The TPM Community is, I imagine, like a lot of other Political Communities on the Internet.  It’s a place to come together, debate the issues of the day, and test the strength of your Political arguments.

This should be a good thing.  Such debates are the lifeblood of our Democracy.  It’s how we identify the path.  It’s how we move forward as a country.

But I’m starting to think that that ship has sailed.

A couple of days ago, I got an Email from my buddy Mike.  Now, for the record, he’s a staunch Barry Goldwater type Republican.  He’s for Bush, but at the same time far more amenable to arguments and discussions from the left than his brethren.  In other words, he'd readily agree with the first two paragraphs of this piece (as evidenced below).

The Email was one to a bunch of friends highlighting an article by Camille Paglia called “Nobody’s Dummy”, in which the Salon.com description of the article describes as: “Liberals underestimate Sarah Palin’s vitality and — yes — smarts at their own peril.”

Mike described what he liked:

There is no question but that Camille Paglia is a liberal.  She teaches university level Women's Studies, writes for Salon.com, and openly supports Obama for president.  However, I have read her last two columns and each time have been impressed with her intellectual honesty.  And it isn't just because she takes swipes at her own people.  More importantly, it is that she is willing to take swipes at her own people, and to acknowledge the validity of opposing points of view, while still disagreeing with them.  I think she represents something important that has been lost: Civil political discourse that is intelligent and willing to eschew a doctrinaire point of view.

First off, I’m not what you’d call the biggest Camille Paglia fan in the world.  For all of her Academic accomplishment, she always struck me as more interested in self-promotion than any particular point of view.  She craves the spotlight almost as much as she loves with the sound of her own voice.  While she’s been an Obama supporter, she always struck me as more anti-Hillary than pro-Obama.  And I would certainly wouldn't call her a Liberal or a Progressive.  As in all things, Camille Paglia's only true party is Camille Paglia.

When I watch Sarah Palin, I don’t think sex — I think Amazon warrior!

Oh yeah. That's intellectual honesty for ya!  (Wink!)

It's quite possible that Mike's just the victim of bad timing.  I will say that sending me a Camille Paglia article isn’t quite the reach-across-the-aisle moment Mike thinks it is.

Mike went further:

As a Republican, it is frankly tedious to have to start political conversations with liberals/democrats under the assumption that I am one or more of the following: (a) a programmable extension of Rush Limbaugh's will; (b) a flaming-sword Christian Warrior seeking to impose my oppressive brand of religio-social puritanism on a libertine public duped by a godless minority of liberal elites;  (c) impenetrably closed minded; (d) dumb; or (e) just another white male of privileged upbringing trying to keep what I've got by keeping other people down.  Political discourse has denigrated to ad hominem attacks where people of one point of view literally dislike those of the other.

This was the moment that served as the catalyst of this article.

That's why I sent him a link to an earlier positing of mine, thus emphasizing my unwillingness to sing kum-ba-ya with the Republicans of the world.

It's very simple.  While I am willing to engage in debate for and against all manner of Political ideas, while I am willing to listen to people who's ideas stand in opposition to my own; there is one area in which I brook no dissent: and that is the subject of the Obama’s personal safety.

Simply put, right now, Mike's guy is @#$%@$ing with my guy’s safety.

Until I start hearing from Republicans that this sort of campaign is inexcusable, the hand that reaches across the aisle will be slapped back.

The fact that McCain has decided to turn his rallies into lynch mobs should disturb all Americans.

And this hatred not only found its face and voice, but is starting to find its way to action:

An Obama sign was burned in Tampa, Florida.

Another one was burned on the front lawn of a Black family in Irondequoit, New York.

Another one near Durham, North Carolina (hard to tell where since the article is subscriber only).

This was all, apparently, in the last 24 hours (since Friday afternoon, October 10th, 2008).

I need not list out the dangers to the Obama Family, but clearly a mob mentality is being incited.

It's disturbing to see a few on the Republican side speaking out, but the number is not nearly enough.

John Weaver:

People need to understand, for moral reasons and the protection of our civil society, the differences with Senator Obama are ideological, based on clear differences on policy and a lack of experience compared to Senator McCain, and from a purely practical political vantage point, please find me a swing voter, an undecided independent, or a torn female voter that finds an angry mob mentality attractive.

David Gergen:

One of the most striking things we've seen in the last few day, we have seen it at the Palin rallies and we saw it at the McCain rally today. And we saw it to a considerable degree during the rescue package legislation. There is a free-floating sort of whipping-around anger that could really lead to some violence. And I think we're not far from that.

Frank Schaeffer:

John McCain: In 2000, as a lifelong Republican, I worked to get you elected instead of George W. Bush. In return, you wrote an endorsement of one of my books about military service. You seemed to be a man who put principle ahead of mere political gain.

