Posted on 09/17/2009 3:59:21 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
The lack of respect for President Obama is bigotry and intolerance in its purest form. The debates about health care and education are defining the role of the far right-wing media in U.S. society.
How did Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, Bill O’Reilly, Sean Hannity and other so-called journalist and broadcasters in mainstream media get it so wrong? What the conservative media and many elected officials on the “right”are doing is easy to understand.
The right continues to disseminate their false arguments as facts over the airwaves. They, along with many conservative Republicans and some members of the Democratic Party, are promoting the opposition to the president’s plan for health care reform and his blueprint for education through bigotry, plain and simple. Their agenda is to confuse the public and distort his message with propaganda.
South Carolina Republican Rep. Joe Wilson, during the president’s joint message to Congress called Mr. Obama a liar, and Fox News commentator Glenn Beck said he believes President Barack Obama is a racist.
Do Hannity and Wilson respect the president as the holder of the highest office in the land and the most powerful man in the world, or just a Black man whom they have no reason to respect?
Have they ever asked themselves what are the defining characteristics of being “White” or “Black” in America today? Is it solely a matter of skin color? Probably in their eyes, Mr. Obama is linked to the only group to have involuntarily immigrated to the United States, and have been forcibly stripped of its culture, not realizing that African or Black Americans has as a group yet to receive its fair share of the American Dream. In my opinion, they have racially stereotyped the president of the United States.
Unfortunately, racial stereotypes are still alive and well in this country despite progressive steps to eliminate it. But the media and many politicians as well, consistently use negative images to portray African-Americans. These stereotypes are not accurate and African-Americans are unfairly and unrealistically portrayed on television and other forms of media.
Among the responsibilities of journalists and politicians is to meaningful link persons of African descent accurately to their ancestral past, but what have we seen during Mr. Obama’s short term in office? We have witnessed a conspiracy by members in the media and many conservatives to disrupt town hall meetings, force media outlets to cover the Tea Parties, investigate President Obama’s birth certificate, and attack public officials and Obama supporters.
Mr. Obama’s presidency is historical and it is a defining role in the growth of the country. It highlights one of the many contributions of Black Americans that have influenced our culture, enriched our society and is shaping the history of the United States. So how can the right be so wrong?
I would like President Obama to remember a poem by Langston Hughes:
I, too, sing America.
I am the darker brother. They send me to eat in the kitchen when company comes,
But I laugh, and eat well, and grow strong.
Tomorrow, I’ll be at the table when company comes.
Nobody’ll dare say to me, “Eat in the kitchen,”
Then, besides, they’ll see how beautiful I am, and be ashamed—
I, too, am America.
********
I can be reached by e-mail at: berhay@swbell.net This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Hotep!
But I'll bet this clown thought it was a hoot when former President Bush was depicted as a chimp.
Oh give me a break. What bs.
“...Mr. Obama is linked to the only group to have involuntarily immigrated to the United States...”
How so? Mr. Obama is not the son or grandson of slaves.
Actually, given Obama’s Muslim heritage, he could very well be descended from those Africans who sold other Africans into slavery.
Nope, it is pure horse shit, I am unfamiliar with the term shite.
There was a thread a few days ago discussing a poll that found 58% of blacks felt that the news media was overly critical of the Zero...makes one question just how widespread the hate values expressed in this article are amongst ethnic minorities.
Below is a quote from Mr. Jimmy Carter affirming the accusation in this article - that racism is behind the criticism of Mr. Obama.
“When a radical fringe element of demonstrators and others begin to attack the president of the United States as an animal or as a reincarnation of Adolf Hitler or when they wave signs in the air that said we should have buried Obama with Kennedy, those kinds of things are beyond the bounds.
I think people who are guilty of that kind of personal attack against Obama have been influenced to a major degree by a belief that he should not be president because he happens to be African American.
It’s a racist attitude, and my hope is and my expectation is that in the future both Democratic leaders and Republican leaders will take the initiative in condemning that kind of unprecedented attack on the president of the United States.”
