What Needs to Be Said

From John Scalzi:

An author and former campaigner for John McCain says in the Baltimore Sun what actually does need to be said, out loud, in public:

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… 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.

I wonder if McCain is actually thinking about the consequences of what he’s doing at his campaign stops right now, and the unease it give the people who do think about consequences, both on the right and the left. I don’t want John McCain to win the election, but I also don’t want him to actually lose his soul, either.

When people start shouting "Kill Obama," as they have been at certain McCain/Palin rallies, you know something deeply troubling is going on, and McCain, a man whose integrity I once admired, doesn't seem willing to do anything about it.