You have changed. You have a choice: Go down in history as a decent senator and an honorable military man with many successes, or go down in history as the latest abettor of right-wing extremist hate.

Congressman Ray LaHood (Talking specifically about Sarah Palin):

Look it. This doesn't befit the office that she's running for. And frankly, people don't like it.

Former Michigan Governor William Milliken

He is not the McCain I endorsed.  He keeps saying, 'Who is Barack Obama?' I would ask the question, 'Who is John McCain?' because his campaign has become rather disappointing to me.  I'm disappointed in the tenor and the personal attacks on the part of the McCain campaign, when he ought to be talking about the issues.

David Gergen (again):

I really worry when we get people -- when you get the kind of rhetoric that you're getting at these rallies now.  I think it's really imperative the candidates try to calm people down.

But leave it to the McCain Campaign to stay the course:

McCain Campaign Spokesman Brian Rogers:

Raising legitimate questions about record, character and judgment are a vital part of the Democratic process, and Barack Obama's effort to silence and shame those who seek answers should make everyone wonder exactly what he is hiding.

Uhhh, Brian.  The friggin' Secret Service has gotten involved in this mess.

You are witnessing just a few of the ancillary events that thrive in the dark sunshine of racial hatred.  You would see it (and still see it today in some quarters) when a Minister will take the pulpit, read passages of scripture justifying slavery, or justifying their own supposed racial superiority.  Thus his flock could leave church that Sunday with their heads held high, firmly certain in their own righteousness.  And armed with that certainty, any actions they took over the next week could be justified by the word of the Lord.

The Minister, in short, gave them cover for their hated.  He gave them permission to hate.

What is John McCain doing now, purposely mixing the words Barack Obama with William Ayers, Barack Obama with Usama Bin Laden.  All his followers hear are the words Obama…and terrorist.  No scripture needed.  Obama…terrorist.  Thus, the next words come easily: "Terrorist", "Traitor" and of course, "Kill him" and "Bomb Him" , and McCain saying nothing in response, you are hearing cover being given.  You are hearing John McCain give his supporters permission to hate Barack Obama…even though he's said nothing at all.

Not oppose Barack Obama, oh no, that's not good enough.  He needs to turn the page.  He needs to get the country onto a whole new subject if he expects to win.  No.  The only way to get that to happen to is fan the flames of his supporters.

And to make sure the message sticks, the hatred has to spread to Michelle as well.

But the problem is…once he unleashes that hate, he cannot control it.

The horrible thing about the Two Minutes Hate was not that one was obliged to act a part, but that it was impossible to avoid joining in. Within thirty seconds any pretense was always unnecessary. A hideous ecstasy of fear and vindictiveness, a desire to kill, to torture, to smash faces in with a sledge hammer, seemed to flow through the whole group of people like an electric current, turning one even against one's will into a grimacing, screaming lunatic. And yet the rage that one felt was an abstract, undirected emotion which could be switched from one object to another like the flame of a blowlamp.

George Orwell

"1984"

The signs burning across the country are just the first step.  We will unfortunately know it's getting worse, I am afraid, when we see one of Senator Obama's ground volunteers attacked.

Barack Obama:

It's easy to rile up a crowd by stoking anger and division. But that's not what we need right now in the United States. The times are too serious. The challenges are too great. The American people aren't looking for someone who can divide this country -- they're looking for someone who will lead it. We're in a serious crisis -- now, more than ever, it is time to put country ahead of politics. Now, more than ever, it is time to bring change to Washington so that it works for the people of this country that we love.

John McCain (late today of Barack Obama):

He's a decent family man with whom I happen to have some disagreements.

That's a start, but it's going to take way more than that.

Mike said to me, in his Email, that he didn't want to be lumped in with this morass of the stereotypical Republican.  He's right.  He shouldn't be.

At the same time, if he doesn't want to be lumped in with those Republicans, I think better get off his ass help to shut this crap down.  He ought to add his voice to the small chorus calling out John McCain.  Silence on his part, or anyone's part in this matter, leaves you suspect.

It is incumbent on Republicans of good character (and clearly they're out there) to stand up to the extremists in their party, and tell them that this hatred has no place in civil discourse, much less civil society.  This is what would be expected of us if some on our side were calling for Senator McCain's or Governor's Palin's harm.  (Heck, it has been called for.  What is William Ayers but an extremist from the left?)

(For the record, the black supporter of McCain's at the Waukesha, Wisconsin who claims to have "taken an ass whoopin'", if that is true…then that shouldn't be tolerated either.)

This can get out of hand fast, and the people I'll blame will be those who stood silent.