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Saturday, November 1, 2008 12:00 AM

A scary Halloween with Sarah Palin

In central Pennsylvania, the Republican base is afraid of Obama, and lost in fever dreams of a neo-Soviet nightmare. But it's all in God's hands.

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Saturday, November 1, 2008 12:47 PM

People are sick because they LIKE fear.

Look at the number of people who go to those disgusting Saw films. The ones who cheer on Freddy Krueger and Jason Voorhees as they kill teenagers - like Jews cheering on the SS as they approach with ravenous dogs and tickets to the gas chamber.

I was fortunate enough to have been abused in a robbery, the psychological equivalent of rape. I am almost alone in that I do NOT like to be scared, terrified and abused. I'm freaking weird, compared to you "normal" people.

You love your pulse to pound, you love being on the edge of your seat. That's what drives Republicans to be terrified into a lynch mob, ready to kill blacks, gays, Hispanics, whatever the officially-declared enemy of the Leader may be. That is also what makes Democrats tremble in fear that Obama will lose, and they'll all be sent into camps to die. That fear paralyzes them, and that paralysis and hopelessness is what Democrats enjoy; they may not like going to Palin's Auschwicz, but they seem to be enjoying the cattle-car ride there.

But me...my PTSD supposedly makes me weak and inferior to you. Riiiiiight.

Saturday, November 1, 2008 12:48 PM

Et tu Salon? Fear Mongering by any other name...

I appreciate that these sorts of pieces may motivate some progressives to help get out the vote, and that is no small thing.

But, I fear these "low-information voters" are being used by the left in exactly the same manner as William Ayers is being used by the McCain campaign. It's fear-mongering any way you slice it. And that only serves to agitate the base.

These uneducated, willfully-ignorant zealots are not a major voting block, for chrissakes! They are a tiny percentage of the population--the percentage that can be seduced by a Sarah Palin at that!. There was never ANY question as to who they were going to vote for. Never. They may have stayed home without Gov. Palin, but no amount of reason would have persuaded any of the folks in this video to vote Democratic on Tuesday.

With three days to go, preaching to the choir is not going to win either candidate any new voters. Why not publish some featured articles that can sway independents and undecideds?

Too nuance-y?

Saturday, November 1, 2008 12:49 PM

Sad

People like this make me incredibly sad.

Saturday, November 1, 2008 12:55 PM

A Brave Woman?

So the World War II veteran,Mr. Gay, thinks that Palin is "a brave woman, an old-fashioned American woman who's not afraid to have kids". What the hell does that mean? And how does that equate to being a VP nominee? I am terrified of these Republicans and their ability to come to rational decisions.

Saturday, November 1, 2008 01:16 PM

@tomreedtoon

Yes, indeed. They are addicted to fear. But make-believe fear, not real fear.

Perhaps the pallid, soft, over-privileged GOP cry-baby masses need a few near-death experiences to give them some perspective. I can think of many ways, but prudence dictates that I best keep those ideas to myself.

Saturday, November 1, 2008 01:26 PM

Unity over fear and hate!!!

Zambabwe, Congo, Rwanda, East Timor, Sudan are examples of what fear and hate campaigns do to a people. Do we want that for America ? NO!!! Stop the fear campaigns of calling people socialists or terrorists!! Stop the hate-mongering by splitting America into "real" or "pro" from "fake" and "anti"!!!

It is much easier to make people fear and hate each other than to thoughtfully look for ways to make their lives better. This campaign has revealed a very ugly side of American politics. Let's all hope and pray we as an American people can see through these irresponsible, selfish, "I wanna win at all costs", infantile tactics and pick the right folks who want to make America and the world a better place to live.

Saturday, November 1, 2008 01:30 PM

In god's hands

fishnguy writes: "

So...when Obama wins it must be the way God wants it. You McCain and Palin supporters will have to accept it. His will be done and all that malarky.

Don't worry, they're covered in any case. McCain wins: god's will. Obama wins: mysterious ways.

Saturday, November 1, 2008 01:39 PM

We Knew Joe The Socialist, And Senator, You're No Proletarian Internationalist

Hard for some to believe, but the "Greatest Generation" of Americans currently living off Social"ist" Security can still remember a time when we all rolled up our sleeves and toiled round the clock to produce tanks, guns, ammunition and planes to come to the urgent aid of a diehard unrepentant socialist we nicknamed "Uncle Joe" Stalin - the task of ridding the world of National Socialists made for unlikely allies at the time, but the greater need was crystal clear. Perhaps you had to be there to understand. And if you were, you'd also understand why America overwhelmingly supported a severely handicapped leader in the White House for an unprecedented FOUR terms as President.

Saturday, November 1, 2008 01:41 PM

The mis-education of York County

This story vividly reminds me of why I moved away from my hometown of York, PA the moment I was old enough to leave. I can't paint all York residents with the same brush (some are intelligent and sane), but too many are uneducated, fear-mongering idiots who have no idea why they are Republicans in the first place. Ask them... they won't be able to tell you...

Saturday, November 1, 2008 01:46 PM

Ghosts of Central Pennsylvania

I come from that part of Pennsylvania. At least until the 1970s there were still Klan in places like Reading and York - I couldn't vouch for now, but wouldn't be surprised.

Saturday, November 1, 2008 01:48 PM

Oh they will pray for Obama all right....

but STILL fight him tooth and nail,and lie about him, and the rest of us, and U.S. history, and science, and more....

They are saved and you aren't, donchaknow, which makes anything they do just fine in their own eyes. Anything will be justified.

Saturday, November 1, 2008 01:53 PM

@tomreedtoon

"That is also what makes Democrats tremble in fear that Obama will lose, and they'll all be sent into camps to die. That fear paralyzes them, and that paralysis and hopelessness is what Democrats enjoy; they may not like going to Palin's Auschwicz, but they seem to be enjoying the cattle-car ride there."

I'm not looking forward to being hauled off to anybodies gas chamber but I think it is niave to ignore the problem. These people hate us. Not simply disagree, HATE US. 20 years of unchallenged talk radio, ten years of Fox News and most of the churches in America have convinced them that compromise is not only unacceptable, it is against the will of God. This kind of indoctrination by every institution is how the Nazis convinced their fellow countrymen that less then 1% of the population was responsible for all of their problems and desensitized their country to their extermination.

In Rwanda, talk radio was used to encourage the mass killings of nieghbors over tribal differences. The threat and power the right wing holds if they don't get their way is truly deadly. We need to take this seriously. What is Rush going to tell his audience on November 5 once Obama is president? What are all these christians who beleive Pat Robertson when he suggests that Obama really will usher in the rise of the anti-christ going to do? What about all those e-mails that said he was a secret muslim? These people really believe this shit and their obsession with guns suggests that they won't tkae a percieved invasion by a foriegn entity very well.

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