Immediately after the 2008 presidential election, now-ex Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin attempted to distance herself from the hate, racism and malevolence her campaign rhetoric had stirred up out of the depths of the darkness of the American national psyche. Even if the Alaska mainstream media was then and still is incapable of addressing that malevolence, some in the Outside press called Palin's hate mongering for what it was. This is from the UK Telegraph, last November 9:The Republican vice presidential candidate attracted criticism for accusing Mr Obama of "palling around with terrorists", citing his association with the sixties radical William Ayers.
The attacks provoked a near lynch mob atmosphere at her rallies, with supporters yelling "terrorist" and "kill him" until the McCain campaign ordered her to tone down the rhetoric.
But it has now emerged that her demagogic tone may have unintentionally encouraged white supremacists to go even further.
The Secret Service warned the Obama family in mid October that they had seen a dramatic increase in the number of threats against the Democratic candidate, coinciding with Mrs Palin's attacks.
Michelle Obama, the future First Lady, was so upset that she turned to her friend and campaign adviser Valerie Jarrett and said: "Why would they try to make people hate us?"
The revelations, contained in a Newsweek history of the campaign, are likely to further damage Mrs Palin's credentials as a future presidential candidate. She is already a frontrunner, with Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal, to take on Mr Obama in four years time.
Details of the spike in threats to Mr Obama come as a report last week by security and intelligence analysts Stratfor, warned that he is a high risk target for racist gunmen. It concluded: "Two plots to assassinate Obama were broken up during the campaign season, and several more remain under investigation. We would expect federal authorities to uncover many more plots to attack the president that have been hatched by white supremacist ideologues."
The campaign vilification of Barack Obama has, especially since his January inauguration, been ramped up. All along, almost on a monthly basis, Palin has continued to make statements designed to stoke the resentments which keep the hatred directed toward the president simmering. This past weekend, evidence continued to mount that this could boil over:
Alaska's bloggers will continue to highlight Palin's connection to her base base. This next week, we will be hosting bestselling author and documentarian, Max Bumenthal, for a short visit to Anchorage. Max was up here last year, investigating the Palins' past ties to groups which seek to quietly undermine American democracy as we know it:
• On September 26th, Max Blumenthal will be live in the KBYR studio with Shannyn Moore on her weekly show, from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.
• On September 26th at 8:00 p.m, Max will give a multi-media lecture on his book, Republican Gomorrah, at the University of Alaska Anchorage Fine Arts Building Recital Hall (Arts 150). I am producing this FREE event, with the help of Alaskans for Peace & Justice, and my fellow Alaska bloggers.
• On September 27th, at noon, Max will address the Anchorage Unitarian Universalist Fellowship.
More details coming here and elsewhere, including a request to help fund Max's Alaska trip, beginning Friday.
image - DarkBlack; hat tip - Shannyn Moore