Once again it comes back to race…Ashley Todd is a pathetic human being. Playing on the racial tension that lies within’ this election and to quote the video below, handing the people standing over the tinderbox the match they are looking for.

In case you missed this story, in a horrible, despicable display, the McCain/Palin campaign staffer claimed she was attacked at an ATM machine by a black man who put a knife to her throat. That he beat her, violated her and once he saw the McCain/Palin sticker on her car, held her down, carved a B in her face and said he was going to “teach her a lesson.” Authorities found so many inconsistencies in her story that within a day, she broke down and admitted to making the whole thing up. Memos from John Moody, Fox News’ Executive Vice President surfaced, showing him ready to jump on the story and exploit these racial angles as best they could. He also noted that if it did turn out to be false, McCain would forever be tied to race-baiting. Well, there’s your answer, Moody. You said it yourself.

The plotting and scheming to exploit any underlying racial tension there may be in these final days of the election is disgusting. It is unconscionable to think that somehow stating that an assault by a black man would presumably shame Barack Obama, simply because he too, is black. And to see someone like Moody, the Executive V.P., a member of the media who is supposed to be “fair and balanced” salavating over a story like a rabid dog, just waiting to pounce should not only be grounds for immediate termination, but grounds for him to never set foot in any broadcast journalism medium again.

I turn once again to the wisdom and eloquence of Keith Olbermann. His campaign comment about this story last night was superb. With a plea that I think we can all agree with…for John McCain to step up, show that he is a leader and put an end to these horrible tactics. Win or lose, if John McCain wants people to view him as a leader, he needs to speak up, take charge of the situation and lead!! Speak directly to the people, denounce this behavior as absolutely unacceptable and show us that you are not only above it, but 100% intolerant of it.

Ashley Todd claims “mental illness” and while that seems like a cop out, anyone who would try something like this is, in fact, mentally ill.

This isn’t her first stunt either, she was banned from another campaign for similar tactics, explained here:

“In March, Ms. Todd was asked to leave a grass-roots group of Ron Paul supporters in Brazos County, Texas, group leader Dustan Costine said. He said Ms. Todd posed as a supporter of former Arkansas governor and presidential candidate Mike Huckabee and called the local Republican committee seeking information about its campaign strategies.

“She would call the opposing campaign and pretend she was on their campaign to get information,” Mr. Costine said last night. “We had to remove her because of the tactics she displayed. After that we had nothing to do with her.”

About a month earlier, he said, Ms. Todd sent an e-mail to the Ron Paul group saying her tires were slashed and that campaign paraphernalia had been stolen from her car because she supported Mr. Paul. “She’s the type of person who wants to be recognized,” Mr. Costine said.

This is no longer about the election. This is about horrible people preying on what they hope are deep seeded fears within’ the people in this country. This is desperation at it’s worst. This is beneath even the lowest of dirty campaign tactics and is rooted in pure hatred.

I have lost any inkling of respect I had for John McCain. He’s proving himself to have lost whatever “maverick” qualities he may have had in trade for being a cowardly puppet who won’t stand up to anyone anymore, much less his own party.

In my daily news sweep or as some who know me might say, my news obsession, I check everything I can. BBC, CNN, MSNBC, FOX, Drudge, Fivethirtyeight, the list goes on. Last night I was reading a Fox News story about Obama jumping the gun by planning his election night party (as if McCain isn’t planning one?) and it’s not the story that got to me as much as the comments.

In line with my earlier post about race and hate, it’s just unbelievable. I have to literally check twice to realize that I’m actually reading some of these comments. It’s mind boggling. If you’d like to read the story and add your own .02, you can do so here.

Here’s just a sampling of the comments people have posted in response to a possible Obama win (as they wrote them, I didn’t correct spelling or grammar) and below that, the comment that I wound up posting on Fox’s site in response. I usually reserve my comments to post here, but I just had to chime in on this one.

“You are so right, every monkey will have an excuse to rape white woman, and THEY SHOULD!”

“PEOPLE BETTER WAKE UP AND GET OUT FROM THE CLOUDS. OBAMA SPELLS ANTI-CHRIST PERIOD !”

“Obama is a comunist, terrorist and a lier……….”

“The good Lord is going to make you pay for the lying, cheating, and other despicable acts commited by Obama and his supporters, I hope the DNC gets his wrath first.”

“I pray everyday that God will allow McCain to be president. If Obama is elected, I firmly believe it is the beginning of the end times. ”

 ”The press stares at Palin’s skirt to avoid looking at at Obama” (From Fox themselves)

 ”EVERY MONKEY IN CHICAGO WILL HAVE A EXCUSE TO RAPE WHITE WOMWN AND LOOT SONY TV SETS.THEY WHOLE IDEA OF OBAMA IS DISGUSTING.”

“I’m thinking about getting an Obama sign to put in my yard here in Pittsburgh Pa toward the end of the polls closing. That way when the black people in my area go around destroying property upon news of Obama’s loss, I can pretend that I supported him and that I’m disappointed too.”

“PALIN NEEDS TO BE BLACK AND THEN THEY WOULDN’T BOTHER HER.” 

And my comment:

No matter what party you fall under, PLEASE, for the love of everything, do your research. Check your facts, THINK FOR YOURSELVES. Anything that Fox, CNN, MSNBC, etc. feeds you is going to have some kind of slant to it, be it liberal, independent or conservative. Everyone has an agenda, everyone will report things in their own ways.