I wonder where Mr. Carter was for the last 8 years (I ask, rhetorically) when worse language was directed at Mr. Bush by angry left wing protesters on a regular basis.
Let’s rewrite his quote to see how much sense it makes if he were to apply the same logic to the criticism of Bush during his presidency.
“When a radical fringe element of demonstrators and others begin to attack the president of the United States as a vampire or as Adolf Hitler or when they wave signs in the air that said we should assassinate Bush or they burn him in effigy, those kinds of things are beyond the bounds.
I think people who are guilty of that kind of personal attack against Bush have been influenced to a major degree by a belief that he should not be president because he happens to be the race he is.
“It’s a racist attitude, and my hope is and my expectation is that in the future both Democratic leaders and Republican leaders will take the initiative in condemning that kind of unprecedented attack on the president of the United States.”
Of course this makes no sense and the Democrats and their allies current practice of labeling Obama’s critics as racists is a VERY dangerous path to embark upon. Many in the news media are gleefully egging on anyone who makes these accusations (admittedly, there are some who have enough sense to abstain from it) and they are adding fuel and air to an already smoldering fire.
I predict this will backfire on them, but it’s very possible the outcome will be one that will be costly to the entire country.
[Conservatives mean language recently almost made Pelosi cry today!]
I hope to see a repeat of her sniffling and sobbing on a particular night in November 2010.
FWIW, this is a black paper. Used to be a major black paper in the country, decades ago.
"...Mr. Obama is linked to the only group to have involuntarily immigrated to the United States..."
How so? Mr. Obama is not the son or grandson of slaves.
No, but he's pro-abortion and pro-"gay," and that makes him an honorary grandson of slaves (whereas actual grandsons of slaves who aren't pro-abortion or pro-"gay" are "inauthentic").
I second the motion....
[Among the responsibilities of journalists and politicians is to meaningful link persons of African descent accurately to their ancestral past, but what have we seen during Mr. Obama’s short term in office?]
Now just a minute. Before the election, when Republicans tried to link Obama with his past, we were told this was out of bounds and the media agreed. The public was told to ignore everything about Obama before he became a Senator as it was irrelevant. So this “journalist” is griping now that Obama is president because the public is judging him on his policies in office.
To say this is intellectually dishonest would be an understatement of hugh proportions.
It’s amazing to see O’s base crumbling so fast.
“Hey guys! Remember who you hate so much! They’ll win if you leave me!”
They call me a racist because I believe that the federal government should not be in charge of the health system.
They call me a racist because I do not want the federal government to tax us into bankruptcy.
I am a racist because I truly believe that socialism is a most parasitic form of government. It doesn't matter who my friends are. Where I live. Who I work with. Or what my heart and mind is about. I don't think the racism charge will hold water. What's the next charge, mental illness?
Meanwhile, those that hate me because I'm white are given a pass.
What's wrong with this picture?
I’ve watched politics for 30 years. I don’t think I’ve ever seen such a pathetic ploy as this racism thing the libs have launched the last week. Keep it up, lefties.
Bull freaking shiite, Bernie. And BTW, Obama has an ancestor who fought in the American Revolution. So we oppose his white side and how can that be racist?
“No confetti. All right, go race cards, go race cards. We need more race cards. All race cards! All race cards! Keep going! Come on, guys, lets move it. Jesus! We need more race cards. I want all race cards to go, goddammit. Go confetti. Go confetti. More confetti. I want more race cards. What's happening to the race cards? We need more race cards.
“We need all of them coming down. Go race cards- race cards? What's happening race cards? There's not enough coming down! All race cards, what the hell! There's nothing falling! What the f*** are you guys doing up there? We want more race cards coming down, more race cards. More race cards. More race cards”
Carter got them going. They’re playing up the race card big time, except it is not going to work.
Let me guess, this guy belongs to the group with dark skin pigments?From Pittsburh no less. The town that threw batteries at Dave Parker in right field when the Pirates were contenders.
Zero has more arab blood than black. Arabs were a large part of the slave trade, capturing and selling. Therefore Zero’s ancestor’s have more to anwer for than most Americans.
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