A vast, deep collection of bile...

[elfs]

John McCain, last night, in a show of human decency, told his followers that Barack Obama is "a decent man, a family man," and that they have "no reason to fear him as president." I thought that was an excellent tack to take, although many on the left are speculating that there are reasons other than decency for it: maybe the anger and hatred he'd unleashed was a losing tack, maybe he's considering his legacy. For whatever reason, McCain has been doing the right thing.

He did, however, get booed for it when he said it. And I was curious to see how this turn of events has gone down with the fringe right. The results are telling. First, the freepers:

• "McCain SHUT UP! You are Pissing in your Cheerios!"
• "Obama is NOT HONORABLE We SHOULD be scared with him!"
• "His campaign and refusal to TELL THE TRUTH is PROOF that he is unwilling to do what is necessary to win."
• "It is a shame he has to ruin [Sarah Palin's] career too."
• "What a dolt."
• "Three weeks before the election McCain dismisses the most basic beliefs of patriotic conservatives and endorses Barak Hussein Obama."
• "He's a jack ass. This guy couldn't be a bigger idiot. "
• "Mccain makes me sick. Everytime I am fired up he throw some cold water."
• "I'm starting to hate him."
• "My respect can never be earned by criminal Muslim terrorists."
• "Can you respect your voters Mr. McCain?"
• "WE'RE NOT TURNING THE WHITE HOUSE KEYS OVER TO BARACK HUSSEIN OBAMA!"
• "Thanks John, for being a spineless, limp-wristed, RINO imbecile. And please keep that bitch you hired off the air too."

The Clownhall commenters:

• "Yes we are SCARED and NO this is NOT someone we want to have in the White House!"
• "Bully for the crowd!!!! John needs to figure this one out!!!!"
• "Barack Hussein Obama, Jr. is NOT a decent man. He can never be president."
• "McCain we're ready to fight, where the hell are you?"
• "Nothing wrong with McCain/Palin being inline with KKK mentality because they are white like most of us."
• "We just want McCain to embrace and magnify our anger."
• "The United States is the most important country in the world, and cannot afford an Obama presidency."

The Little Green Footballs:

• "I feel it is a sad day for all veterans. I thought we finally had found a fighter."
• "there's nothing about obama that doesn't scare me, wtf?"
• "I think I am going to go cling to my FN-FAL."
• "I'm voting for Palin."
• "Let's hope Sarah pulls him to the back of the plane over the weekend and smacks some sense into him."
• "This is what happens when we let the country club "compassionate" conservatives control the republican party."
• "Palin/SomeOldGuy '08"
• "he should not have said that."
• "BHO SCARES THE SHIT OUTTA' ME. He's a freakin' commie who plans on fucking up this nation"
• "I don't care what McCain says. . . Maybe I don't "have to" be scared of Obama as President, but I am anyway."
• "The tree of liberty..."

Comments

Re: Still...

[ionotter.livejournal.com]

The Republicans have nothing on Democratic activists.

Which is why they hire police to find something on them and arrest them before the convention. (http://dncrnc.wordpress.com/2008/09/05/anti-war-protesters-arrested-before-mccain-speech/)

When was the last time you saw conservative protesters in black masks?

Well, considering how safe it's become for people to protest anything in this country, it probably won't take long. (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/10/07/AR2008100703245.html)

When was the last time you saw Obama expressing righteous dismay over the statements and activities of MoveOn or repudiating the evil that permeates comment threads on the Daily Kos?

He gave up. It's kind of redundant to complain about such things when your opponent REALLY IS guilty of the things you're simply accusing him of. (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/27057346#27057346)

And did any Republican protesters sneak into the Democratic National Convention and attempt to disrupt it? If so, I didn't notice them.

No, but if they did, I doubt they've have been beaten. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2004_Republican_National_Convention_protest_activity#Protest_from_within_the_convention)

Why did they even have to sneak in? Isn't this America? Aren't we supposed to be able to see and say what we like before the respective candidates? Shouldn't we be permitted to hold up a sign that says, "Bush Lied, My Son Died" at a convention in a public venue? "Sneaking in" presumes they were otherwise forbidden.

Why?

Hell, most of the people trying to disrupt BOTH conventions were anarchists and communists.

Really? Why not take that as a sign of a problem, instead of trying to beat it down with a truncheon?

See, anarchists are nothing but punk kids-grown up or otherwise-who are just looking to piss in somebody's cornflakes. They're the physical representation of /b/ from 4chan.org, and about as intelligent. As such, they're only attracted to places where they know they can tweak someone.

If our society has become so attractive to these people, and they feel that they can find fertile ground for trolling ANY SIDE of the argument, then our nation is in desperate trouble.

Silencing the voice of an asshole is the best way to give it legitimacy.

Re: Still...

[elfs.livejournal.com]

Why did they even have to sneak in? Isn't this America? Aren't we supposed to be able to see and say what we like before the respective candidates?

No, not at the Republican National Convention. Or the Democratic National Convention. Or the Vulcan National Convention. These are (surprise!) private events, paid for with private funds, in which the parties themselves, in the forms of their members, duly vetted by other members of the party, get together to decide who among them will be put forward to the public.

The renters of the halls get to decide who goes in and who goes out. It amazes me to this day that nobody understands this: the Republican and Democratic parties are not government entities. They're private institutions which people of like mind join to reap the benefits of aggregate political (rather than governmental) power.