These kinds of stories really do worry me

Dear James, Daniel and Emily

THere is nothing like economic hardship to encourage and foster extreme politics. This is a golden truth. When I spoke last week about the 1873 Panic and Depression that led to some really nasty stuff, especially in Europe with the Russian Pogroms for example. And of course the classic case of the rise of Hitler and Mussolini in the wake of the Great Depression. And America has never been immune. From the rise of the Klan in the South, and the rebirth of the Klan in the early years of the Great Depression and another rebirth in the 1970's.

So when I read stories like this, I get worried. I worry that in the face of economic hard ship, and the ease of hate speech and bigotry in the age of the blogosphere and talk radio that this election could spin out of control. One of the absolute biggest fears in the talk of electing an African-American was his becoming a target. That another James Earl Ray could take his shot.

And to be honest the Right doesn't have a monopoly here. Say something extreme happens, and McCain does get elected amidst a 2000 like scandal. I would not be sruprised to see some seriously outraged crowds and possible riots whipped up by leftist speakers and bloggers.

My point is first a warning to the (few) readers I have to watch for the tone of these speakers, try to keep the rhetoric toned down as much as possible. And also be vigilant against those who would follow this rhetoric to it's logical conclusion.

There are some people and articles our there who are trying to explain away things like what happened at the above rally as just people voicing their friustrations. To which I reply with 2 things: first, the people of the South who put on their Klan robes, or the Russian mobs during the pogroms or the Germans at the Nuremberg rallies were also giving voice to their frustrations. Second, it isn't always the content of what you say but how you say it. When someone tries to downplay the speakers at the McCain rallies who make a point of including Obama's middle name (Hussein), they aren't just saying it like a middle name, they are making the point this this man 'isn't one of us', and that's easy enough with just about any last or middle name beyond standard names like Smith or Jones.