Respect Due.

And just to add: why do his supporters deserve props for doing the right thing? You think they would’ve jumped on dude if there hadn’t been a camera and a reporter there? The only difference between the nuts and the normal supporters is that the latter knows which way the wind is blowing.

G.D. = Like I said, they know which way the wind is blowing. With all the press that McCain rallies have generated in the last few weeks, his supporters are rethinking how they handle the nuts.

the video looks staged to me.

It’s kinda nice to see people being real and honest. The conventional wisdom in this country, I think, is that “good Christian” means ‘intolerant, ignorant asshole’, and I think we’ve seen that in a lot of recent videos associated with McCain supporters. It’s nice to see some intolerant jerks, who cannot even support their own position but are spreading hate, shut down by some open-minded, intelligent conservatives. Bravo for getting the other side of the story. I wonder when these moderate, Muslim conservatives will be at the next Palin rally to shout down the people who call Obama a “terrorist” and a “Muslim”, as if the latter is an epithet.

Of course, it could have been staged. Hell, we’ve seen better hoaxes, and of course, we’ve also seen people “do the right thing” in public or on camera when they would normally just ignore it and not get involved otherwise.

Reminds me of an excellent article I just read yesterday in Playboy (yep) in which people nowadays ignore facts, like how Obama is a Christian, and just have their own beliefs, like how he is a Muslim. The article is called “Truthiness”, but I just call the phenomenon “stupidity”.

QM- I know why the press exists. I went to J-School. And they were doing their job. That still doesn’t mean anyone in that video deserves praise.

No one moved until the McCain spokesman showed up. No one said anything until he started criticizing the guy. If you want to call me a hypocrite, that’s fine. But my complaint is not about acting right because people are watching, it’s about the fact that they started acting right after they got the go-ahead from the McCain spokesman.

Verdeluz: First of all, I’m pretty sure I called the McCain supporters who spoke up “perfectly normal” in my first comment. I don’t think I referred to them as a “homogeneous” or “backward-thinking hatemongers.” And your usage of the words “these people” implies something different than what I meant. I was specifically referring to the people on the screen, hence, “these people.” Not some nebulous, scary group of “these people.”

I’m not sure what your point is about the camera vs. the cameraman being a reason that people spoke up. I don’t disagree that it’s easier to say something when you’re not alone.

However, I suggest that McCain’s reasonable supporters are aware of the negative attention the rallies have been receiving and that this has driven their desire to speak out against the wingnuts. I also don’t think that’s good enough. It’s too little, too late. I’m clearly alone on this, but my opinion is what it is.

I’m having a little trouble differentiating between the supporters who qualify as “perfectly normal” and the “these people” that don’t deserve “an inch”; I don’t think anybody was applauding the people who were subsequently driven away.

I made no differentiation. I’ve already attempted to make my point, but as it’s not working, I’ll copy and paste the salient bits, and hope that this can be conclusive.

First I said: “This video was cute and all, but it doesn’t change the fact that McCain didn’t denounce the wingnuts until he started getting criticized for the tone that he and his runningmate welcomed.”

Then I said: “With all the press that McCain rallies have generated in the last few weeks, his supporters are rethinking how they handle the nuts.”

Then I said: “But my complaint is not about acting right because people are watching, it’s about the fact that they started acting right after they got the go-ahead from the McCain spokesman.”

And to you I said: “I suggest that McCain’s reasonable supporters are aware of the negative attention the rallies have been receiving and that this has driven their desire to speak out against the wingnuts. I also don’t think that’s good enough. It’s too little, too late.”

The thing is, no one here has refuted my repeated point, which is that “these people” (the people in this video, whom one considers normal; as well as people in previous videos) have appeared to let the Muslim/socialist/racism thing go until it the campaign stepped in. If you want to say that they *should* be taking their cues from the campaign, well, that’s a different discussion.

My point was in response to your assertion that people voiced their disapproval only because someone was watching.

This assertion was a minor point; I concede to you.

If you’re willing to concede that there have always been “normal” McCain supporters, I see no reason to think that the people speaking up in this or other similar cases are not part of that group and that they haven’t been turned off by the hate all along.

The most uncharitable thing I said, was early on: “The only difference between the nuts and the normal supporters is that the latter knows which way the wind is blowing.” I regret saying that, because it isn’t true.

I don’t see why hot-Kurdish-woman-who-is-Muslim would have a problem speaking up, though maybe I’m naive. I’m talking about the “open-minded conservative Christian” folk, who don’t come in until later.