10/10/08: McCain's response to hatred is "meek"

John McCain began dialing back (or began trying to appear to be dialing back) the rising tide of hatred and verbal violence he and Palin have been whipping up on the campaign trail. (BTW, if you haven't seen the videos of these rallies, please do so - here's one - also click on the link above.

In recent days, McCain and Palin had taken it to dangerous (and IMHO, disgusting) heights, with most commentators calling on McCain to take control and cool down the rhetoric. CNN's David Gergen said the negative tone of these rallies is "incendiary" and could lead to violence.

Frank Schaeffer of the Baltimore Sun was one of many who said "McCain's attacks fuel dangerous hatred".

Khaled Hosseini, the Afghani-born author of best-selling novels "The Kite Runner" and "A Thousand Splendid Suns", sums it up best in the Washington Post article McCain and Palin Are Playing With Fire. He says that the response from the McCain/Palin campaign to the verbal abuse towards Obama they have incited at their recent rallies has been "meek". He writes:

“What I find most unconscionable is the refusal of the McCain-Palin tandem to publicly condemn the cries of "traitor," "liar," "terrorist" and (worst of all) "kill him!" that could be heard at recent rallies.

The real affront is the lack of firm response from either McCain or Palin. Neither has had the moral courage to denounce the use of Obama's middle name as an insult.

The McCain-Palin ticket has given toxic speeches accusing Obama of being a friend of terrorists, then released short, meek repudiations of some of the rough stuff, including McCain's call Friday to "be respectful."”