[bassetman]

When was the last time we say a regime showing this much hatred?

Down with the Kerry haters
Outside the Bush-Arnold rally in Ohio, Republicans railed at demonstrators
with apocalyptic fury.

- - - - - - - - - - - -
By Michelle Goldberg

Oct. 30, 2004 | COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Lisa Dupler, a 33-year-old from
Columbus, held up a rainbow-striped John Kerry sign outside the Nationwide
Arena on Friday, as Republicans streamed out after being rallied by George
W. Bush and Arnold Schwarzenegger. A thickset woman with very short, dark
hair, Dupler was silent and barely flinched as people passing her hissed
"faggot" into her ear. An old lady looked at her and said, "You people are
sick!" A kid who looked to be about 10 or 11 affected a limp wrist and
mincing voice and said, "Oh, I'm gay." Rather than restraining him, his
squat mother guffawed and then turned to Dupler and sneered, "Why don't you
go marry your girlfriend?" Encouraged, her son yelled, "We don't want
faggots in the White House!"

The throngs of Republicans were pumped after seeing the president and the
action hero. But there was an angry edge to their elation. They shrieked at
the dozen or so protesters standing on the concrete plaza outside the
auditorium. "Kerry's a terrorist!" yelled a stocky kid in baggy jeans and
braces. "Communists for Kerry! Go back to Russia," someone else screamed.
Many of them took up the chant "Kerry sucks"; old women and teenage boys
shouting with equal ferocity.

With four days to go until the election, you can feel the temperature rising
in Ohio.

Among Democrats, it's easy to indulge the fantasy that all the rage in this
election is directed one way -- at Bush. Thousands of progressives are
campaigning here, going door-to-door to get out the vote, training to watch
the polls, holding concerts and rallies and anything else they can think of
to beat Bush. Hundreds are from other parts of the country but most are
locals. Jess Good, Ohio director of the massive get-out-the-vote group
America Coming Together, says that 93 percent of the 12,000 volunteers
expected to work on Election Day are from Ohio itself.

Clearly, something exciting and unprecedented is happening. After reviewing
Democratic and progressive field operations in Ohio and Florida, L.A. Weekly
columnist Harold Meyerson wrote, "I have found something I've never before
seen in my 36 or so years as a progressive activist and later as a
journalist: an effective, fully functioning American left."

Friday's Republican rally, though, was evidence that many on the right are
as fervid and galvanized as their opponents. Pollster John Zogby has called
this the "apocalypse election" because people on both sides believe the
world will end if their candidate loses. He's right -- the Republicans I met
at the Ohio rally spoke in language almost identical to that of the most
addled Bush-hater, although often several steps further removed from reality.

Dave, a 54-year-old electronic technician, said that if Kerry wins, "I'm
going to leave the country and go to a Third World nation and start a
ranch." His wife, Jenny, laughed and accused him of hyperbole, but he
insisted he's been studying Portuguese, the language of Brazil, "so we'll
have an escape route." Sitting near him was Greg Swalley, a blond electrical
contractor. "I think Kerry is the anti-Christ," he said, only half-joking.
"He scares me."

We were sitting outside the Nationwide Arena watching the adoring crowd on a
massive elevated monitor. Swalley and the others had tickets and I had press
credentials. But by the time we arrived, 40 minutes before the rally was
scheduled to start, security had closed off the area and no more people were
being let in. So dozens waited outside and watched their heroes on the
screen. The monitor showed a huge W. and then the words, "Let's Roll." When
Bush, his wife and Schwarzenegger appeared, wild cheering echoed outside the
building.

Inside, Schwarzenegger tried to strike a sunny, moderate note. "There is
optimism in Ohio," he said. "There is optimism all over the country because
President Bush is leading the way. He's fighting for all of us.

"President Bush knows you can't reason with people that are blinded by
hate," Schwarzenegger said. "But let me tell you something: Their hate is no
match for our decency, their hate is no match for America's decency, and it
is no match for the leadership and the resolve of George W. Bush."

Outside, though, I didn't see much American decency among Bush's followers.
The conservative movement has long been fueled by anger and resentment. But
here the negativity was at an especially high pitch, perhaps because some
were starting to realize they might lose -- and that seemed like the end of
the world.

Looking at the small knot of protesters, many of whom were chanting, "Four
more days," 22-year-old Nick Karnes, wearing a knit ski cap and baggy jeans,
yelled, "Shut up!" Then he turned to his friend and said, "We can take 'em."

"I'm definitely gonna vote for him," Karnes said of Bush. "Because he's been
the president for four years and nothing bad has happened since Sept. 11.
He's kept me alive for four years." If Kerry becomes president, he said,
"We'll be dead within a year."

Karnes told me that most of his friends are voting for Bush, too, but a
couple are voting for Kerry. "I'm not speaking to them right now," he said.

When the crowd came pouring out of the arena, the vitriol only increased.
One clean-cut man, holding his son by the hand, yelled "coward!" at one of
the protesters. I asked him what made him say that, and he said, "Because
he's demeaning our troops by saying they are fighting a lost cause."

"Jesus! Jesus!" screamed 26-year-old Joe Robles, pointing to his Bush-Cheney
sign. "The man stands for God," he said of the president. "We want somebody
who stands for Jesus. I always vote my Christian morals." Robles, a student
at Ohio State University, told me that Kerry's daughter is a lesbian. I said
I thought that was Dick Cheney's daughter, but he shook his head no with
confidence.

