It has been a very interesting week. Lots of news to cover, and as usual, I'm not covering any of it. Instead, what I will do, is comment on something I saw recently, without edit, notes, re-writes, etc. This is just me, one man, commenting, questioning, thinking. Here we go :)
Former President Jimmy Carter thinks that racism is alive and growing in America. Wow. Really?! Also, recently, anyone disagreeing with our current President Obama, is called a racist right away, as if that dismisses the opposing viewpoint. Which leads me to my question. Here it is.
Is calling a person who disagrees with another person racist, only because the two people are different colors, make the disagreeable person a racist? Or to put it another way, perhaps more plainly, is it degrading to call someone who disagrees with President Obama a racist?
Now, before you stop reading, and please don't, I want to share my thoughts with you, does it cheapen a person like the President Of The United States to say that the only thing that stands out about them is their color?
I was floored when I first heard someone who disagreed with President Obama called a racist. To be absolutely frank I was worried and even scared! "Wow, " I thought, " so if I disagree with this person on anything, I run the risk of being called a racist." Okay. I can deal with that. I'm not going to get into my ethnicity or my background, that doesn't enter into this discussion, the point of which is to ask the question I posed above. Lets break the question down.
We have a new President. That happens every four or eight years, depending on whats going on in the nation, which of the two major parties runs the House and Senate, whether or not we are at war and a myriad of other factors. Personally, I think it has to do with who can sling the best mud, while answering the least amount of questions, but I'll save that for another blog post. So, we have a new president, President Barack Obama. He has certain views that on their surface seem like rational, and helpful. Real salt-of-the-earth, love-your-neighbor type views. Good, those are honorable pursuits in my book. But lets not look at his views just yet, lets look at the man first, and then we will get into his views.
Barack Hussein Obama. ( I got the following from good ole wikipedia! )
- B.A. Columbia University (major in political science specialized in international relations)
- Director, Developing Communities Project
- Consultant, Instructor Garmaliel Foundation
- Editor Harvard Law Review (after only one year there! Now thats tough!)
- President Harvard Law Review (second year there! again, wow...double tough)
- Summer Associate at several Chicago Law firms (its in the wiki article, read it)
- Graduated Harvard J.D. Magna Cum Laude 1991
- Directed Project Vote in Illinois
- Professor of Constitutional Law, University of Chicago Law School
- (There are a few other things that he did in the private sector, there in the wiki, the above is already a heavy-handed list of accomplishments that are extraordinary. )
- Illinois State Legislator 1997 - 2004
- United States Senator Illinois 2005 - 2008
- And last but certainly not least....President Of The United States Of America!
Wow. That is one impressive body of work. I don't care who you are, that takes a level of dedication and perseverance that few of us ever see. He is an accomplished man. And, still, with ALL of these accomplishments, and more, since I didn't take the time to list them all (I'm not selling him to you, just making a point), after ALL that, the hard work, late nights, long drives, lonely study binges, all that people can pick out, is that he's black? REALLY!?!?!
So, after all that hard work, whenever someone says, "Hey, Mr. President, I think we can do things better this way." or "Mr. President, your views are socialst." "Your views are marxist." Or one of the funnier ones to me, because I fully embrace the 1st amendment, "You Lie!" After all his accomplishments, you can ONLY come back with, "Racist!" Wow, now THAT is degrading to the President if you ask me. Degrading.
Say what you want about the president. Call him out on his viewpoints, circle-of-friends, plans, choice of suit color, his books (he wrote two by the way) or whatever else you want. YOU AREN'T THE RACIST! The ones who can only see his color, the majority of which I hear coming from the 'Left' are the racists. They are the ones who are obsessed with his color, not YOU.
SO..There you have it. My question, observation, and hopefully the answer. What do you think? In the interest of full-disclosure, I dislike a lot of the president's views. Personally however, I think he has made some great accomplishments. I am judging the content of his character, NOT the color of his skin, Thank You Mr. Martin Luther King Jr!!! I'll save my difference of political views for another post. But for now know this, disagree all you want with his political positions. Do NOT fear someone pulling the race card out on you, as I'm sure they will. Just remember that when they do, they are the ones noticing the color of his skin. Of course, I guess since they know their position is baseless, thats all they have left.
Cheers!
-Rob
P.S. As usual I'm not going to go back and read this. I never do. I think that way it stays as honest as it was when it was a thought in my brain. I don't dress it up for you. It is what it is. I am who I am. And we are Americans GOD BLESS YOU, GOD BLESS AMERICA!
