Palin blamed for Obama death threats

Agents of the United States Security Service have squarely blamed Republican vice-presidential candidate, Ms Sarah Palin, for the death threats against the US President-elect, Mr Barack Obama. According to the agents, Ms Palin’s repeated questioning of Mr Obama’s patriotism sparked off the death threats from white supremacists. According to the Telegraph, Ms Palin attracted criticism for accusing Mr Obama of "palling around with terrorists", citing his association with the sixties radical, Mr William Ayers.

The attacks provoked a near lynch mob atmosphere at her rallies, with supporters yelling "terrorist" and "kill him" until the McCain campaign ordered her to tone down the rhetoric. But it has now emerged that her demagogic tone may have unintentionally encouraged white supremacists to go even further. The Secret Service warned the Obama family in mid-October that they had seen a dramatic increase in the number of threats against the Democratic candidate, coinciding with Ms Palin’s attacks.

Ms Michelle Obama, the future First Lady, was so upset that she turned to her friend and campaign adviser Valerie Jarrett and said: "Why would they try to make people hate us?" The revelations, contained in a Newsweek history of the campaign, are likely to further damage Ms Palin’s credentials as a future presidential candidate. She is already a frontrunner, with Louisia- na governor Bobby Jindal, to take on Mr Obama in four years time. Intelligence analysts Stratfor has already warned that Mr Obama is a high risk target for racist gunmen.

"Two plots to assassinate Mr Obama were broken up during the campaign season. We would expect federal autho- rities to uncover many more plots to attack the President that have been hatched by white supremacist ideologues," it said. Aides to Republican presidential candidate, Mr John McCain, blame Ms Palin for losing the election, branding her a "diva" and a "whack job".