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A Red Flag for the Secret Service?

October 7th, 2008
By TONY CAMPBELL, TMV Columnist

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A disturbing trend may be on the rise at Republican rallies. It is one thing to state that your opponent may have character issues or may not be the best choice to serve as President of the United States. It is something else entirely to stoke a fire that may incite violence against a sitting United States Senator who is the other party’s nominee for President.

Today, in a rally in Clearwater, FL., at a speech given by Governor Palin a man reportedly said “Kill Him” in reference to Barack Obama. We have a little less than a month to go and we are well past the point of civility in this campaign. Perhaps we all need to step back and take a collective breath. I would hope that neither Governor Palin nor Senator McCain would welcome support from people who would espouse such hateful views.

Political speech is part of the 1st Amendment protection of free speech. However, free speech does not include yelling fire in a public place or speech designed to incite people to take violent action. Rhetoric such as the type heard today in Florida may be the catalyst that can fan the smoldering coals of hate and race in our country. It is the responsibility of the Secret Service to protect the nominees from threats to their person and their families. When does political speech cross the line between motivating activists and provoking individual action that can cause personal injury?

Just a thought…



This entry was posted on Tuesday, October 7th, 2008 at 3:15 pm and is filed under US Constitution, Newsweek Blogitics, Sarah Palin, At TMV, Columnists, 2008 Elections, Barack Obama, Racism, Politics. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

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