The Following Pogrom is a McCain-Palin Production

   Where have I seen this before -- the crowd taunts of reporters traveling with Sarah Palin, the rage drummed up by the GOP ticket against the news media, the "kill them" attitude typified by the man in the Palin crowd in Clearwater, Fla., who yelled at an African-American TV sound technician: "Sit down, boy!"
   It's getting so ugly out there that it's only a matter of moments before "press-bashing" can be taken literally.
   I'll tell you where I've seen this "beat the press" tactic before: In the waning days of the flailing 1992 re-election campaign of President George H. W. Bush. In a flashing signal of desperation that could have been read from the next galaxy, Bush and his surrogates spent so much time attacking the media, giving out buttons and bumper stickers saying "Annoy the Media -- Re-Elect Bush," that Republican audiences on the campaign trail were ravening at the sight of the journalists accompanying the patrician-raised Bush 41 to campaign rallies.
   One day in Oregon, as I recall, a network crew was set upon and assaulted. Other journalists were shoved. We all were hollered at: "Tell the truth! Tell the truth!" One hothead in Vineland, N.J., seemed within a couple of seconds of taking a swing at me as I walked by, laden down with a computer and other shoulder-mounted gear. A red-faced young man walked into our filing tent in the Pacific Northwest and ranted, glossolalia-like, at the top of his lungs, the spit flying.
   The vibes got nastier by the day. Finally, one evening on the road, one journalist made his way to Bush as the president was dining with staffers and beseeched him to tone down the rhetoric before hate led to tragedy.
    The next day, Bush, to his belated credit, began telling crowds to lay off the traveling press. He suggested that the journalists in his motorcade were just working stiffs doing their job and were without fault; the fault, he implied, lay with the high-paid network pundits back East and with the editors of the worker bees.
    The higher-level work that Bush complained about consisted of reciting downtrending poll figures and declaring the Republican campaign in trouble. Well, we had plenty of evidence that Bush was in trouble and that our Bigfoot higher-ups weren't making it up.
    Amid crippling perceptions that the economy was underwater (not as badly as now, but bad enough), Bush had prevailed upon Jim Baker (who later, in 2000, pulled the Bush family's irons out of the fire in the Florida recount) to resign as Secretary of State and head the re-election campaign. Itself a sign that the campaign was approaching terminal status, the addition of Baker naturally stepped up questions about what he was doing to help. But the whip-smart, normally high-profile Baker made himself invisible. Hunkering in the bunker, he was so elaborately missing from the fray that the traveling press kept track of the mounting number of days without a "Baker sighting." Baker, known as a friend of the press, was even better-known as an operator who associated himself with success and fled the slightest hint of failure. Defeat is an orphan, as John F. Kennedy used to say. Baker's no-shows were saying volumes about campaign trends.
    So Old Bush was wrong about scapegoating even the distant mandarins of the news media for his troubles, but at least the assaults on the notepad-and-camera grunts tapered off. When a presidential candidate tells fired-up supporters that their conduct is out of line, they retreat to a grudging civility out of respect for the candidate and the office.
    George H. W. Bush showed class by moderating his base-igniting tactic, though it was a close thing that somebody didn't get badly injured. It's past time for McCain and Palin to follow the Bush lead and to stop rousing the Limbaugh-indoctrinated Rottweilers to "sic 'em" in Kristallnacht fashion. We are not living in a sweaty banana republic, where elections routinely lead to violence and murder.
   Or are we?

Comments

[bill Carli]

I'm a 61 year old stroke victim but I sure wish I was a reporter experiencing this abuse. It would be so much fun to take a peckerhead down with me as I got fired.

