The lies about him, though, are endless and come from the top (Pubs, pundits) down to brainwashed ignoramuses....because they have to be distracted from Pub stands on the issues which just pander to the rich and giant corporations. see sig.
But no president in our nation's history has ever been castigated, condemned, mocked, insulted, derided and degraded on a scale even close to the constantly ugly attacks on Obama. From the day he assumed office — indeed, even before he assumed office — he was subjected to unprecedented insults in often the most hateful terms.
Obama and respect for America
He has been accused of being a "secret Muslim" and born in Kenya, of being complicit with the Muslim Brotherhood, of wearing a ring bearing a secret verse from the Quran, of having once been a Black Panther, of refusing to recite the Pledge of Allegiance, of seeking to confiscate all guns, of lying about just about everything he has ever said, ranging from Benghazi to the Affordable Care Act to immigration, of faking Osama bin Laden's death and of funding his campaigns with drug money.
It goes on and on and on. Even the president's family is treated by his political enemies with disrespect and disdain.
cComments
117
If one browses even respectable websites, one can readily find bumper stickers, coffee cups and T-shirts for sale with such messages as: "Dump This Turd" (with an image of Obama); "Coward! You Left Them To Die in Benghazi" (with an image of Obama); "Somewhere in Kenya A Village Is Missing Its Idiot" (with an image of Obama); "Islam's Trojan Horse" (with an image of Obama); "Pure Evil" (with an image of Obama); "I'm Not A Racist: I Hate His White Half Too" (with an image of Obama); "He Lies!" (with an image of Obama); and on and on and on.
Now don't get me wrong. Every one of these messages is protected by the First Amendment, and people have a right to express their views, even in harsh, offensive, cruel and moronic ways. We the People do not need to trust or admire our leaders, and we should not treat them with respect if we don't feel they deserve our respect. But the sheer vituperation directed at this president goes beyond any rational opposition and is, quite frankly, mind-boggling.
In part, of course, this might just be a product of our times. Perhaps the quality of our public discourse has sunk so low that any public official must now expect such treatment. Perhaps any president elected in 2008 would have been greeted with similar scorn and disdain. But, to be honest, that seems unlikely.
Of course, there are those who say that this phenomenon is due in part, perhaps in large part, to the fact that Obama is African-American. But surely racism is dead in America today, right?
One fact that might lend some credence to the theory that racism has something to do with the tenor of the attacks on Obama is that only one other president in our history has been the target of similar (though more subdued) personal attacks.
In his day, this president was castigated by the press and his political opponents as a "liar," a "despot," a "usurper," a "thief," a "monster," a "perjurer," an "ignoramus," a "swindler," a "tyrant," a "fiend," a "coward," a "buffoon," a "butcher," a "pirate," a "devil" and a "king." He was charged with being "cunning," "thickheaded," "heartless," "filthy" and "fanatical." He was accused of behaving "like a thief in the night," of being "the miserable tool of traitors and rebels," and of being "adrift on a current of racial fanaticism."
He was labeled by his enemies "Abraham Africanus the First."
But, of course, race had nothing to do with it then either.
Tribune Content Agency
Geoffrey R. Stone is a law professor at the University of Chicago.
Copyright © 2014, Chicago Tribune
But no president in our nation's history has ever been castigated, condemned, mocked, insulted, derided and degraded on a scale even close to the constantly ugly attacks on Obama. From the day he assumed office — indeed, even before he assumed office — he was subjected to unprecedented insults in often the most hateful terms.
Obama and respect for America
He has been accused of being a "secret Muslim" and born in Kenya, of being complicit with the Muslim Brotherhood, of wearing a ring bearing a secret verse from the Quran, of having once been a Black Panther, of refusing to recite the Pledge of Allegiance, of seeking to confiscate all guns, of lying about just about everything he has ever said, ranging from Benghazi to the Affordable Care Act to immigration, of faking Osama bin Laden's death and of funding his campaigns with drug money.
It goes on and on and on. Even the president's family is treated by his political enemies with disrespect and disdain.
cComments
- Doc McGee The author has to look no further than these comments to prove his premise. It is not possible to have discussions on race with white Americans when so few of you know just how racist you really are.
LMBROKE
AT 10:07 AM DECEMBER 12, 2014
117
If one browses even respectable websites, one can readily find bumper stickers, coffee cups and T-shirts for sale with such messages as: "Dump This Turd" (with an image of Obama); "Coward! You Left Them To Die in Benghazi" (with an image of Obama); "Somewhere in Kenya A Village Is Missing Its Idiot" (with an image of Obama); "Islam's Trojan Horse" (with an image of Obama); "Pure Evil" (with an image of Obama); "I'm Not A Racist: I Hate His White Half Too" (with an image of Obama); "He Lies!" (with an image of Obama); and on and on and on.
Now don't get me wrong. Every one of these messages is protected by the First Amendment, and people have a right to express their views, even in harsh, offensive, cruel and moronic ways. We the People do not need to trust or admire our leaders, and we should not treat them with respect if we don't feel they deserve our respect. But the sheer vituperation directed at this president goes beyond any rational opposition and is, quite frankly, mind-boggling.
In part, of course, this might just be a product of our times. Perhaps the quality of our public discourse has sunk so low that any public official must now expect such treatment. Perhaps any president elected in 2008 would have been greeted with similar scorn and disdain. But, to be honest, that seems unlikely.
Of course, there are those who say that this phenomenon is due in part, perhaps in large part, to the fact that Obama is African-American. But surely racism is dead in America today, right?
One fact that might lend some credence to the theory that racism has something to do with the tenor of the attacks on Obama is that only one other president in our history has been the target of similar (though more subdued) personal attacks.
In his day, this president was castigated by the press and his political opponents as a "liar," a "despot," a "usurper," a "thief," a "monster," a "perjurer," an "ignoramus," a "swindler," a "tyrant," a "fiend," a "coward," a "buffoon," a "butcher," a "pirate," a "devil" and a "king." He was charged with being "cunning," "thickheaded," "heartless," "filthy" and "fanatical." He was accused of behaving "like a thief in the night," of being "the miserable tool of traitors and rebels," and of being "adrift on a current of racial fanaticism."
He was labeled by his enemies "Abraham Africanus the First."
But, of course, race had nothing to do with it then either.
Tribune Content Agency
Geoffrey R. Stone is a law professor at the University of Chicago.
Copyright © 2014, Chicago Tribune
