The Result of Rhetoric: Fear and Violence From The Far-Right Wing (Tori Deaux)

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Yesterday at a rally, McCain asked "Who is Barack Obama?" and a member of the audience yelled out "Terrorist!" Today, at a Palin rally, she was speaking about the Ayers connection, which triggered angry "boos!" from her supporters, and then more frighteningly, a"Kill him!" When she referenced a (distorted) remark from Obama about US troops ‘air raiding villages and killing civilians’, there was a cry of "Treason!" And when she blamed her poor interview answers on Katie Couric’s questions, the crowd turned their anger towards the press area, shouting and yelling obscenities, including the N-word and "Sit down, boy!" directed at a black sound-man.

This is scary stuff.

It’s also predictable, after a year of smears about how Obama is unpatriotic, a radical Muslim, a friend to both domestic and foreign terrorists, a racist, and not even born in America. His popularity and ability as an orator has earned him comparisons with Hitler. The "left" has been painted as an angry mob, which (it’s been said) will inevitably riot no matter what the outcome of the election - a conclusion I’ve seen linked to both racist and liberal stereotypes. {xtypo_quote_right} We need leaders who can project calm, and guide with a steady hand, not rally the troops with fear to uncontrolled levels of lashing out against fellow Americans. {/xtypo_quote_right}

With the McCain campaign now stressing the terrorist angle, and Palin peppering her speech with repeated claims that Obama is "dangerous" in a time when Americans are flat out scared for our futures, It’s not surprising that folks on the right are starting to channel their anger and fear where its being directed by the McCain campaign and his supporters, from pundits to Palin - and I’m increasingly concerned that it will turn to violence.

I’ve been voicing that concern since the conventions, that the far right was being whipped into a frenzy of fear and hatred against the left. My own more conservative friends (and the co-workers of my husband) have scoffed at the idea, and repeated the meme that it’s the left that is angry and dangerous, that the far right presents no real danger.

But they do. The extreme right is just as dangerous as the extreme left.