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McCain/Palin supporters are an angry mob. That's the virulent meme this week.

To my eye, it looks as though the MSM is anxious to squelch any enthusiasm. WaPo has a big feature called "Anger Is Crowd's Overarching Emotion at McCain Rally." And to be fair, it's the "most viewed" page on the WaPo website right now. It's what the readers want to read, not what the WaPo wants to cram down our throats. (Or are you one of those people who think the newspapers lie about what's "most viewed" and "most emailed"?)

The dateline on this piece, written by Michael D. Shear and Perry Bacon Jr., is Waukesha, Wisconsin. Oh, come on, now. If there are angry mobs, surely they are not in Wisconsin. I'm feeling huge doubts. But let's read:

There were shouts of "Nobama" and "Socialist" at the mention of the Democratic presidential nominee. There were boos, middle fingers turned up and thumbs turned down as a media caravan moved through the crowd Thursday for a midday town hall gathering featuring John McCain and Sarah Palin.

So they were giving the press the finger? Isn't that the classic method of preventing the press from getting a usable picture of you? It looks as though there are 2 different things going on: disapproval of Obama and hostility toward the press. There is plenty of reason for McCain supporters to hate the press, and yet the press ought not to react with an okay, then screw them. The press should redouble efforts to be neutral and professional.

"I'm mad! I'm really mad!" [a] man said, taking the microphone and refusing to surrender it easily, even when McCain tried to agree with him.

"I'm not done. Lemme finish, please," he said after a standing ovation. "When you have Obama, [House Speaker Nancy] Pelosi and the rest of the hooligans up there going to run the country, we have to have our head examined.

"It's time that you two represent the rest of us. So go get 'em."

The crowd burst into loud chants of "U-S-A! U-S-A!"

Standing at the center of the crowd, McCain and Palin drew on the crowd's energy as they repeatedly trained their fire on Obama.

"Trained their fire"? That's not a good metaphor. And there is nothing wrong with candidates attacking their opponents or crowds becoming enthusiastic. That's the idea of a rally. Perhaps political rallies in general are distasteful, but surely, the WaPo doesn't take that view across the board. How did they cover the big Obama rallies? Isn't it worse to chant the candidates name, as is done for Obama, than to chant the name of the country?

Or are Shear and Bacon -- good name for a barbershop/diner -- saying there is something different about the enthusiasm of this rally? Perhaps Obama did not draw on the energy of his crowds. (He's almost always kept cool.) Perhaps Obama's crowds surged with love for their candidate and never hate for the opponent.

It may be that the McCain/Palin crowds feel distinctly different... or do they just feel distinctly different to the reporters whose don't share the crowds emotions?

Full post as published by Althouse on October 10, 2008 (boomark / email).