Does anyone doubt that the racism that's been exposed

[pnwmom]

in all the discussions about the police shootings of African American men has a connection to the way our first President has been treated?

By Congress?
By the media?
By many in the public?

When Obama was elected, watching the joy during the inaugural festivities, I was so hopeful that we, as a nation, had turned a significant corner on the racism of our past. But since then it seems almost the opposite. That as happy as it made some of us to live to see the first African American President, others were shocked and disturbed. And we're still living with the backlash.

Obama's citizenship being questioned. His portrayal as being ineffective and incompetent, in the face of determined Republican opposition to his entire agenda. The highest percentage of filibustered bills in history. His wife being mocked for her body shape. His daughters being compared to bar sluts.

In my lifetime, I've never seen a President treated with this degree of disrespect -- not Clinton and not Bush, despite their personal flaws. In the case of Obama, I'm sad to say that I do think racism is involved. Some people never got over the fact that a black man was elected President, and continue to do everything they can to de-legitimize him.

If any of us had any doubts before, by now we should have all realized: despite the election of our first African American President, racism is alive and kicking in the USA. And it has hounded Barack Obama at every turn.

[KamaAina]

1. What was your first clue?

[pnwmom]

3. When Jim DeMint announced that his top legislative priority

was to block anything that the new President proposed.

I'd never heard a Congressional leader say anything like that before, at the very onset of a new President's term of office. There had always been at least a short honeymoon period. But the media hardly reacted. It was as if this was business as usual. At that point, the Republicans and the media seemed to collude to make sure Obama was an ineffectual, one-term President.

And since then what he has accomplished in the face of all that opposition is mostly ignored or denigrated.

[steve2470]

2. big kick and big rec! nt

[summerschild]

4. K&R

[2naSalit]

5. No doubt about it

since before he was even elected. Lest we forget that the wall street crash was like a "f**k You" for being so popular and wanting to correct the results of our enshrined evil thus getting elected... so here's a trashed to the max country, try and fix that!

Now I suspect there's been a gun to his head since he took the oath. Respect, it's one thing - among many - that bigots don't understand while they work like hell to see that nobody is respected.

[Lolita46]

6. Your country has a long way still to go.

And so does mine. (Canada)

[LittleBlue]

7. We already knew much of the right is racist

Nothing I didn't already know back in 2001 when the rightwing nutjobs started calling Muslims "Mohammedans" and suggesting we commit genocide in the Middle East with nukes. "Glass parking lot hurr durr" etc.

[Albertoo]

8. Dunno. I remember GW being routinely mocked and mauled.

The only difference being GW deserved it far more

[jwirr]

10. The real difference was that we were the ones mocking and mauling him and we did not stop

every bill he wanted passed. We were doing it in the hopes that America would wake up. In fact I don't remember stopping anything. The rethugs pretty much got what they wanted regardless of how we felt. Which in the end led to the economic crash.

[pnwmom]

12. No one announced when he became President that they would oppose his whole

legislative program. Only a fraction of his administration's bills were filibustered. And after the attack of 9/11, the Dems put up little opposition to him leading as Commander in Chief.

During the Obama administration, by contrast, other side has consistently acted as if Obama was a temporary interloper who never deserved the office.

[KingCharlemagne]

19. By their behavior they demonstrate their utter disrespect and contempt for

the very notion of majority rule. I disagree with President Obama on many issues and on some mightily. But I always must acknowledge that he won a majority of the popular vote twice and the electoral college twice. That's more than 'W' will ever be able to claim, 200 years from now when the historians are writing their histories.

[Mira]

14. He was mocked and mauled for causes

for general Dumb Assery, for lack of Competence, inability to speak coherently, for passing the power of the office on to the devil himself aka Dick Cheney, for starting the longest war we have ever been involved in (Afghanistan) and for lying to the country and deceiving many into a war where over 4000 Americans got killed (and close to a million Iraqis were displaced and killed), for destabilizing the Middle East, for being so laughable a leader the whole world found him, and therefore us, ridiculous.

How does that compare to President Obama being disrespected from the get-go and finding a purposeful absence of cooperation and no willingness for the Republicans to participate in governing? Where they would rather let the country suffer on all fronts than to acknowledge a twice (properly - not fraudulently) elected President.

I am choking on my supper, so I best stop, I would like for my supper to stay down.



Do you see the Presidential Seals on GWBushes Boots?
Can you conceive of such a disgusting display of childish dick-ish behavior from President Obama? I think the monkey faces are a mild rebuke (and the likenesses are spectacular) for such a sorry excuse for a supposed leader.

[MsLeopard]

16. Brava!

Well said!

[uponit7771]

17. Yeap, Bush did things to earn mocking by humans. Obama isn't perfect but he doesn't deserve what

... he's getting now

[rbrnmw]

9. you are so right about this

and many African Americans are being targeted because they can't get to POTUS Barack Obama I am not blaming the President I blame closet racists and out in the open racists

[Blue_Tires]

11. Others have noticed this connection as well...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10025924174

[tclambert]

13. I just heard black dogs are less likely to get adopted at the shelter.

Yes, that's right, we're even racist about DOGS! I found that particularly depressing. What is wrong with human beings?

[KingCharlemagne]

20. As are black cats. As the adoptive parents of a rescued black kitty, I have to tell you

that black cats are really not much different from any other cat (aside from being a bit more skittish around Halloween, part of their charm

[Maineman]

15. Mocking of George W was not racist.

And, yes, treatment of President Obama and his family has been really, really ugly. Sad, disgusting, despicable. Makes me want to puke. (PS I am white).

[onecaliberal]

18. To deny that is to deny reality.

[rurallib]

21. I am amazed by the total denial of reality by the right to make Obama look bad

and the total acceptance and support for this by half the country and most of the media.

They deny:
stock market run up
millions of jobs added to the economy
slowing of health care costs
millions of newly covered for health care
the ending of "pre-existing conditions" and denial of insurance claims (at least way slowed down)

The list goes on quite a ways.

But half the country and most of the media must deny all of this and more and live in a world that doesn't exist because of the racism toward one man.