I call myself an Obama supporter but I have to recognize that tonight’s Deal (even though it wasn’t as bad the GOP spin leaked earlier) is a tough pill to swallow because I would have hoped a tax increase deal as part of any trigger. Yet it’s still encouraging that there are no cuts on Social Security, Medicare beneficiaries, and low-income programs. Still the deal doesn’t look appealing. But that’s another debate.
But tonight I’m more outraged by what it seemed to be a pattern for some people every time they want to vent their frustration at the president. As a bi-racial myself, it’s pretty hard to try to debate or understand someone who called himself or herself “progressive” yet uses racially charged language every time they feel like the President failed them. As if it was no big deal. It seems just too easy for them to make the transition almost natural.
I saw this pattern started back in 2009 with the stimulus. Some argued that Dems didn’t get enough done and that the President went for a smaller deal. The minute there were reports on Obama pushing for a smaller deal, people here who call themselves progressives started to vent their frustration (rightly so) because they didn’t like it. But what was striking was the number of person (at the time marginal number of people) who also started to vent their frustration but in a more outrageous way using Teabaggers’ language (We aren’t naïve here, we all know who call Barack Obama by “Barry” or insert the Hussein everywhere and we know why ) to make their point. At the time they were always called out and nobody was around to tip or recommend their diaries or posts.
Then came the now famous Health Care Reform debate. We progressives were hoping for a big package almost similar to the Canadian Health Care system with a public option as part of the deal. But the reality of the senate made Progressives’ dreams slipping away with a final package without a public option. Back then, legit critics critiqued the President for not pushing harder to get the PO on the table but they did so in a respectful way. Yet the same crowd that has no problem with using derogatory language to make their case once again entered the arena with the same borderline language (Barry this, Obamdumb that , Hussein….etc). Language you would expect to see on RedState not on DailyKos. But the trend started to change, maybe because the degree of frustration was too high that people were too mad to be outrage at those posters. Unlike during the Stimulus debate, those posters started to get tips from very angry and frustrated posters.
The degree of hatred rose during the debate over the extension of the Bush Tax cuts. As usual there was a legit opposition on the deal reached by the President with the republicans. I’m not going to argue with that. But we saw more crude and vicious language directed at this President not only from the FR or the Redstate of the world, but also from posters here taking shape. The same name calling used by Rush Limbaugh and his minions began to be used by some folks here who thought that it was fair to use the same language as the Teabaggers to attack the President.
And recently came the Debate over the debt ceiling. Things got even more nasty. I was basically speechless when a clearly racially charged diary with a racist RW propaganda You Tube clip attached to it reached about 80 tips. Why? Because the diarist was carrying a pretty radical anti-Obama talkingpoints. It was almost pathetic and sad watching people trying to justify why they tipped. “If you take out the Clip, the diarist has a point” some said. Really? In my book anyone using racism as a way to carry their message is just irrelevant.
And today nothing has changed. We can all agree that the deal sucks and that it's might called turf sandwich as Eric Cartman would call it. But someone people forgot that being and remaining respectful is the essence of anyone who calls himself a progressive. Just take a look at The Open Thread : White House talking points edition. If you scroll down you will see a post H-Rated 26 times yet 23 persons felt that this openly insensitive post (by Dkos rules) was worth 23 tips. Yet some people were playing the dumb card “Why the H-Rate?” Seriously? Why? Isn’t the use of Barry enough to h-rate someone’s post? We all know well why Rush Limbaugh refers to President Obama as “Barry” because it’s the easy way he found to call him “boy”. A meme that his minions follow with pleasure. We all know why Rush Limbaugh loves used President Obama’s middle name, because it’s carry well the “He is not one of us” meme.
In the same thread if you scroll down, there is a post where Obama is referred as “Uncle Tom” because Ralph Nader said so . The same Ralph Nader who in 2008 was called out for making a racially insensitive comment on then-senator Barack Obama. Honestly I wonder if Bill Clinton was referred as “Uncle Tom” when he made deals (that angered his base) with Newt Gingrich back then, or this appellation is just a “privilege” (insert my snark) to President Obama who doesn’t happen to be white? The funniest one (cynically speaking) is the poster referring to him as “Barack O’Carter”, you know good old GOP’s meme that every Democratic President or Candidate is the next Jimmy Carter. You can’t make this up. It's a GOP Meme that President Carter was sooooooooo awful (after all he just broke the now permanent peace deal between Egypt and Israel, made big changes on energy...etc) and that Saint Ronald of Reagan was so wonderful that he got ponies and unicorns for everyone.
Many comments on the same thread would make Rush Limbaugh giggling and proud. For a minute you will tell yourself, did I type Redstate instead of Dailykos in browser? And I love how outraged those same posters are when someone calls them out on their crap or H-rates them. Quick the big words “DailyKos is censoring me” and bla bla bla. I won’t call those posters by name because I believe they will recognize themselves.
I’m all for criticism of the President. I’m all for criticism of the President that particular deal. But it will be better to do so in an intelligent manner without name calling, without using TBaggers derogatory language or personal attacks on the president. When you use the same tactics, you are no better than the average Teabagger that you love to bash.
I really had to vent before going to bed.
Rant over. and Have a good night and happy Monday.