The Dow Jones Industrial average fell nearly 680 points yesterday, losing value for the seventh trading day in a row. The S & P 500 and Nasdaq also suffered steep losses. This morning’s Dow Jones Futures (still down as of 6:34 CDT) suggests that the sell-off will continue. CNBC has described an atmosphere of panic on Wall Street. Credit markets remain tight, though CNBC reports that the LIBOR loosened somewhat overnight. It’ll take much more grease, however, to thaw frozen credit markets. Risk aversion has taken hold. The President is scheduled to address the nation at 10:25 EDT, and Secretary Paulson seems more willing to inject capital directly into banks, which means the government will have an ownership stake in the banks it saves. Many economists and Wall Street insiders are calling for such action, and the sooner the better.
All of this comes against an election year backdrop that is turning increasingly ugly. This morning’s ($)WSJ online reports (“McCain Campaign Is at Odds Over Negative Attacks’ Scope”) that the McCain campaign is divided about just how far to go in attacking Senator Obama. McCain has approved attacking Obama over his association with William Ayers, a former member of the Weather Underground. Some in the campaign want McCain to ramp up attacks by also hitting the Reverend Wright story again. McCain himself, the story says, seems reluctant to do this, declaring Rev. Wright off limits.
But what is really disturbing is how McCain campaign rallies have whipped up a frenzy of hatred against Obama and Democrats. Monica Langley and Elizabeth Homes, the WSJ reporters, write that
Some McCain campaign officials are becoming concerned about the hostility that attacks against Sen. Obama are whipping up among Republican supporters. During an internal conference call Thursday, campaign officials discussed how the tenor of the crowds has turned on the media and on Sen. Obama.
Someone yelled “Off with his head” at a rally Wednesday for Sen. McCain and Gov. Palin in Pennsylvania. Later that day in Ohio, a man stood outside a rally holding a sign that said “Obama, Osama.” At a rally in Jacksonville, Fla., on Tuesday, someone in the crowd wore a T-shirt depicting Sen. Obama wearing a devil mask.
Gail Collins, in Wednesday’s column for The New York Times, notes that “Sarah Palin has been telling her increasingly scary rallies that [Obama] is somebody ‘who sees America as imperfect enough to pal around with terrorists.’” Such inflammatory rhetoric cannot bode well. Are Republican leaders, especially Senator McCain and Governor Palin, prepared for the possible consequences of such rhetoric? Do they not realize the risk they’re taking? Do they not see the danger? Are we in the midst of something happening in this country that months from now we’ll look back upon this time period and say to ourselves, “That’s when we imploded”?
Picture courtesy of earthpro’s photostream at Flickr under Creative Commons License.
Posted by soberingnews 
