Silence Implies Consent

In yesterday's presidential debate, McCain expressed offense at statements by Congressman John Lewis, who has accused the McCain campaign of "sowing the seeds of hatred and division" in their campaign rallies where supporters have yelled out things like "Terrorist!" and "Kill him!" and various racial epithets which we won't repeat here without so much as a comment of their impropriety from McCain and Palin. In voicing his offense, McCain had the hubris to ignore his silence in these occasions and state that he has repudiated all such slanders against Senator Obama.

New York Times columnist Frank Rich writes a scathing column illuminating the soft racism that McCain's campaign has been quietly encouraging.