Looking ahead

[prog]

McCain has lost control of his monster. This was evident a few days ago as he found himself having to correct snopesworthy concerns of audience members at a rally, but stumblingly - at one point uttering a soundbite that seemed to backhandedly endorse an Obama presidency. Yikes.

Here is my biggest fear: If the last five years of US foreign relations have planted the seeds for a new generation of bin Ladens to sprout out yonder, then the last five months of let the hate flow through you rhetoric from the desperate Right are gonna stir up a new batch of homegrown McVeighs. Yum yum.

Is there anything that the rest of us can do about this latter business, other than hoping that the DHS and the Secret Service know what they're doing?

Comments

[keimel.livejournal.com]

Is there anything that the rest of us can do about this latter business, other than hoping that the DHS and the Secret Service know what they're doing?

Sadly, I think not. Really, at this time of year, any explanation one can provide to anyone is received as "YOUR CANDIDATE SUCKS!" even if it's not politically motivated.

As far as the second supposition... We can hope they continue with their intelligence gathering, as that's the single only thing that has prevented more tragedies. Not a single piece of their security theater otherwise has helped.

Tell your congress critters that you support intelligence gathering as method but you're not supportive of their security theater methods.

*sigh* I am, in some ways, ashamed to be an American. I'd feel worse if I were traveling outside the country. Don't get me wrong, it's still one of the best damn places to live, but we've embarrassed ourselves on the world stage too many times in the last six years. Way too many. (Yes, I know you know this... just repeating, cause I'm feeling guilty)

[prog.livejournal.com]

The world is waiting for us to elect Obama, and we'll have its ear again once we do. The onus will then be on us not to screw it all up again.

I really am more concerned about what's going to grow out of the McCain campaign's assurances that their principal opponent isn't merely wrong or unprincipled, but is a traitorous crypto-terrorist, begging the question "And what do we do with terrorists?" With a wink.

As far as I know, this sort of behavior is unprecedented in American presidential politics.

[keimel.livejournal.com]

The scare factor of a whole lot of our fellow citizens is great.

The mob mentality is so vast, it's just scary to think about. And there's not much that will get people to put down those pitchforks and torches.

*shudder*

[prog.livejournal.com]

It can be defused if the economy gets better. If they get better jobs and can stop worrying about paying for junior's braces, then most will continue to say that he's a dirty ay-rab and the recovery is all Bush's doing, but they won't be in any mood to do anything about it.

That's an if, though.

[mmcirvin.livejournal.com]

Not sure about the "unprecedented" part; things were pretty hairy for the decades after the Civil War--the Democrats had problems coming back from actually being violent secessionists.

[prog.livejournal.com]

Ha. Yes, granted.

[radtea.livejournal.com]

I'm almost afraid to hope right now. Obama looks like a near-certainty, with a genuine possibility of a landslide, and the right-wing nutjobs don't like to lose. There are two things they have left: Diebold, and assassination.

I wouldn't put it past them to try both, in that order. On that basis, the hate-mongering of recent weeks is theatre to set up deniability when they murder the president-elect. It will let them claim that some redneck loser did it, rather than an assassin in their pay (whoever, precisely, "they" are.)

[prog.livejournal.com]

I cannot seriously foresee conspiracies like this happening. Unless the polls somehow show the race tightening to a dead heat (as in 2000 / 2004) within the next three weeks, any "Diebold gambit" would never work.

And I can't think of any scenarios where members of Party A would really gain anything from killing anyone in Party B, outside of a full-blown military coup or something. I'm definitely more afraid of honest-to-god lone nuts, whose chain-letter-stoked fantasies are all being validated by Palin and her ilk. Historically, they've shot our presidents and blown up our buildings for less.