An Open Letter to John McCain

October 13, 2008 -

Former McCain Supporter Accuses the Senator of Deliberately Feeding the Most Unhinged Elements of Our Society the Red Meat of Hate


Frank Schaeffer, bestselling author of Crazy for God: How I Grew Up as One of the Elect, Helped Found the Religious Right, and Lived to Take All (or Almost All) of It Back. He is the son of the late evangelist Francis Schaeffer and considered himself a lifelong Republican. He voted for John McCain in 2000, and McCain even endorsed one of Schaeffers earlier books on military service. On Friday, Schaeffer published An Open Letter to John McCain in the Baltimore Sun:

John McCain: If your campaign does not stop equating Sen. Barack Obama with terrorism, questioning his patriotism and portraying Mr. Obama as not one of us, I accuse you of deliberately feeding the most unhinged elements of our society the red meat of hate, and therefore of potentially instigating violence.

At a Sarah Palin rally, someone called out, Kill him! At one of your rallies, someone called out, Terrorist! Neither was answered or denounced by you or your running mate, as the crowd laughed and cheered. At your campaign event Wednesday in Bethlehem, Pa., the crowd was seething with hatred for the Democratic nominee—an attitude encouraged in speeches there by you, your running mate, your wife and the local Republican chairman.

Shame!

John McCain: In 2000, as a lifelong Republican, I worked to get you elected instead of George W. Bush. In return, you wrote an endorsement of one of my books about military service. You seemed to be a man who put principle ahead of mere political gain.

You have changed. You have a choice: Go down in history as a decent senator and an honorable military man with many successes, or go down in history as the latest abettor of right-wing extremist hate.

John McCain, you are no fool, and you understand the depths of hatred that [surround] the issue of race in this country. You also know that, post-9/11, to call someone a friend of a terrorist is a very serious matter. You also know we are [a bitterly divided country] on many other issues. You know that, sadly, in America, violence is always just a moment away. You know that there are plenty of crazy people out there.

Stop! Think! Your rallies are beginning to look, sound, feel and smell like lynch mobs.

John McCain, youre walking a perilous line. If you do not stand up for all that is good in America and declare that Senator Obama is a patriot, fit for office, and denounce your hate-filled supporters when they scream out Terrorist or Kill him, history will hold you responsible for all that follows.

John McCain and Sarah Palin, you are playing with fire, and you know it. You are unleashing the monster of American hatred and prejudice, to the peril of all of us. You are doing this in wartime. You are doing this as our economy collapses. You are doing this in a country with a history of assassinations.

Change the atmosphere of your campaign. Talk about the issues at hand. Make your case. But stop stirring up the lunatic fringe of haters, or risk suffering the judgment of history and the loathing of the American people—forever.

We will hold you responsible.

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• USA
• America
• Bush
• Cheney
• American
• Presidential
• Election
• 2008
• John
• McCain
• Sarah
• Palin
• Campaign
• Republican
• Ideology
• Right
• Wing
• Nuts
• Crisis
• Federal
• Government
• Distortion
• Media
• Manipulation
• Obama
• Democratic
• Frank
• Schaeffer
• Letter
• Baltimore
• Sun
• Patriot
• Patriotic
• Hate
• Abortion
• Moral
• Ethics
• Reason
• Chomsky

[Violetsoul6]

This was excellent. I like this guy..

[Dreams1234]

A man with sense and reason ..... well said sir ...

[JudithMatta]

Frankie never overcame his father's disloyalty to his wife. I saw his anti-Abortion film which incited violent reactions, a diatribe he initiated, like this one. The openly-racist, anti-white Obama administration deals a severe blow to our Nation; Dr. King is unsettled in his rest. The "entitled" Chicago thuggery now in office, and unfortunately is empowered to effect the entire country's self-view. Judging by skin-colour has now come to roost thanks to Revs Farrakhan, and Wright.

[mrgreyblake]

He's a bit verbose, but he speaks sense...

[toelesshoe]

It's encouraging to think that a man like Schaffer, who was at the centre of the fundamentalist movement, can come to his senses. Now, if he can only convince the spin doctors behind the GOP.

[Entropy56]

Of course we now know that no one yelled "kill him" when Sarah Palin was speaking. But instead Sarah has been the target of a smear campaign by the Left, including Frank Schaeffer. Has Frank apologized to Sarah yet? And we also know that Obamas poll ratings have fallen to a level below George Bush during this time of his presidency.

[NOTGLENNBECK]

Daddy Schaeffer would be so disappointed in his son. Too bad, Frank, hopefully you'll get your act together before meeting daddy again.

[SpinachSalad01]

Wish I had read this 10 months ago. It was well written and well spoken. I just hope you really mean the thoughts and ideals expressed here and aren't just spreading more GOP type reactionary fear in order to boost your book sales. Time will tell.

[ArmanValdar]

Well said and gives us all something to think about....left, right or center...we all need to evaluate what is said by others and think. Yes, we need to think. And most importantly we all need to stay very far away from Sarah Palin...she is indeed a dangerous woman!

[jejojassy76]

Yeh, I disgreed with McCain before, but I still thought he was a better man than the monkey (you know him as George W). But he sold out this time. He is now tossed into the garbage bin of history.

[pnollen]

Stands up and applaudes the speaker in the video. Hats off to you sir, very well stated.