(h/t Heather)
In an interview with CNN's Dana Bash Monday, John McCain actually said the following with a straight face:
BASH: Now, whether or not, since I know you've heard this during your rallies, since you have been talking about Ayers -- and your running mate has, also -- we've heard people in the crowd screaming things like "Terrorist!," "Traitor!," when you talked about Senator Obama -- and worse. When you hear that do you...
MCCAIN: I've heard the same thing, unfortunately, at Senator Obama's rallies being said about me. There's always a fringe element that's in politics in America. The overwhelming majority of the people that come to my rallies are good and decent and patriotic Americans. And if they're worried about this country's future, that's correct.
But to somehow -- to somehow intimate that of the thousands of people -- 17,000 people were just with us in Virginia. And to somehow intimate that the overwhelming majority of those people, with rare exception, are somehow not good Americans or are motivated by anything but the most patriotic motives, is insulting. And I won't accept that insult.
Let's be clear here: No candidate is responsible for the random things people scream out at their events. But that's not what we're dealing with here. John McCain and Sarah Palin for the past two weeks have been making the case that Barack Obama "pals around with terrorists" and "doesn't see America like they do" and is therefore mysterious, scary and un-American. In other words, they are fostering an atmosphere in which stuff like this becomes inevitable; they are "playing with fire." It is absolutely disgraceful for McCain to (a) play dumb and (b) lie about what goes on at Obama events.
Anonymous Liberal and Glenn have more.
