Dissent, Then and Now
Patriotic dissent? That’s so last year.
Eight months into Barack Obama’s presidency, as criticism of his administration seems to reach new levels of volume and intensity each week, the whispers among some of his allies are growing louder: That those who loathe the nation’s first African-American president, and especially those who would deny his citizenship, are driven at least in part by racism.
It’s a feeling that’s acutely felt among those supporters of Obama who are themselves minorities. Conversations with Democrats at an otherwise upbeat Democratic National Committee fall gathering here, an event largely devoted to party housekeeping, reflected a growing anger at what many see as a troubling effort to delegitimize Obama’s hold on the office.
“As far as African-Americans are concerned, we think most of it is,” said Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-Texas), when asked in an interview in between sessions how much of the more extreme anger at Obama is based upon his race. “And we think it’s very unfortunate. We as African-American people of course are very sensitive to it.”
It’s not like we didn’t see this coming, but it highlights a serious double-standard among Democrats. Apparently, only they can dissent properly. Criticism of them? Well, there are clearly nefarious undertones going on.
Filed under: Doug • Race Issues
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There ARE nefarious-sounding shenanigans going on. Criticism of Bush got extremely heated but that was because he got us involved in questionable wars where thousands of people were dying and possible war crimes were being committed and torture was happening. On the other hand, Obama walked in to criticism of the same level merely because people disagree with some of his policies. No lives are being taken, no crimes possibly being committed.
The outrage and anger are WAY over wrought given the actions taken. And we know that there ARE some racists out there – how large a role that plays, we don’t know. But Obama is our president, grandly elected by the people and he’s an imperfect president to be sure – not on a par with Bush, but flawed nonetheless – and the overreaction and whinings about socialism and baby killing and nazis and gun banning and “not a ‘merican” – it’s just way overkill and generally nutty.
I don’t think the American people will abide with it much. Oh, don’t worry, there will be no jailings, no beatings, no torture – that’s neocon territory, there. No, we will simply tune out the radical whiners that are the greatest bulk of this tiny minority and arrest the violent ones when they commit crimes after being stirred into action by those warning of socialism and taking guns and gay agendas.
The far right is making itself irrelevant and annoying in the worse possible way.
And we know that there ARE some racists out there – how large a role that plays, we don’t know.
Ah, but Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson has already said she thinks most of it is. It’s handwaving away dissent when you’re the target of it. If dissent is patriotic, it is for both sides.
Defending this country from terrorists shouldn’t be, I would think, a partisan issue. Yes, yes, I know where you’re coming from, but I can frame it another way that makes national defense, a constitutional job of the government, less of a problem than government control of 1/5th of our economy, which is not a constitutional imperative. But the seriousness of the accusation, if that’s all it is, doesn’t mean that one’s patriotic and the other is mostly racist.
That’s just a double-standard. The vast majority of the Tea Party protesters are against government encroachment into areas it has no business in. They have come out against anyone, Democrat or Republican, that is involved in that.
New debts of trillions upon trillions isn’t just “flawed”; it’s irresponsible.