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OpEdNews Op Eds    H3'ed 9/12/13

A President Under Fire

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Thelma Mueller
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Barack H. Obama is the 44th President of the United States and he is the first black president in American history. At the time of his election there was hope for a United America. Americans looked forward to better race relations with a black president in the White House. Those that supported him rejoiced while those that didn't were embroiled in a slow boil over a black man in the White House. Obama's acceptance speech summed up change this way: "If there is anyone out there who still doubts that America is a place where all things are possible, who still wonders if the dream of our founders is still alive in our time, who still questions the power of our democracy, tonight is your answer. It has been a long time coming but tonight, because of what we did on this day, in this election, at this defining moment, change has come to America."

Has it really? It's 2013 and the first black president is into his second term struggling with many issues but perhaps the one that stands out is the racially motivated attacks against him. In the most recent racially-charged attack against him according to freethoughtblogs.com, David Marsters, a conservative for Selectman in the City of Sabattas, Maine, put up a picture of Obama on his Facebook page with the caption: "Shoot the ni**ger," but later said that it wasn't a racial slur but instead he was mad and afraid that Obamacare was going to take away his wife's spousal benefits. These are his actual words, "I didn't say I was going to shoot the president, or kill - Shoot the ni**er. Shoot the ni**er, that's what I said, I'm pissed off at the system, OK? We're about to lose our benefits because of this a**hole." It seems that the attacks are not only directed at the president but his family as well. Conservative "free republic.com" posted these nasty comments about his daughter, Malia Obama. The girl was pictured wearing a peace symbol t-shirt and the comments that followed were: "A typical street prostitute," "A bunch of ghetto thugs," "Ghetto street trash," and the most disturbing, "To entertain her daughter Michelle Obama loves to make monkey sounds." In another racially motivated attack against the president, Hank Williams, Jr., the country singer, unleashed his own brand of racism when he likened the president playing golf with the Speaker of the House John Boehner as "Hitler playing golf with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. His latest attack took place at the Iowa State Fair recently when he said, "We've got a Muslim president who hates farming, hates the military, hates the U.S. and we hate him!" this according to Huffington Post. And his latest album, Old School, New Rules contains many such lines directed at the president. Stupidity at its best?

The foul jokes and cartoons which started during his campaign are gaining strength in today's America. Go to YouTube to listen to the disgusting and disrespectful songs which are thought of as being hilarious but the content is not. I was appalled when my teenage son asked me to listen to one of them with a smile on his face! It is a different kind of brainwashing done to lure the young in but the message is loud and clear.

This mentality of racism and racist attacks is widespread and depicted via jokes, cartoons, degrading signs and pictures and most recently, a clown at a State Fair took to wearing an Obama mask and asked if people would like to see the president run down by a bull. Seems like "stupidity' is in and intolerance is all the rage! Is it any wonder that the racial-divide is widening in the U.S. when a president is used for target-practice by those who want to bring him down. The message seems to be, "Yeah, so you made it to the White House but damned if we're going to tolerate it!" Yes, race was and still is an issue and even though the road has been long and hard with some advances made from those days of being relegated to the back of the bus, it still has a long ways to go and it has to start with respect for your fellowmen and women irrespective of color AND especially for your president.

We've heard him say that he is the Commander-in-Chief many times over and the pride is understandable. He is the first ever black man to make it as president and he deserves respect if nothing else. He is eloquent, charismatic, tough when he needs to be and soft when something touches his heart and he can boogie with the best of them! If it's his policies you disagree with then find better words to describe him or them. If "stupidity' makes you want to stick to the N word, get a dictionary, it's the gateway to opening your mind to a whole different world of words!

The world is watching and it doesn't like what it sees. It sees an America steeped in a "mobbing" mentality aimed at a lame duck or as one Fox News moderator put it, a lamer than lame duck president. Free speech is one thing but the denigration of a president using racial epithets and slurs is something else. It IS lynching without the ropes and it is being done blatantly. If the color of his skin matters so much, how much of his policies or policy-making decisions are faced with the same opposition due to his color? Something to think about isn't it?

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Thelma Mueller is a writer residing in Germany but has lived in Asia and America for many years. She writes for an international online magazine daily and has published short stories, a children's book and is currently working on a novel. Her (more...)
 

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