There's been loads of talk this week about Sarah Palin's accusation that Barack Obama is "palling around with terrorists." And now the party faithful are picking up the charge.

Palin was referring to Obama's connection to William Ayers, a 1960s radical and leader of the Weather Underground, a group that placed bombs in locations such as the Pentagon and U.S. Capitol to protest the Vietnam War. But some supporters are taking the accusation to a new level.

In a video filmed by an Obama supporter, some Republicans gathered at a rally in the swing state of Ohio said Obama is a terrorist himself:

Clearly, Tim Russo of the liberal Blogger Interrupted is trying to goad his subjects. And certainly, it is quite unlikely that the majority of even Obama's fiercest critics would be willing to go as far as to call him a terrorist. But at the same time, the charge of associating with terrorists is getting Republican crowds fired up. At an event this week, Republican nominee John McCain asked - rhetorically - "Who is the real Barack Obama?" A supporter can be heard answering "Terrorist!"



There's even a US Secret Service investigation into a shout of "kill him!" at a Republican rally, although it's not clear if the shouter is referring to Obama or Ayers.

While McCain and Palin have focused on the connection to Ayers, some supporters have hinted darkly that Obama is connected to more modern terrorists, and that he is secretly a Muslim who may sympathize with some of the nation's enemies. The rumors and whispers, many of which have been circulating by email for some time, led the Obama campaign to create a Web site just to answer them.

Certainly, both parties have supporters who would say or even do things that neither candidate would want or advocate. The campaigns have also had to battle at least the usual amounts of petty vandalism on both sides.

The conservative blog American Thinker reports that roughly half of all Republican yard signs have been destroyed or defaced throughout the state's capital, Olympia. And the blog also has the story of a family whose McCain signs were stolen or destroyed so often that had to create their own:

These homemade signs include messages for any would-be vandals:

In the sign, 15-year-old Kelda writes, "You don't win an argument by muzzling your opponent."  

It's a message some on both sides would do well to heed.