Dana Millbank wants to make clear that Palin rallies have devolved into French Terror levels of mob mentality:

“Palin’s routine attacks on the media have begun to spill into ugliness. In Clearwater, arriving reporters were greeted with shouts and taunts by the crowd of about 3,000. Palin then went on to blame Katie Couric’s questions for her ‘less-than-successful interview with kinda mainstream media.’ At that, Palin supporters turned on reporters in the press area, waving thunder sticks and shouting abuse. Others hurled obscenities at a camera crew. One Palin supporter shouted a racial epithet at an African American sound man for a network and told him, ‘Sit down, boy.’”

The first and second half of that paragraph only tangentially related to one another; by placing them together, he subtly implies Palin’s endorsement (or, at least, toleration) of casual racism. Solid city, y’all. Althouse gloriously shoots the defeatist train of thought down:

“The press will find that one guy who ’shouted a racial epithet’ and called a black man ‘boy.’ (Do we really know that guy is a Palin supporter and not a dirty trickster?) Look out, Sarah, if you inspire noise from the crowd, the press will choose which words to report. You might want to keep them soothed and calm. [...] If Palin excites the crowd, the press will listen hard for the nastiest remark. She’d better rein it in then, Milbank hints, or the press will keep hearing these things and calling her ugly. She needs to be more like McCain and back out of the states that the polls show they are losing. Obama has won the election, and it’s long past time for the little lady from Alaska to accept defeat gracefully.”

Meanwhile, Kleinheider links up to a BBC reporter encountering a little ugly racism on the streets of Music City. With the AP accusing Palin of racism completely out of left field, the Kristol interview that Jeremiah Wright should come back into play, and the debate’s arrival in the solidly red Tennessee (as opposed to equally Southern, but far more Democratic leaning Mississippi), I wonder if this week race will play out once more, at least in the press.

Fortunately, Palin can handle a heckler firmly and awesomely, via Hot Air.

Bless your heart: Everybody’s favorite Southern curse! Palin can defend herself, contrary to what Millbank might say; the interviews and SNL skits have created a hard to shake impression, if she goes out fighting over the last four weeks, she will at the very least permanently forge amongst the base her conservative folk hero status. Fight on.

Katherine Miller is a junior in the College of Arts & Science. She blogs daily at Right-Wing Vitriol.