McCain’s Actual Pitchfork Rally

Well, at least there are bales of hay in the background. But the scariest thing about this vaguely Halloween-themed rally in Columbus, Ohio, wasn’t anything that Sen. John McCain said. It was the long, prison-themed introduction provided by California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

After first boasting that he wanted to “beef up” Sen. Barack Obama’s “skinny legs,” perhaps by “doing some squats,” he opined that McCain had been in a Vietnam camp for longer than Obama has been in the Senate.*

This is, of course, true, but one imagines that the various tenures make use of vastly different skill sets. If, however, we elect Obama and then the country enters into some sort of dystopian nightmare scenario in which even the president is threatened with daily torture and solitary confinement, well, then, I guess we’ll all be sorry, won’t we? Then again, I sort of imagine that scenario to be more likely under a McCain administration, so it’s kind of a chicken-and-egg thing.

Toward the end of his remarks, McCain became more passionate than I’ve seen him in awhile, responding to a very amped-up crowd of about 10,000 by repeatedly encouraging them to “Fight! Fight!” and ending with the truism, “We’re America! We never run from history, we make history!”

If only there were another way.

*This used to say “longer than Obama had been in prison.” That is not what Schwarzenegger said. I am sorry. I image some McCain supporters are as well.