives in DC,
when really solid conservatives go there, most of them end up compromising some time to the social and the political and media pressures that exist there. It doesn't happen often to Krauthammer but it does happen.

Gov. Palin has more executive experience than Obama does and is more qualified to be President. And Krauthammer was just wrong. Obama would probably not be here today had it not been for Fitzgerald deciding not to run again, Mosely Braun deciding not to run and not for the sensational details of Jack Ryan's divorce being released of his nasty divorce with Seven of Nine.

Washington conservatives are uncomfortable with people outside the beltway. Bill Kristol (whose also wrong several times) on Palin got it right this time. She's a great candidate.

Also, the McCain campaign does not block people from their rallies. The Obama campaign puts Arab head covering women outside of camera view (at least he has done this before). The Obama campaign is very calculative who they put in front of the cameras. The McCain/Palin campaign are straight and transparent.

Big Media is also Ignoring Ugly Attacks on McCain-Palin By Obama Supporters?

So, you can be assured that it is not typical of rallies and Big Media coverage has not been accurate.

DJP said...

You know, Ironman, despite the very cool screen-name, you're wearing out your welcome as quickly as you are your credibility.

First, you come to a site, claiming to have read a number of posts (including, presumably, this one), but dismissing the exampled observations of media bias as paranoia. This is a bit like coming back from the Mojave Desert and dismissing reports of sand as xerophobia.

Refuted, you change nothing, keep on the same wordy course.

Now you comment on a post featuring documentation of a long, nauseating series of expressions of the left's seething hatred. Your response? It's amusing to you. But what you really want to do is wring your hands and whimper about how scary Sarah Palin is. Scary girl! Scary!

I predict Carlo's refutation will simply bring more logorrhea.

You're stacking up as an eloquent troll, and we have a low troll-tolerance level here.

Consider this a warning. I don't want my busy, productive commenters wasting their time explaining and proving the wetness of water to someone who will never, ever admit it, even from twelve feet under its surface.

If that offends you, I can really live with that. You still have CBSNBCCNNABC, AP, Reuters, Al Jazeera, Pravda, and half of Fox.

Anonymous said...

Let me see if I understand this. I posted a response talking about what I have personally witnessed at campaign raliies. CR posted his opinion and what he has heard on radio or watched on Fox. I'm supposed to dismiss what I have seen and what I know firsthand to be true because he says it isn't? That makes me a troll? I'm confused.

DJP said...

No, what I actually said is what I'm saying.

And this is typical: you bypass extensive substance to repeat your lame premise. It started out old, and isn't getting better. But you'd like us to take the time to explain it to you again. And then maybe one more time. And then another. Then another.

You did not invent the genre, we're already familiar with it.

Fred Butler said...

Dennis Prager is currently on air debunking the McCain/Palin alternative narrative that the campaign is fomenting bigotry at their rallies and basically becoming George Wallace.

He is smacking down some excellent truth.

Go HERE to catch the podcast which will be posted later today. Download the 1st hour, Oct. 15.

DJP said...

Fred (and others), I think another factor isn't being considered quite seriously enough.

Tammy Bruce says,

"The truth is we've got an issue here, even with when I was on the left, you had a screamer or two even at Palin rallies and McCain rallies yelling a derogatory word about Barack Obama calling him a terrorist. We would plant people in rallies in that regard to shout things to set a tone. I think this Democratic campaign is the worst we've ever seen...."