Politico's Simon: McCain and Palin 'Stoking Anger' Towards Obama

Politico's Roger Simon claimed Sunday that John McCain and Sarah Palin are responsible for the anger being expressed towards Barack Obama by their supporters.

Unfortunately, he had nothing to say about who's responsible for the hatred being expressed towards Sarah Palin on television, at rock concerts, and even at sporting events.

I wonder why.

Appearing on Sunday's "Reliable Sources," Simon gave the following response to host Howard Kurtz's question concerning whether or not it's fair of the press to blame McCain and Palin for some recent ugliness at campaign events (file photo):

Well, it may be that McCain and Palin are stoking the anger. It seems to me that John McCain is riding a tiger, and he's trying not to fall off that tiger and get eaten by it.

When your vice presidential running mate goes around the country saying Barack Obama is palling around with terrorists, and when you run ads that say, you know, he's a liar, he's not telling the truth about this unrepentant terrorist, and then you wonder why people in the crowd shout out "terrorist" when you mention the name Barack Obama, this anger is coming from somewhere. It is being ginned up by a campaign, and it is logical, I think, to assume that these people are only responding to what they have heard from the candidate's mouth.

Really, Roger? It's logical to assume these people are only responding to what they have heard from the candidate's mouth? Why?

Mightn't they be responding to something they read on the Internet or in the papers? Or heard on the radio? Or saw on television?

Mightn't the anger folks are expressing stem from a belief that Obama is a media creation that wouldn't even be in this race if not for the press's amazingly biased coverage since this campaign began?

Or maybe they're just concerned like the overwhelming majority of the nation's CEOs that an Obama presidency would be disastrous for the country. 

On the other hand, if McCain and Palin are responsible for people's anger towards Obama, are Obama and Joe Biden responsible for people's anger towards Palin? 

After all, as my colleague Terry Trippany reported earlier today, Palin was greeted with some boos in Philadephia Saturday evening before she dropped the ceremonial puck at the Flyers' home opener. 

And, earlier in the week, Madonna went on a vulgar tirade directed at the Alaska governor at a concert in New York's Madison Square Garden.

I wonder why Kurtz didn't bring up either of these incidents for a little balance, and ask his guests who might be responsible for stoking all this hatred towards a woman that probably less than five percent of the nation even heard of before she was announced as McCain's running mate less than two months ago.

*****Update: NBer expat raises a fabulous point that needs to be shared and then elaborated on...

I would take Politicos [sic] concern about the temperture [sic] of polictical [sic] debate in this election a little more seriously if he could remind me of a single article he wrote about the over-the-top-hatred of President Bush. For example, I am sure he must have written about his growing concerns about the rising level of hatred toward President Bush that a movie dipicting [sic] his assination [sic] was made and not roundly condemmed.  

Fabulous point. How much of the Bush Derangement Syndrome regularly expressed by Democrat leaders such as Pelosi and Reid as well as their media minions is responsible for how our President is despised by so many left-leaning citizens?

Maybe if folks like Simon spoke against the invective being regularly espoused by Democrats and liberal press members toward the most powerful man in the world, the political tone in Washington and throughout the nation would be considerably better than its currently deplorable level.

Sadly, people like Simon only see this as a one-way street, and never seem willing to point their microscope at themselves. Too bad for us, huh?