freedom of speech is freedom of speech. obama is a a very close friend of Bill Ayers and Bernadine dorhn! Bill ayers is a self proclaimed accomplished Killer/ Bomber and Bank Robber!!! bernsdine dorhn spent 7 years in the slammer for killing my cousin in the Brinks Robbery in the Bronx on June 2nd, 1981, so what say you abut all these facts about Obams pals' past? how about Kathy Boudin? another one of Obamas close friends! she spent 30 years in the slammer for the Bronx Brinks Murder/maiming. her son Chesa, was raised by Ayers/Dorhn!!!! Obama is close to alot of unsavory characters, more so than any other Presidential candidate in the history of the USA! so whats your point bud? You think the Secret Service can be used to stifle dissent and Free Speech? i think not! The Secret Services job is to protect these politicians and i dont know anyone who would be foolish enough to say or do them harm!!! They might as well suicide themselves!!! But realistically, Obama is unqualified for the job of President of the USA. Biden is actually more qualified based on the fact that he doesn't have any noteworthy terror connections, unlike Obama. Hey now that you mention the Secret Service, why don't they investigate Obama for the fraudulent use of the Annenberg Foundations cash? that would give them some extra work, but in the end we will have a conclusion that Obama is a Fraud a Fake and a Phoney Baloney, masquerading as the candidate for change. ya change to a Terrornation! the Obamination!!! seems you are suggesting that the secret service can be used so people will stop talking about Bill Ayers, Dorhn, Rescko,Wright? concerned that all this bad publicity will give MCCain the win? haha hopefully!!!! hopefully America will wake up and realizethat Obama hangs with WHite Haters such as Ayers and Dorhn and Flager andWright and of course Obama himself! He seethes with rage at his white momma for kicking himto his parents. i'm not suprised . Obama was smoking pot etc when he became a teenager and his momma got tired of it!!
Mccain for President!!

The extent of the corruption of key institutions -the financial industry, the Media, the GOP, the Congress, the President, and a significant part of the electorate itself - has been laid bare. I think the rest of the country is in shock.

The issue is not freedom of speech. No one is suggesting that these angry folks shouldn't have the right to express their ideas (using the term loosely here), no matter how noxious or discredited they may be.

The issue is that Senator McCain, supposedly the "country first" guy, would rather have expressions of hatred and rage toward other Americans at his rallies than no enthusiasm at all. As the WaPo article observes, an attempt on his part to talk about actual governance and finding bipartisan solutions to this mess were met with stony silence. The "base" didn't come to his rally for that, they came for the catharsis of an ugly national festival.

McCain has calculated that complicity with the angry mob is his only option, and is willing to sacrifice even basic decency at the alter of his campaign.

I'm only one man, but as a concerned citizen and a patriotic American, I have to speak up about the assertion that Barack Obama's associations aren't being explored. The man is clearly getting a free pass by the liberal media. Bill Ayers? Reverend Pfleger? Reverend Wright? None of the things I've been hearing about in the last two weeks were addressed or examined in any detail during the Democratic primary. I didn't hear any of these names on tv. Where were the so-called pundits? Why weren't any questions asked during the debates? We want to know what we're getting into, right?

We need to explore the man's relationships. While we're at it, let's explore Senator Obama's religious persuasion as well. I hear his radical black liberation-espousing Christian church is actually an atheist hindu madrassa. And can we find out if he's really multi-racial too? He keeps talking about having a white mother and white grandparents, but it might not be true. How do we know he had a proper white upbringing? How do we KNOW? He might be an illegal immigrant from Mexico. Is anyone exploring that? I heard he might have only been able to get into Harvard because of affirmative action (and frankly, I can't imagine a black, mexican-american from a Hawaiian madrassa in Chicago would be smart enough to get into Harvard on his own merit, white family or not). This needs to be thoroughly investigated.

