@firefly,
firefly wrote:
I think very little of the real hatred, and the profound distrust and suspiciousness of Obama, has to do with a differing set of beliefs. Obama's political ideology doesn't differ much from that of other Democrats.
I disliked George W. Bush intensely, because I vehemently disagreed with him on certain policies, but I did not hate the man, and I still retained my respect for the office of the President, and I still felt he deserved to be regarded with respect as our President, like him or not. I'm not sure that Obama gets that kind of respect all of the time, or enough of the time.
I really think that the hostile/suspicious undercurrent directed at Obama is related to race.
Oh please. You and your friends on the left begin with an assumption that Republicans are racists and then interpret every action taken and comment made by one as an expression of your assumption.
But you must be correct because while the Right hates Obama, they feel warm and fuzzy about Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid, Joe Biden, Debbie Wasserman-Schultz, Martin O'Malley et al.
Since they think these other Democrats are pretty darn swell, their hatred for Obama must have to do with race.
After all, only Democrats can hate based on high minded principle.
You may not have hated Bush, but many of your like-minded friends did, and guess what? There are plenty of people who disagree with Obama's policies as vehemently as you disagreed with those of Bush who do not hate Obama, and their disagreement, dislike, and lack of respect have nothing to do with the color of his skin.
Republicans have little use for Barney Frank, but that must be because he is gay, and we know how they hate fags.
How is the office of the presidency with Obama in the Oval Office any less generally respected than it was when any other white president held it? Because one clown yelled "Liar" during a State of the Union Address?
Notice that he didn't yell a racial epithet, but the way the Left wants to spin reality, "Professor," "Chicago," "Angry," "Golf," and even "Constitution" are racist code words, and so I would imagine that "Liar" must be, and particularly so when directed at a black president.
Keep in mind that it was during a State of the Union Address that your beloved leader took the unprecedented action of berating Supreme Court Justices for one of their decisions. The Executive Branch is not the only branch of government deserving of respect.
Let's see, Alito and Scalia are Italian, Roberts is a WASP, Kennedy is Irish and Thomas is black...somewhere there must be a thread of intolerance within Obama's disrespectful tirade.
Of course you
"really" (as opposed to " I'm just making a specious point ") think that dislike for or criticism of Obama is based on race.
Race is the Liberal's version of the Warner Bros' Acme
Super Duper Destructo Atomizer: Fire it in the direction of a foe and instantly their opinions are transformed into a small pile of smoking vile hatred.
The idiot mayor of Los Angeles did his bit as a Hispanic Democrat, during the RNC, by trotting out before the cameras and declaring that the GOP speakers who had brown skin and Hispanic surnames were tokens.
Fits right into your vacuous argument, except that those brown skinned people with Hispanic surnames were elected to state wide offices: Gov. Martinez of New Mexico, Gov. Sandoval of Colorado, Sen. Rubio of Florida, and then there were Ted Cruz (who without question will be a US Senator from Texas after Nov. 6th) and Gov Luis Fortuna of Puerto Rico.
How does that compare with the speakers at the DNC?
Antonio Villaraigosa is the Mayor of Los Angeles. A respectable position of course but hardly as influential as a Governor or Senator.
Mayor Julian Castro, the mayor of San Antonio. He gave a good speech (although it sounded like he ripped a lot of it of Rubio's speech) and is probably a good mayor, but his position is provincial to say the least. (I bet you didn't know that he has had to be tutored in the Spanish language - No window dressing him)
Several other Hispanic state and federal representatives who are nothing to dismiss out of hand, but when one compares the success of Hispanic politicians in the GOP and the Dem parties, it's impossible to come to any other conclusion than Republican Hispanics have been far more successful than their Democrat counterparts.
This must be quite difficult for you to process, considering your assumption that Republicans are racist, but then maybe you think, like many or your fellow liberals, that Martinez, Sandoval, Rubio, Cruz et all are race traitors.
Just as Condoleezza Rice, Mia Love, Artur Davis , Tim Scott and others must be.
While your bemoaning expressions of hatred, think on this:
After Mia Love gave her speech, some miscreant vandalized her Wikipedia entry with the following:
“She is a total sell-out to the Right Wing Hate Machine and the greedy bigots who control the GOP and love to see people like Mia Love be exploited like the House Nigger she truly is.”
Now, unlike izzy, I'm not suggesting that the misdeeds of one or two individuals should be seen as tarring an entire larger group of which they are members, but when you find yourself "really" thinking that Republicans who oppose Obama do so on the basis of race, consider that hate comes in all shades, shapes, and sizes.