I just saw Obama's town hall meeting in Parma Heights, Ohio. He was quite spectacular as usual. But as he dived into the crowds after the interchange, I started to notice how carefully the Secret Service is protecting him. They had two agents on either side, and one at his back. Plus, there were several going along in the crowd in the midst of the folks he was greeting and chatting with. The more I watched, the more impressed I was that our government will spare no effort to protect any candidate who may have a chance to be President of our country. Why am I so gratified by what I just saw?
Because I monitor right wing radio (for the various reasons that some of you do as well - not the least of which is the pleasure of hearing them flummoxed about Obama's success.) And, I have been living in fear that the vitriolic, hateful rhetoric...no, let's call it what it is - a virtual call to arms about the threats that the Democratic Presidential candidate pose for this country - will have some very bad influence on some gun-toting red state wingnut. The words I have heard coming out of the mouths of these fanatic talk show hosts should be enough to put their FCC license in jeopardy. These include the normal lies, e.g. Obama is Muslim, surrender to al Qaeda, despise our military, think every one of our soldiers are criminals, wants to turn country over to 'friends' in Middle East, but also the clarion calls that the Democratic candidates are out to destroy our lives and take down the United States. Thus, Michael Savage tells his 15 million listeners that Obama is a rag head, that Hillary will turn you into a government-managed robo-citizen, and their foreign policies are treasonous. Yes, they are often described as "treasonous" on right wing radio. Just take a listen.
Yes, so you're are damn right I am happy to see Obama so well protected by the Secret Service because I have seen up close and personal what can happen when hate gets into people's heads. That hate is now being fueled by right wing radio that dominates the airwaves. And I worry that it is soon going to bear the fruit that the fanatic talk show people seem to want. Again, God Bless the Secret Service!