Fear and hate at Republican Rallies --Toward Transformation?

Friends, Family, This deeply saddens me. It is frightening. So, how to tune this out? Is it responsible or irresponsible to forward such messages? Responsible or irresponsible to tune in or out? The news coverage linked above and in my friend Reggie's message below, features a compilation of (mostly) Gov. Palin's rally's where she repeats this hate-speech, over and over and over again. I don't know...I think it's fair to call it "hate speech" --when you intentionally refer to another as a terrorist and knowingly work to incite the anger of a crowd....Evoking responses like, "treason" and "kill [Obama]".... Yea. It's deeply disturbing, and as Reggie says, "scares me in a profound way." What can I do? To combat fear? Not perpetuate terror? NOT FEAR? BE LOVE? ACT COMPASSIONATELY? PRAY? STAY VIGILANT? Vigilance seems, to me, so fear-based in my mind, but what if my prayers were vigilant prayers? To be tuned into love, transformation, hope, the truth, and simply trust that this kind of stuff doesn't hold, doesn't last, isn't sustainable, since it's not rooted in love.... Prayerfully, Melissa --- On Fri, 10/10/08, Reggie Prim <reggie.prim@gmail.com wrote: Dear Friends, I have not previously sent out any political messages during this campaign, as I know you've seen plenty. However, I have been concerned in the past week about the dangerous turn of events at republican rallies. Inciting hatred and violence are extremely dangerous tactics and are deeply anti-democratic. This scares me in a profound way. Please watch this video and share this with friends. There are historical precedents to this kind of rhetoric that are extremely dangerous. We must remain vigilant and demand that this stop. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LXs_u4f2ZD8 Thanks, Reggie Here's a quote worth noting... "What [Palin] does bring [to the political arena] is a noteworthy skill with extreme, often violent populism. As a result, she has succeeded at creating intense loyalty to her personally, and deep antipathy for Sen. Obama--also on a personal level. And while this populism has succeeded only amongst small core of the Republican base, the fervency of Palin's supporters has been amplified a thousand times over by the obsessive media coverage that she enjoys. So, Sarah Palin is not 'fascist,' but that does not mean her language and her events have not had a dangerous impact on our democracy. Beyond adding populism to the campaign trail, Palin has also done something else: she has re-framed the McCain campaign in violent terms--terms that had been used predominantly by right-wing shock pundits on TV and radio." Jeffrey Feldman Palin Rallies Ignite Widespread Talk of 'Fascism' Posted October 10, 2008 | 12:08 PM (EST) http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jeffrey-feldman/palin-rallies-ignite-wide_b_133621.html