October 10, 2008: Senator John McCain of Arizona, the Republican nominee for President, takes questions at a town hall-style event in Minneapolis. Gayle Quinnell, a 75-year-old supporter from the suburb of Shakopee, tells him she doesn't trust the Democratic nominee, Senator Barack Obama of Illinois: "He's an Arab."
Barack Obama Sr., the candidate's father, was a native of Kenya, born into a Muslim family, later converted to Anglicanism, and finally became an atheist. Ann Dunham, the candidate's mother, was a native of Kansas, of mostly British Isles descent. Neither had any family connections to ethnic Arabs, or any other Middle Eastern peoples. Nor was either of them, during their lifetimes -- the father dying in a car crash in 1982, the mother of cancer in 1995 -- suspected of criminal activity, including terrorism.
Mrs. Quinnell wasn't lying, because she did not know that she was repeating erroneous information. But it was erroneous. And McCain, who'd heard enough of this kind of crap on the campaign trail, finally decided to say something: "No, ma'am. He's a decent family man, citizens, that I just happen to have disagreements with on fundamental issues."
This reflected what Senator Obama had said about Senator McCain: "It's not that he's a bad man, it's that he just doesn't get it" -- "it" being how Americans who weren't rich were being hurt by Republican policies. Each of those statements was completely fair.
McCain would tell many lies on the campaign trail, and the media usually called him out on them. That had not been the case with outgoing President George W. Bush in 2000 and 2004. It would be the case with Governor Mitt Romney when President Obama ran for re-election in 2012. It would not be the case with Donald Trump in 2016, but that tide turned back in 2020.
But as Obama's Presidency went along, as had been the case with Bill Clinton during his Presidency in the 1990s, the lies got more and more ridiculous. And there were the added cases of race and religion, things Clinton didn't have to deal with. The lies became absolutely sickening. Yet Obama kept his cool through all of it -- at least, in public.
Would Romney, in 2012, have defended Obama against that kind of lie? Maybe. Would Trump, in 2016, have defending Hillary Clinton; or, in 2020, Joe Biden? Oh, hell, no. And until the Republican Party is willing to nominate someone who would defend his Democratic opponent from pernicious lies, instead of someone willing to spread them, they will not deserve to hold power again.
UPDATE: Gayle Quinnell died in 2025.
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October 10, 2008 was a Friday. In Game 1 of the American League Championship Series, the Boston Red Sox beat the Tampa Bay Rays, 2-0 at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida. Daisuke Matsuzaka took a no-hitter into the 7th inning, and he and Jonathan Papelbon combined on a 4-hit shutout. The Rays would win the series in 7 games.
In Game 2 of the National League Division Series, the Philadelphia Phillies beat the Los Angeles Dodgers, 8-5 at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia. Brett Myers was the winning pitcher, and helped his own cause by going 3-for-3 with 3 RBIs. The Phillies would win the series in 5 games, and then beat the Rays in the World Series in 5 games.
Football was in midweek. The NBA season didn't start for another 18 days. There were 6 games played in the NHL:
* In an "Original Six" matchup, the New York Rangers beat the Chicago Blackhawks, 4-2 at Madison Square Garden.
* The New Jersey Devils beat the New York Islanders, 2-1 at the Prudential Center. Patrick Elias put the Devils ahead just 29 seconds into the 2nd period, and they held the lead for the rest of the game.
* The Carolina Hurricanes beat the Florida Panthers, 6-4 at the RBC Center (now the Lenovo Center) in Raleigh.
* The Atlanta Thrashers beat the Washington Capitals, 7-4 at the Philips Arena (now the State Farm Arena) in Atlanta.
* The Buffalo Sabres beat the Montreal Canadiens, 2-1 in a shootout at the HSBC Arena (now the KeyBank Center) in Buffalo.
* The Columbus Blue Jackets beat the Dallas Stars, 5-4 at the American Airlines Center in Dallas. Rick Nash scored the winning goal with just 21 seconds left in overtime.
And in New Jersey high school football, my Alma Mater, East Brunswick, lost to Piscataway, 27-21 at home at Jay Doyle Field.
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