What else can we expect? Really. When you start invoking the spectre of terrorism - or, more specifically, when you infer that your opponent "palls around with terrorists" - it's only a matter of time before your followers take that hatred to its obvious logical conclusion.

The traditional media may be slow to call a spade a spade, by describing such rallies - where people have been heard to shout "kill him", "bomb Obama", and where a black filmer was told, "Sit down, boy" to his face - as full of "energy" and "passion".

But we know better. Our nation's history of assassinations, lynch mobs and racial terrorism were all predicated on the same hate-based populism: the "othering" of a person or group on the basis of who they are or what they believe.

The sobering truth is that even once Obama wins, his administration may be opposed (and perhaps violently targeted) by these domestic terrorists for years to come. I retain my hope that our country can outgrow these destructive tendancies; but the growing pains will undoubtedly be long and brutal.