What's really not going on in this election? (Joe)

"Obama isn't practicing any kind of crouching Rezko hidden Ayers plausibility fu."

Comments

[Ruchira]

On the other hand, John McCain's plausibility as an angry, dishonorable, desperate drama queen who will do anything to realize his life's last ambition, has been on full display during this campaign. Now that McCain and his sidekick Sarah Palin have turned their campaign rallies into Goebbelsesque hate fests of suspicion and fear, I worry about Obama's safety. If a right wing nutcase decides to take matters in his own hands and manages to do damage, Michelle Obama should consider taking McCain-Palin to court, if not as accessories, then at least for crying "fire" in a crowded theater.

[joe]

I've been hearing that a lot lately from my friends. I feel like the Secret Service is going to keep him safe. But for what it's worth, what I've seen so far on the law prof blogs indicates that if something like that were to happen, McCain and Palin haven't done anything that would be illegal.

[Ruchira]

Ah, the milquetoast "Prawfs" - all for even handed balance and legality. But there is morality beyond the law. Just because one can't be sued for something doesn't mean that it is okay. After Israeli prime minister Yitzak Rabin was assassinated by a right wing hate monger, his wife Leah refused to shake hands with Benjamin Netanyahu at Rabin's funeral and bluntly told him that it was his overheated campaign rhetoric that made her husband's death possible.

Unlike the Prawfs, who see nothing "illegal" with McCain-Palin's campaign tactics, Frank Rich of NYT recognizes the uniqueness of the first American presidential bid by a black man and why that can be unnerving for some unhinged vigilantes.