Here's a particularly scary piece of video that came across my RSS feed from Talking Points Memo. Two things strike me: One, the real, palpable fear in the voices of these people as they admit to John McCain that they are afraid of a Barack Obama presidency. I saw another clip on MSNBC earlier today that I'll look for where a man in Wisconsin almost started to cry while talking about his fear of an Obama administration. Two, I am stunned that these people in the clip are Minnesotans (the rally was in Lakeville) and I'm embarassed, particularly of the woman in who starts talking around :51.
I can't understand how people can be this afraid and I really have a hard time wrestling with what exactly they are afraid of. The last administration has left everyone worse off than ever but there is still this fringe element who, despite the fact that they are leading harder lives due to the Republican policies, still cling to beliefs like Obama is an "Arab" to keep their worldview intact. How much worse could it really get at this point?
It must be true that no matter what people say to their friends and family, when we're this close to the first black president that fear-fed rascism just can't be held back or hidden anymore.
2 comments:
Turn on some right wing talk radio if you want to know why people are scared. In Minneapolis, 1280 and sometimes 1500 will suffice...
Persuasive communicators with excellent skills, tell millions of listeners today that Obama supports terrorism, talks about his muslim past, and preach the economy will collapse under an Obama presidency.
Or read some "news sources" like newsmax.com or worldnetdaily.com to see the same rhetoric.
And the Evangelical church plays a role spreading fear about family planning and equal rights for homosexuals.
Its hard to fall for the silly ideas if you just read or listen a few times... but imagine growing up in a house where your parents listen to Rush regularly, watch Fox News every night after dinner, take you to right wing evangelical churches 3 times a week. The fear in these people at the rallies becomes more understandable.
I thought the same thing when I thought that - Minnesota? Nooooooooooo! She reflects beautifully on our state.
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