In multiple previous posts I have mentioned hateful political rhetoric and it's harmful effects on the unity of this great nation. Again I want to acknowledge that no one group or segment of the population has a monopoly on hate speech. Almost every political party is guilty of it in some form or another. More importantly the results are always the same. Tempers flare, fuel is added to the fire, and we are all distracted from the real issues. Discussions and productive policy debates devolve into third grade name calling and shouting matches. This from the people that we elect to lead our nation!
Since the opposition party is generally the ones spewing the most rhetoric it is the Republicans that are currently guilty of fanning the flames. As a nation our patience with idiots who are more concerned with political gamesmanship and getting re-elected than doing their job as civil servants is sickening. In no other profession would people who so callously disregard their duties and the call to leadership be allowed to keep their job, except maybe CEOs on Wall Street.
The Republicans have become the party of no. That is their answer to every initiative or policy that the Democrats propose. Saying no in and of itself isnt bad. As the opposition party their should be tension and disagreement. But use that tension as a catalyst for open and prodductive debate so that the policies that our government enacts are fair to both sides and in turn best for the nation's people. Instead of offering policy alternatives, Republican leaders turn to racism and hate speech, asserting that Obama is a "closet muslim" a socialist, communist or whatever. If it has a negative connotation then they have probably used it in reference to Obama. But what about the really inflammatory statements? Why is no one getting upset about that?
Yesterday Texas Governor Rick Perry had this to say, "We've got a great union. There's absolutely no reason to dissolve it. But if Washington continues to thumb their nose at the American people, you know, who knows what might come out of that." Actually no dude I don't know what you are talking about. But if I had to guess, it sounds like you want to secede. Maybe he needs to be told that such talk is treason, hateful, stupid and a million other negative things. Maybe he needs a history lesson, because his predecessors already tried 140 years ago and failed, with great loss of life on both sides I might add. Does he really want war? So its ok when a Republican idiot is screwing over the country but as soon as a black man is elected commander in chief then its time to call it quits and leave? Where were the calls for secession when Clinton was elected president, or FDR. They are just as socialist, marxist, hatever you want to call it as Obama supposedly is. The man has been in office for four months and people already want to start a war.
source: http://news.yahoo.com/s/uc/20090417/cm_uc_crsesx/op_399701;_ylt=Aqypa6s1LwDRzkulfF2ZUnr9wxIF
Now to be fair, it is all a political act. The Texas governor is going to be up for re-election soon and he is trying to make headlines by opposing the federal government. That is not a new political trick. But while no one in the political world is taking his comments seriously there could be members of the general populace that are. I already reported on right wing extremism and the potential threat to national security that it poses in a previous post. What kind of a message does such rhetoric send to these nutjobs? When will people stop and realize that words have power and meaning? The Texas governor just made public comments about starting a second civil war, no sane or intelligent person would ever do that.
But wait it gets better. Republicans are so inflamed over Democrat spending and the federal budget that on tax day they organized "tea parties" to protest unfair taxation. This hearkens back to the orignal Boston Tea party in the late 1700's that was an act of defiance by American patriots protesting unfair British taxation. However that is where the similarities stop. The colonials rightly asserted that they were being taxed unfairly, America had no seats in Parliament and was therefore excluded from the political process. The Republicans on the other hand have a fair shot at getting elected. The general public just doesn't want them in power anymore, as teh 2006 and woo8 election results clearly show.
It is their right to demonstrate and protest. As a matter of fact I encourage it. As the eternal blowhard Rush Limbaugh said, any attempt to widen the electorate and public involvement in the political process is a noble one (if only he believed his own words). But when the protests involve racism, fear mongering and hatred then I have a problem. It is one thing to dissent and to disagree, it is another thing to be a bigot. Lets have a look at some of the protestors home made signs...
Hang em high! (this can only be a reference to lynching and Obama, my blood boils over such blatant racism and hatred)
Show us your real birth certificate (again following the already debunked Republican myth that Obama is somehow un-American which even if true would mean nothing because a non-American could probably run the country better than any of these idiots.)
The American Tax Payers are the the Jews for Obama's ovens (this is my favorite one. It really shows the class and humanity of the person that wrote it. First of all it is repulsive that someone would exploit a genocide of millions of innocent people in order to try and make connections to a completely unrelated current political event. This person's logic is a flawed as their personality. Jews and all people that actually have a heart should be offended by such a statement. Oh and it keeps up the stupid and completely wrong connection between socialism, Hitler and Obama. OBAMA IS NOT HITLER. Stop comparing are president to one of the most sadistic and cruel human beings ever to walk the face of this Earth. What genocide has Obama ordered lately? None, remember that the next time to see Obama and Hitler comparisons.)
source: http://news.yahoo.com/s/thenation/20090417/cm_thenation/15427881;_ylt=Aqdyg9KZG8shxB9ciYwp1CH9wxIF
Again while none of this is new, it is offensive and horrible display of just how despicable people can be. If you are having economic troubles then I sympathize with you, but guess what, everyone else is suffering too. Your pain, anger, or different beliefs don't give you the right to insult the rest of America with your bigotry. People always ask how intolerance, racism, and violence lasted openly for so long in this country. I think we've found our answer. It is time for all sides to end the racist and or hate rhetoric now!
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