And has anyone thrust a guitar into the man's hands while he was wearing tight purple pants and high-heeled boots? He might be Prince! Has anyone looked around in his radical, political machine-style Chicago neighborhood for caves or waterfalls? He might be Batman! And if he's not Batman, are we sure he isn't Iron Man? Robert Downey, Jr. seems to be just the type of shifty-eyed, "alternative lifestyle" Hollywood librul who would cover for him by holding a press conference with Gwyneth Paltrow and claiming to be Iron Man to shift the focus off of Barack ISLAMICJIHAD Obama. What if he is Prince AND Batman AND Iron Man?!?!?! Can you imagine what the world would think of us if we elected this guitar playing, crime fighting, billionaire playboy, inventor-terrorist President?

Who is the REAL Barack Obama? There are only a few weeks until the election! We don't have much time, and we should really find out before it's too late...

For me what stands out most about Obama is how much "image" there is and how little actual, provable content there is. One of the strangest things is his book, "Dreams from my Father", which I read and enjoyed tremendously shortly after it appeared. I was amazed to learn later that before writing such polished,layered prose, he had never, ever written anything more than a few pages long in his life . If you write for a living, you'll find it hard to believe that this is possible. On a second, more critical reading of the book, I found the needle on my bullshit meter climbing off the dial, everything was so neat, so pat, so subtly self serving. Frankly I am surprised that the press hasn't run down every story in that book to check it out.

I have come to the conclusion that this is just something people desperately want to believe is true. The zeitgeist of very troubled times.

It's the air of a religious movement that irritates me. In fact I suspect Barack Obama is just another bubble like the financial bubble whose demise we are living though now.

David no one said Barack Obama is Yitzhak Rabin but what people are trying to say is that the same incitement by the Israeli right-wing that caused the death of Rabin is the same incitement that McCain/Palin are doing in their rallies. It is not a matter of agreement or disagreement - you are the folks who seemingly treasure freedom and democracy but in order to preserve it and not fall victim to mob rule (remember the French Revolution) there are rules of decency that must be observed.

Mr. Seaton, I would be very interested in knowing what expression you perceive in Mr. Obama's eyes.

David,

Understanding that I am going far afield from the intention of this article, I would like to say I grant you the right to your argument for socialized medicine, but find many arguments against it (especially in the US) far from surreal.

As an example, I'm sure you are well aware of the debate over prescription medicine costs that have occurred here especially in the last 5 years or so. The argument being that US citizens bear the cost of R&D for the world (hence the cost being cheaper in places like Canada a partial result of not having this superadded cost). We need to reform the industry before we analyze whether it should be nationalized or not - that seems a better staged approach to me than mandating more burdens to the working class, who have been struggling greatly this last decade.

If we look at Massachusetts, which has mandated coverage (and from where Obama takes the seeds of his plan - a bill signed into law by then Governor Romney and supported by now Governor - and Obama supporter and speechwriter - Deval Patrick), you find that the state does not come in to help the citizen unless he earns less than 300% the poverty rate - which roughly equates to $30,000 gross (which is about 24,000 net) for an individual. Rent alone in the Boston area is about $1000 a month - meaning half an individual's income can ostensibly goes to rent. Not to mention utilities, food, gas, insurance, etc. This person must - and I repeat must as it is mandated by the state - spend money (s)he might not have for future welfare while compromising her/his present welfare. It is a crime of state, just as unfunded mandates are.

This country's citizens lives outside our means all the time - and we take our cue from the republican/democratic government. Neither Obama nor McCain sufficiently answer the question as to how we can change our culture and learn to live within our means. Obama seems a little worse because he sells the idea that we can be prosperous just like before - but we were propserous before on BORROWED MONEY!

I apologize for this rant, as it wasn't central to the article, nor the debate. To get back on topic, I would like to say I live in the US and find it absurd to maintain that Obama is in any special danger, and hogwash to maintain that McCain is inciting. Of course, I grant Mr. Rosenberg his opinion.

