The thread “The Religion of the President” is a great thread. If you haven’t, you should all read for context for post 54, where X destroys Dr. Fate’s argument.
The President gets a lot of flack and a lot of it is deserved. He’s done some dumb things and he has completely reneged on a lot of commitments. Yeah, he’s been dealt a difficult hand, but that goes with the territory.
But a lot of flack he gets, in my opinion, is simply because he’s black. Probably my proudest moment as an American was the day a black man was elected to be president. I never thought it would happen in my lifetime. I knew Obama was leading in the polls, but I thought people were lying to pollsters, and that when they entered the voting booth, the fear of the other would overtake them and they’d vote for the white guy. The fact that places like Indiana went Obama said to me that maybe, maybe the country had been changing for the better faster than I could see.
Arguments like those expressed in that Religion thread, however, the birther silliness, and a lot of the cheap shots we’ve seen, I think arise out of a discomfort many people have with a black man as president. If racism is a fear of the other, Obama is so other.
But then there is what Minister X said in the last part of that thread. There he writes:
Playing to the basest of emotions will only take a Republican candidate so far. I’m sure it’s tempting because the positive feedback loop is so strong, but what they will lose are people who see such fear-mongering for what it is, and the Republican’s are going to need those people to get elected.
The President gets a lot of flack and a lot of it is deserved. He’s done some dumb things and he has completely reneged on a lot of commitments. Yeah, he’s been dealt a difficult hand, but that goes with the territory.
But a lot of flack he gets, in my opinion, is simply because he’s black. Probably my proudest moment as an American was the day a black man was elected to be president. I never thought it would happen in my lifetime. I knew Obama was leading in the polls, but I thought people were lying to pollsters, and that when they entered the voting booth, the fear of the other would overtake them and they’d vote for the white guy. The fact that places like Indiana went Obama said to me that maybe, maybe the country had been changing for the better faster than I could see.
Arguments like those expressed in that Religion thread, however, the birther silliness, and a lot of the cheap shots we’ve seen, I think arise out of a discomfort many people have with a black man as president. If racism is a fear of the other, Obama is so other.
But then there is what Minister X said in the last part of that thread. There he writes:
Americans will catch on sooner or later. I hope the Republican candidate for Prez in 2012 realizes that, and rises above this sort of thing. One can focus on Obama's policies and official performance and make a good case he should be replaced. I'll vote for a Republican who does that; I will not vote for one who lowers him- or herself to baseless fear-mongering. I hope I'm not alone in that.
Playing to the basest of emotions will only take a Republican candidate so far. I’m sure it’s tempting because the positive feedback loop is so strong, but what they will lose are people who see such fear-mongering for what it is, and the Republican’s are going to need those people to get elected.