Robles said that Kerry would make it illegal for preachers to say that
marriage should only be between a man and a woman. In California, he
informed me gravely, such preaching has been deemed a hate crime, and
pastors who indulge in it are fined $25,000, which "goes to lesbians."

A few of the protesters, meanwhile, were red-faced from yelling at their
antagonists about homophobia and budget deficits and a senseless war.
Republicans were incensed. A blond woman dragged her young redheaded son
toward the protesters, pointed to them, and said, "These are the Democrats,"
speaking as if she was revealing an awful reality that he was finally old
enough to face. As she walked away with a group of other mothers and
children, she was so angry she could barely speak. A friend consoled her by
promising her that Bush would win. After all, she pointed out, "Look how
many more Bush supporters there were on the street!"

That calmed the angry blond woman down a little. But she was still mad.
"We," she said, stammering and gesturing contemptuously at the
demonstrators, "we are the way it should be!"

http://www.salon.com/news/feature/20...ers/index.html

[izme]

Originally Posted by bassetman

When was the last time we say a regime showing this much hatred?

Where have you been? Civ. Debate is full of Democratic and Liberal hatred and viscious words!

[Ciberblade]

This is really getting sad.

It's like I'm on a merry-go-round to hell

[bassetman]

Originally Posted by ciberblade

This is really getting sad.

It's like I'm on a merry-go-round to hell

It really is sad, especially if either side is teaching theri children to hate someone for their political stance.

[Ciberblade]

Originally Posted by bassetman

It really is sad, especially if either side is teaching theri children to hate someone for their political stance.

I see it all the time.

For instance...there is a newcomer to the political arena here -- running for the Senate seat. He is a doctor, has some really good views on how to address the Medicare system as well as the rising insurance and drug costs.

I've been asking people what they think about him. When I do, the first question is "is he Democrat or Republican?" I ask them why does it matter, what do you think about his stance on the issues. They don't know -- for the most part, people need to know Dem or Rep in order to qualify their views on a person they know absolutely nothing about. And frankly that worries me.

[bassetman]

Originally Posted by ciberblade

I see it all the time.

For instance...there is a newcomer to the political arena here -- running for the Senate seat. He is a doctor, has some really good views on how to address the Medicare system as well as the rising insurance and drug costs.

I've been asking people what they think about him. When I do, the first question is "is he Democrat or Republican?" I ask them why does it matter, what do you think about his stance on the issues. They don't know -- for the most part, people need to know Dem or Rep in order to qualify their views on a person they know absolutely nothing about. And frankly that worries me.

WHat's his handle?

[Ciberblade]

Originally Posted by bassetman

WHat's his handle?

Dan Mongiardo

[bassetman]

Thanks

[WarC]

I was just recently rejected by a girl because I wasn't Liberal enough for her, and because I wasn't sure I'd vote for Kerry (She did volunteer work for the Kerry campaign here in Wisconsin).

So it goes. Apocalypse election for sure.

*I'll be voting Bush*

EDIT: The Dem/Rep thing freaks me out, this is all starting to remind me of the War of the Roses...Choose your house, York or Lancaster! We're not choosing ideals anymore, just clubs.

[ronnivic]

Mongiardo is running against Bunning? God bless him. Similar to the Carson/Coburn race in Oklahoma. The sane in competition with the certifiable.

[TypeSK]

funny, cuz ive read plenty of stories of the same crap coming from dem's to republicans too ....

[izme]

Originally Posted by WarC

I was just recently rejected by a girl because I wasn't Liberal enough for her, and because I wasn't sure I'd vote for Kerry (She did volunteer work for the Kerry campaign here in Wisconsin).

So it goes. Apocalypse election for sure.

*I'll be voting Bush*

EDIT: The Dem/Rep thing freaks me out, this is all starting to remind me of the War of the Roses...Choose your house, York or Lancaster! We're not choosing ideals anymore, just clubs.

ROTFLMAO Priceless humor!!!! what I live for

The Dem/Rep thing is kind of like a very twisted Jerry Springer?

[alex_holker]

There are idiots on the left, and idiots on the right. It is a bit annoying how people seem to think that there aren't any on their own side.

Alex

[jmosmith]

Originally Posted by alex_holker

There are idiots on the left, and idiots on the right. It is a bit annoying how people seem to think that there aren't any on their own side.

Alex

[Infidel_Kastro]

Its from all sides:

Colo. Teacher Kicks Student for GOP Shirt

Sat Oct 30, 6:06 PM ET Strange News - AP



DURANGO, Colo. - A part-time college instructor has apologized for kicking a student because he was wearing a Republican shirt.



Fort Lewis College student Mark O'Donnell said he was showing people his College Republicans sweat shirt, which said "Work for us now ... or work for us later," when Maria Spero kicked him in the leg at an off-campus restaurant.


Spero then said "she should have kicked me harder and higher," said O'Donnell. "To physically take that out on someone because you disagree with them, that is completely wrong."


Police Sgt. Mitch Higgins said Saturday that O'Donnell wanted to press charges and a misdemeanor summons would be issued.


Spero, a visiting instructor of modern languages, apologized to O'Donnell in a letter dated Oct. 29.


"I acted entirely inappropriately by kicking you, giving vent to a thoughtless knee-jerk political reaction that should never have happened," she wrote. "Before the incident, I did not know you and that you are a Fort Lewis student."


The college also formally apologized, said David Eppich, assistant to the school's president.


O'Donnell said the apology wasn't enough and he plans to file a complaint with the college.


The only phone number listed in Durango for the surname Spero was constantly busy Saturday.


Durango police did not immediately return a call seeking comment.