How do we *know* that Obama is not really *Hillary* in drag, trying to get elected the only way she can?

You can bicker and whine about who "should" be in the running for POTUS, but the reality of the situation is that we are either voting for McCain or Obama.
Eons ago, I had an instructor who gave simple advice...you don't have to know all the answers, you just have to know where to find them...so look at who surrounds these candidates..and what are their philosophies that will guide their answers to questions by the president...are they "yes" people or do they actually think?

I have spent time doing that as I am sure that most of you have...Obama has teams already developing plans, looking at issues, etc and McCain has NONE.

I was around for JFK and all the same "inexperience" arguments were made. But he won and why? there was a changing of the guard (albeit a short one) and now is the time for another one. We need fresh eyes to look at ways to solve both the ongoing/old problems (Medicare, SCHIP, healthcare, education, energy,etc) as well new ones (economy).

So old foggies like me need to get out of the way of the next generation, but be available to give advice (if asked). What could be worse...3 wars?
My only "sage" advice is that no president ever gets everything they want, so any program that you vehemently object to will probably never be it the exact form in which it is presented.

phelicity said,

After the 1968 Democratic convention, one in which the over-riding theme was anger and hatred - in that case against the Vietnam War - droves of Democrats left the Party. The result? Five of the six next presidential elections went to the Republicans.

Actually 5 of 8, which is one more than half. But whose counting. 5 of 6 if your trying to spin.

And the cause your suggesting makes no sense. The 2 democratic party presidents who won in that time frame were both from the south. The civil rights legislation signed by Johnson, was the more significant as southern democrats switched their alliance to the republican party, under the guise of state's rights. If Obama wins, he will be the first non-southern democratic party president since Kennedy.

I have never been to a political event where the mob howled "kill him" or "hang him high". But I know and have met so many people who were around in the 1930s in Europe who witnessed political events which were eerily similar. I personally recall seeing something on television in the South when I was young, when the local TV channels in Louisiana and Mississippi gave the Klan airtime. The (then) Grand Dragon was whipping up the crowd with his anti-negro, anti-semite rhetoric. Even at that young age (I guess I was about 9 or 10), I thought, "I hope they don't go out and start hurting people".

When it comes to our freedom of speech, I draw the line at hate speech. But that's because I know a little bit more about history than just the text of the First Amendment.

No. Bernadine Dorhn did NOT kill your cousin and spend 7 years in jail -- You are a nutty fruitcake with a hate-filled center, you poor pitiful creature.

Hello, there is "the Google" and it is EASY to look up the facts for yourself. Go to Wiki. Yeah, Ayres and his wife were part of the radical anti-war movement in the 1960's. That was then, and look at them, now. So what. You don't like their politics. Fine.

Personally, I work with a lot of folks that I don't like their politics, either, but it's America. If you worked in the same law firm with me, I can assure you that I wouldn't like YOUR idiotic politics. BUT just working on a community service board with YOU would NOT turn me into YOU! Thank goodness.

Ayres and his wife killed my cousin ... man, that is so stupid and sick. Hey, Republicans! Look at who the only people who are voting for you are!! Pretty bad when you have to count on the this kind of delusional racist junk to help you win the Presidency. Country First, right. You should all be ashamed of yourselves, and please do something about caring for those you are quickly turning into scared witless hate-filled nuts.

If none of you have noticed -- Barack Hussein Obama has BLACK skin and a foreign name.

People with Black skin get stopped by police simply for driving with an improperly inflated tire.

People with Black skin are greeted by sales people as soon as they step inside stores and are accompanied by sales people the entire time they're in those stores.

People with Black skin are questioned by police or the Neighborhood Watch person when they're seen walking or driving in all white communities.

IF [and trust that he's already been investigated by the FBI, CIA, DEA, and every other acronym] Barack Obama has done or is doing anything questionable, he would not be a free man running for President of the United States.