While initial focus group polls are showing that Barack Obama won the third presidential debate and McCain has denied that his Party is engaging in racist and thug like conduct, the stories of GOP outrages and politics of hate continue to come in. The first comes from Sacramento, California, where the Sacramento GOP web site calls for the torture of Barack Obama. This isn't a case of some lone nutcase. This is the official party website for a large county unit. Obviously, McCain's statements that he abhors such conduct are lies. Even his smirking and condescending behavior during tonight's debate showed his contempt for Obama. I and I suspect many others are coming to be ashamed that we were ever Republican given the current face of the Party. Here are some highlights from the Sacramento Bee:*
Sacramento County Republican leaders Tuesday took down offensive material on their official party Web site that sought to link Sen. Barack Obama to Osama bin Laden and encouraged people to "Waterboard Barack Obama" – material that offended even state GOP leaders. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who has pushed the party to try to broaden its appeal, took issue with the site. "In the governor's view, it's completely and totally inappropriate," said Julie Soderlund, a Schwarzenegger spokeswoman.
*
Taking credit for the site (sacramentorepublicans.org) and its content was county party chairman Craig MacGlashan – husband of Sacramento County Supervisor Roberta MacGlashan. The Bee asked MacGlashan about the content after seeking his reaction to hate-filled graffiti that was spray-painted over an Obama display on a fence at Fair Oaks Boulevard and Garfield Avenue.
*
But he defended his Web site. "I'm aware of the content," he said. "Some people find it offensive, others do not. I cannot comment on how people interpret things." MacGlashan said he would "consider people's complaints" before taking any action. By Tuesday night, much of the questionable material – which ranged from depicting Obama in a turban to attacking Michelle Obama – had been removed, replaced with political cartoons attacking Obama.
*
The second example of behavior beyond the pale involves the circulation of "jokes" by a top Tampa, Florida, Republican. I am truly starting to believe that some in the GOP are secretly hoping their unconscionable behavior may prompt some nut job to try to actually harm or kill Obama. The behavior looks like something one would expect in a banana republic, not the USA. Here are highlights from the Tampa Tribune:
*
Al Austin, a longtime, high-level Republican fundraiser from Tampa, today sent to his list of political contacts an e-mail containing a joke that refers to the assassination of Barack Obama.
*
The joke concerns a group of schoolchildren discussing the definition of “tragedy” as opposed to “great loss” or “accident.” The punch line comes when one child says that if an airplane carrying Obama and his wife, Michelle, “was struck by a ‘friendly fire’ missile and blown to smithereens,” the event might be a tragedy “because it certainly wouldn’t be a great loss, and it probably wouldn’t be an accident either.”
*
Austin, a prominent real estate developer long known as one of the state’s leading Republican campaign fundraisers, has served in recent years as finance chairman for both the national and state Republican parties.
*
In my view, it is crucial that McCain/Palin go down to a diastrous defeat so that this type of politics can be repudiated once and for all. People like Craig MacGaslan, John McCain, Sarah Palin and Al Austin are disgusting and utterly unfit to hold political positions.
No comments:
Post a Comment