Sure, watch the news, but QUESTION what you’re told. Fact check, THINK!!! It breaks my heart to see how many people just accept what they’re fed and don’t bother to do research or look into the stories they’re glomming onto.

For example:
McCain/Palin claim Obama is a Socialist. Do you know who the most Socialist governor in the country is? Sarah Palin. She taxes the oil companies in order to distribute funds to the citizens of Alaska. They have a great economy, it works, but it’s SOCIALISM.

For example:
The Alaskan committee, led by Republicans, found Sarah Palin violated Ethics laws in “Troopergate”, she then comes out on Fox News and says she’s happy to be “cleared of any wrongdoing”, blatantly lying to our faces. Is that the kind of leader you want? Someone who will not take responsibility for their actions and will look you right in the eye and lie? That is for you to decide when you vote.

For example:
The phrase that is already run into the ground “Joe the Plumber.” This man is not a plumber, he has no license, he is not in any shape to buy a business because he owes back taxes and he contributes to the McCain/Palin campaign. McCain needs to shift his focus and STOP with these knee jerk tactics. NO ONE CARES ABOUT JOE, who’s name is actually Sam by the way.
 
There was a time that I might have voted for John McCain, but he has gotten SO far off track, so pushed and pulled and picked at by his party that even HE doesn’t know what he stands for anymore. And adding Palin to the bill sealed it for me. They will NOT get my vote.

The nitpicking of who’s spending what on clothes and parties (McCain is planning his own multi-million dollar shin dig, as well, remember that) is not what matters. It is the issues of our crumbling economy, our relations with the rest of the world and WE THE PEOPLE needing to come together as a nation that matter.

What has happened to us? Where did this divide happen? Why do we hate our own fellow Americans? How is it 2008 and there are still people who hate someone because of the color of their skin? I want to get back to the place where I am PROUD to be an American and I am proud to hug my neighbor as a fellow American, regardless of if we disagree on the issues.

We as a nation need to STAND UP individually and take charge of what we can do. Work in your community, find ways that you can volunteer and help the people and causes that matter to you.

If you truly want change and prosperity and to live in a Nation where you can feel proud of it, stop putting all of your hope into one person and DO SOMETHING. That’s the beauty of America. It was built for the people, by the people and that is how it should remain.

I don’t aim to simply re-post other people’s commentary here, but I think it’s important to pass on in the hopes that it will fire you up. Maybe you will pass it on and it will spark conversations, discussions and in some of you maybe even some action. Keith Olbermann has become one of my favorite journalists in recent years. He’s an amazing writer, he conveys his point with eloquence and passion and I admire him a great deal.

He’s always said that the platform of “Special Comment” was saved for, well, special times, but last night he said he may have to make it a regular occurence for the next few weeks, in light of the incredible campaign we are watching unfold. He then took aim at not 1, but 3 people who are contributing to the ugliness we are seeing, the hatred, the pure and blatant racism that has come to the surface in light of a black man running for president. And because I couldn’t have said it better myself, here you go:

As time goes on and I witness more and more of these instances of hate and racism, I’ve found myself having a hard time containing the anger and sadness that I feel over it. I was talking about this with Cort & Fatboy  yesterday in the office and while I realize that living in an amazingly diverse place like the Northwest can put me in a bit of a happy bubble, I don’t think I truly realized how prevalent racism and hate still is. This election season has really brought out the UGLY in a lot of areas around the country. 

Fatboy grew up in Salem, said he was surrounded by people who took issue with race, but has never quite been able to get his head around it, that it seems like a movie to him. That’s how it strikes me, as well. With every instance I find myself thinking ”this can’t be real, can it?” We talked about how while 40 years is a long time to pass and allow for progression, it’s also not that long. That we do still have generations living among us that were around before and during the Civil Rights Movement and who will undoubtedly take issue with a black man running for president.

This came from FiveThirtyEight: “So a canvasser goes to a woman’s door in Washington, Pennsylvania. Knocks. Woman answers. Knocker asks who she’s planning to vote for. She isn’t sure, has to ask her husband who she’s voting for. Husband is off in another room watching some game. Canvasser hears him yell back, “We’re votin’ for the n***er!”

Woman turns back to canvasser, and says brightly and matter of factly: “We’re voting for the n***er.”

When I read that, at first I shook my head in disappointment, but as I mulled it over, surprisingly, I didn’t feel so bad about it. Beyond how they were raised and what they believe, this couple is voting and they’re voting for someone who they never thought they would….or could for that matter. Progress? I think so. I won’t ever understand it, I can’t understand it, I didn’t live in their time or place, I’ve grown up where none of that matters. People are just people to me. Sure there are good ones and bad ones, but that’s never something that race determines.

I’m thankful that I grew up with a family who embraced all people and who never gave me even the smallest inkling that someone who wasn’t white was “different” or was to be looked at in any other way than I’d look at myself. But that upbringing is also what makes it so difficult to understand when I hear or see things like what’s going on right now.

This election, the events that have transpired over the last several years, leading to the rollercoaster that has been the last few months have been exciting, exhausting, inspiring, devastating and about a million other emotions I could list off. A part of me can’t wait for it to be over so that I can break my addiction to the unending news cycles, constant poll checking, fact checking and worry over it all. But I must say, I do really enjoy it. It’s refreshing to see people having their own debates, getting fired up, inspiring their friends and families. To know that no matter what the outcome, we will all have taken this ride together, one that is for the history books. I personally hope that as a whole, we will come out the other side a little wiser, a little more open minded and be headed in a much better direction.

An excellent Special Comment segment tonight on Countdown.