So instead of relying on just 2 or 3 online news sources that reflect my own perspectives, I tripled my reading list and made sure it includes sources that "lean" in a direction other than my own. So far, this approach is working great: I've been learning a lot, and I find myself more willing to consider other viewpoints.
But an unpleasant side effect is that I am now 100% sure of a couple things I already suspected:
(1) There is a growing Mob Mentality in America: more and more fellow citizens are giving in to irrational, vindictive, and unabashedly hateful behavior towards whoever does not think like them. This is shameful and frightening: a mob mentality by its very nature can not lead to any good outcome because it is hate- and fear-based. Aren't we better and smarter than this?
(2) Racism is alive and well in our Fair Land, and extends to the treatment of our President. No pretense anymore - the gloves are off and the nastiness is in full swing.
And I would bet my car that most of these hate-mongers view themselves as good Christian folks. The hypocrisy is amazing.
<= How do you like this image? Does it make you proud?
If you don't approve of what Obama is doing, fine. Truth be told, I ain't that happy either. But it is wrong to attack him personally and why bring it down to race? People, the year is 2011 - are we still a bunch of bubbas ready to lynch a black man?
Even at Bush Jr's worse moments, Liberals did not tear into him with the hateful vindictiveness with which some Conservatives are attacking Obama. This behavior is demeaning to our nation. You can be sure that citizens from other countries, such as Iran, are watching all of this with great interest and considerable glee. What fun it must be for them to see Americans behaving like hooligans.
And consider this: We should not blame the President for every problem our country is tackling or to give him credit for every triumph our nation celebrates. The President's powers are limited and each branch of our Government plays an critical role in the management of our country. Checks and Balances = Share of the Fame, Share of the Blame.
More than anything right now, our problem is Congress: Our esteemed Representatives and Senators are so busy trying to make each other fail that they can't agree on what to have for lunch or collectively tie a pair shoes. So if you want to be mad at someone, I suggest you contact your Congressmen and tell him or her to get to work!
<= Here is an image I like... how about you?
There's one point - we sure as heck DID rip Dubya a new one every chance we could, and I'm saying this as a Democrat who was enjoying every minute of it. Now I agree that there is no place for racism, but I think the "mob mentality" you speak of has been growing for years, and it's only now strong enough that the good people of this country are starting to see it. Buuuuut, then they blame the other side for propagating it, and here we are!
ReplyDeleteI agree the "mob mentality" has been building for a long time, and not just on the part of Conservative. But I truly can't remember people being so hateful with Bush. Maybe I wasn't paying close attention to the comments and remarks at the end of articles, like I do now. I think we have, in general, lost a lot of our civility.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comment!
Racism? Then the Democrats should quit making everything about race. If anyone dares to disagree with the president or criticizes him, the screams of racism start immediately. If you dislike a policy or him going around our constitution and governing by fiat without the consent of our elected representatives (those checks and balances you mentioned which have been trashed as of late by him), it must be because you are a racist (to them), not because you simply think his policies are terrible for the country. Could it be he was just so unprepared for the job that he deserves every bit of criticism? I say we have never had a president who was so unprepared and yes, he has failed miserably. Can anyone name one accomplishment he had before thinking he thought he was presidential material? I doubt that. He simply is unqualified and has failed the people who he won over with a very weird or perceived coolness and celebrity of some sort. Simple as that. His election was the epitome of uninformed voters. That picture above from an acquaintance seems an expression of someone who is not looking through rose colored glasses and clearly sees reality of the past 3 years. I say that person is exactly right and is actually the one who is informed about a president who never should have been in the office. I agree he has failed more than any president in my lifetime. Maybe you should thank that person for seeing what it seems you clearly have missed. I hope that picture has no copyrights, because I saved a copy. The point is, this country will fail if he stays in an office he is clearly unfit for. Failure for America will not happen if he fails, which he most definitely has, it will happen if the masses of the very uninformed, vote on skin color, coolness, celebrity, and the amount of free government benefits they will continue to get from him, again. The only saving grace for the country to not fail, will be if this man is never allowed to hold the most important office in the country one day past Jan 21st, 2012. Only then, will the country start to heal from what his 4 years has turned into the most divisive and racial period of politics we have seen in 60 years. And if you missed the protest marches of the extremely nauseas radicals of the left during Bush’s years, you were not paying attention. The leader of the Senate, Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV) called pres Bush a liar on the Senate Floor during a floor speech and many other elected Dems said equally disgusting things on every news cast and speeches to their uninformed masses. The leftists held a zillion marches all over the country for years with signs saying "Kill Bush", signs that said "I'm Here to Kill Bush", "Bush is the Biggest Terrorist in the World", signs of Bush with Bullet holes in his head, had an actual dummy of Bush hanging from a rope, had a fake guillotine with Bush's head in it, had Bush in a Nazi uniform, had him as Hitler with the Hitler mustache and the list just goes on and on. Oh the fake outrage and freak out of the Dems when a Left Wing group called La Rouche kept showing up at Tea Parties with the Obama signs with a Hitler mustache. Of course it was blamed on the Tea Party people who tried to get rid of them every time. The tea Party groups seemed like a bunch of moms and dads and grandparents who just wanted the country to stop with building debt and passing it on to future generations. They seemed like a nice bunch of patriotic people who just get trashed by ever Dem and left leaning commentator in the country. How do you think the leftists and our rotten media would have reacted to replacing those same signs and mock ups they used against Bush, with Obama? About this behavior being demeaning to our nation? You can be sure that citizens from other countries saw those displays of Bush for years on end as well, and with just as much interest and considerable glee. So...they have been having fun seeing Americans behaving like hooligans for so much longer than the past 3 years.
ReplyDelete