[Phyllis]

Martin, you have written exactly what my thoughts have been. I knew from the beginning I was voting for Obama. I guess I was brought up in the Bronx and never learned to accept everyone for who they are. The thought of Palin and her fanatical beliefs and church would be very scary to think she can run the White House. It is my opinion that she enjoys these rallies and welcomes bringing in feelings of hate and inferring that you cannot trust Obama sinces he hangs around terrorists - and we know what she is inferring. McCain knew he had the right person that could bring that message out. According to what I have seen from her church with a witch doctor touching her shoulder to help make her the Governor and the head of Jews for Jesus talking about how he is against Israel and they deserve what they get, it is easy for her to have a Lee County Sheriff bring out the message with Obama's middle name in it at a FL rally. Will this cop really protect all the people? I can see Sarah Palin in a KKK meeting as well leading the meeting.

McCain would have never picked a woman like Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison who is an intelligent, professional woman, since he knew that she would not bring out this type of negative message and lies about Obama.

I saw McCain surprised when he asked "Who is Senator Obama" and the crowd started screaming out "terrorist" that it is actually working.

How Scary!

It has taken years for society to reduce prejudice in our society and to eliminate hate mongers. Does someone have to get hurt for this to stop? McCain has changed over the years. He doesn't care.

Will people be killed? Will people with muslim names be hurt? Will hate mongers come out? Who will be injured?

McCain should be ashamed of himself.

[gme]

Just this past July, a deranged man was incited enough by Savage, O'Reilly and Hannity that he shot up a childrens program in a church. It doesn't take much to affect the right wing nutcases in this country. Somebody needs to step in and stop them, AND McCain and Palin, before a tragedy happens. Funny how its always on the conservative side that violence follows. Must be those christian values.

[mtflyer]

I suspect these characters had read Mein Kampf throughly where the author extolls the usuefulness of propaganda and fear. More and more we are allowing these demagogues to get away with their lies and namecalling. But who will stop them? Only the voters can do that on Nov 4. If they don't, what then? The way the demonstrators(including CNN personnel) were handled in Minneapolis by stormtrooper tactics is just the beginning.

[jamison]

Meanwhile, CNN is worrying over whether Palin will be offended by a Newsweek cover image of her face that apparently shows her pores and a "faint moustache."

In this case, the media is its own best enemy.

[HedgeBaby]

Just think how much worse it could get if these two hate-mongering race-baiters make it to the White House. Will make the days of George Wallace look penny-ante.

[HedgeBaby]

Just think how much worse it could get if these two hate-mongering race-baiters make it to the White House. Will make the days of George Wallace look penny-ante.

[gme]

I agree HedgeBaby. The civilized world changed with the Bush/Rove administration. These days the GOP has been emboldened to act on their violent, and less than noble idiology. This can easily be seen by the way McPain treated Obama in the debates. The old goat wouldn't even look at Obama, and then showed his contempt by refering to Obama as "that one". One can take heart though...my republican parents, in their 80's, have ALWAYS voted republican. They are voting for Obama this year. The reason they gave me was that they didn't like what the republicans have become. They aren't the only ones...the polls are showing more and more people planning to vote Democratic this year.

[ChefLito]

and despite this abuse hurled by Republicans, the press still continue to spout their lies as if truth, giving prominent space to the Ayers "connection", the "Muslim" religion, etc. sometimes, you guys deserve it!

[ritgarr]

In the Chicago area today a young female Muslim student at a local college was attacked in a locker room for wearing a head scarf. The McCain/Palin trash is starting to have the effect they apparently want. I hope the new McCain is really proud of himself. How sad!

[TJ]

The campaigns should be suspended. They are serving no more purpose re to informing intelligent voters. Now, it is race baiting, incitement of violence, and feeding the bigots. McCain/Palin have not offered in 10 days anything constructive on the issue. She, especially, does not speak to the issues at all. She just attacks and incites, she serves no constructive purpose and she should be removed from the campaign trail altogether. We have seen enough. The voters have already decided: the radical right wing nuts will vote Republican; the Independents and Democrats will vote Democratic and the Undecided will just have to make up their minds after some quiet deliberation, seeking out resources that abound, if you are really interested. Anyone who is Undecided 3 weeks before election is not really undecided or, maybe, they are just not interested.