Let’s run the tape again:

Questioner: “He’s an Arab.”

McCain: “No, he’s decent.”

The candidate’s response manifested in headlines like “McCain tamps down hostility” and “McCain calms supporters.”

It took respected pollster James Zogby to cry foul and declare “I am an Arab and a decent man.”

We are left to infer that an Arab man is less then a “decent family man.” Enough is enough! From the beginning of this campaign there have been those who have used Muslim and Arab in an effort to smear Barak Obama. This exploitation of bigotry and the stoking of racist fires to forward an agenda is reprehensible. This is not only offensive to the Arab Americans, but to all Americans. As any ethnic group who has ever been used to scare the electorate knows, this is a dangerous game that tragically can ends with innocent people being hurt.

And while We are pleased to see that the senator is trying to dispel rumors about Senator Obama, but we feel the need to point out that Arab Americans are also decent men and women with the full rights of citizenship as enumerated under the constitution. Arab Americans are part of the great melting pot that is this country’s strength. We work towards peace in the Middle East along side our Jewish partners. We raise our sons and daughters to be model citizens of this nation. We serve this country with honor. The suggestion that any ethnic group is treacherous and Anti-American is unacceptable, dangerous, and unbecoming of such a great nation.

If you missed the exchange (doubtful, I know) here it is again from our friends at The Uptake:

UPDATED  Ana Marie Cox heard “Arab terrorist.” Josh Marshall is reserving judgment now hears only “Arab.” And The Uptake offers a post-game interview with the speaker herself. But one way to judge whether the woman at the Oct. 10 rally in Lakeville, Minn., told Sen. John McCain that Sen. Barack Obama is (merely) “an Arab” or (alternatively) “an Arab terrorist” is to watch video clips from the event for the reactions of people in the crowd who could see her speaking.

See for yourself in videos after the jump, including The Uptake’s subtitled interview with McCain’s interlocutor (campaign volunteer Gayle Quinnell of Shakopee, Minn.) in which she cites the source of her Obama information: an inflammatory flyer circulating at McCain’s local HQ.

Zapruder-like analysis of videos shot from a couple angles reveals a short span of time after the word “Arab” is uttered in which no more is audible but no one yet reacts — a moment long enough for the word “terrorist” to have been mouthed, even if it wasn’t picked up on-mic. The world seems to wait a beat … and then at least two women in the audience visibly react to what they just heard (or saw) being said — whatever it was. (Then McCain offers his “No, he’s a decent man” non-sequiter, but that’s another story.)

The Uptake’s video clip from event and later interview:

The Uptake video, with subtitles (transcript here):

TPM’s clip montage:

TPM’s new clip showing speaker’s face:

Ana Marie Cox has updated her original post to say that after seeing the video (that shows the speaker from behind), she has concluded it doesn’t bear out what she thought she heard the speaker say at the scene: “Arab terrorist.” She notes, however, that the interview video suggests that “terrorist” is indeed on the lips of this McCain backer.

Independent School District 194, which serves Lakeville, southern Burnsville and Elko, warns that severe budget cuts will be necessary if the three levy referendums on the ballot this November fail.

Failure of the first two questions on the ballot would require “a combination of reductions in programs, staff and services and increases in some fee areas that represent a $7.1 million adjustment to the 2008-09 school district budget,” the district said in a statement.

The district would eliminate grade-five band, fall and spring intramural activities at both high schools and both schools’ competition cheerleading programs.  It would also be forced to eliminate 21.7 classroom teachers, leading to a teacher-to-pupil ratio of one to 27 in kindergarten, one to 31 in grades two and three and 1 to 35 in grades four and five.

The district would also eliminate 16.5 middle school and 17.1 high school teachers, and roughly two dozen media specialists, counselors, gifted specialists and administrators.

Additionally, the district would increase student parking fees, raise participation fees in high school athletics by over 50 percent and eliminate busing for students who live within a two-mile walk from their elementary school, up from four-fifths of a mile today.

The district says that if all three questions pass, a $300,000 home would see a total first year tax increase of $283.

Lakeville is just one of several districts seeking increased funding this year.  Sixteen school districts throughout the state are seeking additional funding this fall, including two of the districts that border Lakeville, District 191 (Burnsville-Eagan-Savage) and District 721 (New Prague).