Kill Him

According to the Washington Post, this happened yesterday at a Palin rally,

"Now it turns out, one of his earliest supporters is a man named Bill Ayers," Palin said.
"Boooo!" said the crowd.
"And, according to the New York Times, he was a domestic terrorist and part of a group that, quote, 'launched a campaign of bombings that would target the Pentagon and our U.S. Capitol,'" she continued.
"Boooo!" the crowd repeated.
"Kill him!" proposed one man in the audience.

This is now beyond ugly, this is getting dangerous. Trying to make your political opponent into someone friendly to terrorism, into a traitor, is beyond the pale. It is despicable.

Not because it will lose Obama the election. Not enough people are going to believe that this calm, steady, centrist, intelligent, presidential looking candidate is a bomb-throwing terrorist. Rather in these times of national crisis, it could lead to acts of political violence and even assassination that could throw our country into anarchy and chaos. Is winning worth that? Isn't this a case of the 'ends justifying the means', which of course leads to all kinds of means? Do the Republicans have any sense of honor, or will they just do or say anything to get elected?

Andrew Sullivan adds this:

The ethos of Palinism - its contempt for elites, its hatred of a free press, its pathological secrecy, its demonization of "the other", its bullying of anyone in its way, and its cult-of-personality - is authoritarian. And somewhat chilling.

(If you haven't read my post on Bill Ayers, please do so. You need to know the details and context of that issue, and how it is not in any way comparable to the Keating 5 issue.)