Who knew that when you go around accusing Obama of being a foreigner, outsider, unpatriotic and basically a terrorist sympathizer Manchurian candidate it would unleash the frothing hatred that Republicans have been whipping up in the "base" all these years?

Just a few recent examples of hate-mongering run rampant:

Yesterday, John McCain delivered an unhinged anti-Obama diatribe in New Mexico, and when he posed a rhetorical question -- "Who is the real Barack Obama?" -- someone shouted, "A terrorist!" McCain paused momentarily, but did not comment on the remark.

[Cross-Posted at Why We Need Obama] [Digg It]

Also yesterday, Sarah Palin repeated one of her unusually stupid attacks, rehashing the nonsense that Obama "pals around" with terrorists. One man in the audience, responding to Palin's smear, shouted, "Kill him!" Palin also did not comment on the remark.

At the same Florida event, Republicans shouted abuse at journalists, hurling obscenities. The Washington Postreported, "One Palin supporter shouted a racial epithet at an African American sound man for a network and told him, 'Sit down, boy.'"

And just to top things off, last night, the Republican Party of Pennsylvania announced its belief that Obama is "a terrorist's best friend."

I expected Republicans to fight hard to win this year. I also expected them to ignore traditional norms, throw caution to the wind, and dispense with honesty and decency. But I didn't expect a wholesale descent into madness. These folks have just lost their collective minds.

Are McCain and Palin responsible for lunatics who shout insane comments at their rallies? Of course not. That said, when the Republican campaign, mired in desperation, deliberately stokes the fires of hate and fear, using disgusting lies to argue that Obama is literally dangerous, no one should be surprised when the far-right Republican base becomes frenzied.

There's more...

Since around 3 a.m. this morning (when I was up changing my crying newborn's diaper), I've witnessed an unprecedented media onslaught about the significance of...3 a.m.  I've never considered it a crucial moment in time, but based on the way it's been framed lately, we all must be at our most vulnerable when the clock strikes 0300 hours.

I guess the figurative logic here is that the majority of those who don't work graveyard shift or suffer from chronic insomnia are sound asleep at this time of day, in a secure state of slumber.  Our innate sense of endangerment isn't active, unless our sleep is disrupted by something: a nightmare, a loud noise, a strange impulse....

There's more...

Here is the video that is getting so much attention today.  Judge for yourself.

Although not as dramatic as the infamous LBJ Daisy ad, still an appeal to our basest primitive mind:

Here's a video of Bill Clinton on what you should do when one of the candidates is trying to scare you into voting for them:

There's more...

Well first of all I just want to put the disclaimer that I support John Edwards for President.

This diary is in response from the complete lack of understanding of the political structure and power within Iran.  Maybe it is the watered down public education that get some people confused.  Many on here have the belief or imply that the President of Iran should be even been listened to.  The truth is, and I hope to point it out in this diary, that in fact you should completely ignore him.  For all intents he is merely a puppet.  A source of propaganda.  He has no real power in the international political scheme and very very limited powers in his own government.  He is nominated by a council of elders that is stacked by the Ayatollah, and if you believe there is anything democratic about him being elected, or the people of Iran being heard, you are frankly delusional.

more on the fold =>

There's more...

An interesting article on Washington Post.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/con tent/article/2007/11/28/AR2007112802757. html?hpid=topnews

It mentions:

"While his father was an atheist and his mother did not practice religion, Obama's stepfather did occasionally attend services at a mosque there."

"his time living and attending school in Indonesia, and the fact that his paternal grandfather, a Kenyan farmer, was a Muslim"

I think he is a Christian and a man who believes in the Bible, but he has Muslim blood?

There's more...