It seems as if some people think the above picture is racist. Or they, at least, want you to think it is so that you will shut your mouth, which is also known as an attempt to suppress your speech.
An epidemic has developed across the country where people are posting signs like the one above on telephone poles and anyplace where they think they can get away with it. Tee shirts have been made as well as caps and bumper stickers. Regardless of whether or not it is in the real world or here on the internet, this has become somewhat of a phenomenon.
The way I see it is a unique and funny way to protest our President while calling a spade “a spade”. I view it as an inventive way to call Obama a “clown” while, at the same time, letting people know his intentions by including the word “socialism” - the obvious goal of our newly-established administration. Of course, not everyone agrees with me. There are some who whole-heartedly like the direction in which he is taking us. And then there are others who, when the heat is turned up too high, seem to have no other choice than to cry “racism” at the top of their lungs in hope that fear will prevail and everyone will scatter like roaches.
The only similarity this scenario has with roaches, however, is that it really bugs me (not to mention that I leave the lights on too often, but I digress). In addition, it reinforces my position that when someone brings race into an obvious non-racial issue simply for intimidation purposes, it makes me want to up the ante. I am typically not a spiteful guy, but when playing this game is all a person has to fall back on, that means that they have nothing of substance to offer the debate. The irony lies in the fact that, by making this accusation, they are the ones who have actually introduced and fanned the fire of the bigotry. Some have apparently grown so used to the power of this charge (people losing jobs, reputations, etc.), that they don’t seem to know how to do anything else.
The truth of the matter is that it is growing old and just isn’t working as well as it once did.
Most smart people understand that the President of the United States is on the hot seat twenty four and seven. That by seeking and becoming the Leader of the Free World, approximately half of the people in our country are going to disagree and many of those are going to use their First Amendment right to say so. And to go a step further, people who play the race card are doing Mr. Obama a disservice by suggesting that people are belittling his ability to run our country based on color. Whether that is true for some people or not (which I’m sure it is for some, sorry to say), citizens and outsiders who throw bigotry into the mix are, in actuality, the very ones who are reducing him, not the ones who are complaining about his policies.
Another irony in this whole ordeal is that President Obama is being equated with The Joker. Frankly, I think he more resembles The Riddler. His statements – even during his campaign – are often spoken out of both sides of his mouth while seemingly hoping that most of us will not catch on to what he means and will simply just “ooh” and “ahh” at his charm and charisma. He regularly leaves his statements incomplete or open-ended so that he has a way to change them, if necessary, at a later date. And that is what is happening now with the “health care” reform proposal. He promised no new taxes for the middle class last summer and fall but, instead, promised to tax the the big, bad businesses who oppress the masses by providing them with jobs and giving them much-needed health care benefits.
Poisonous snakes.
I think he should live up to his assurances and take people off their jobs or forbid others from getting one in the first place and put them in the streets where life is much more secure.
Wait! What was that? He has? Oh that’s right, the Unemployment Rate is quickly approaching the 10% mark.
Come to think of it, maybe a more accurate description of our President is The Joker after all. But, unfortunately, there is no such thing as a real Batman or Robin which could mean only one thing:
The joke is on the American People.
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{ 10 comments… read them below or add one }
This is what I was concerned about: I addressed every one of your questions directly, yet you only evade the issues I have brought up with other questions that are irrelevant to what we have been talking about. This is my last comment on this article:
Contrary to your apparent stereotypical assumption, I actually opposed the Patriot Act too. Just because I am a Conservative doesn’t mean that I blindly follow Party lines since, basically, I don’t consider myself a “Party” guy, but an issue by issue guy. If I feel it’s bad for the American citizens, I’m against it. Obama has already accumulated another trillion dollars (that is 12 zeroes) within his first 7 months, has suggested that people report their peers to the White House, has tried to cram a “health care” reform bill down the throats of Americans when many oppose it, is in the process of changing the meaning of 9-11, and the list goes on and on and on. Those are bad for American citizens and I’m opposed to them. And he has barely scratched the surface. However, I’m not holding my breath while waiting for you to acknowledge any of it.
I’m done here. Catch you on another article.
It wasn’t the Democrats who came up with, pushed for and passed the Patriot Act- one of the biggest slaps in the face to the Bill of Rights ever created. Government intervention in the market pales in comparison, especially with what it gives the government the right to do. W and his cronies came up with that one…
As far as fearmongering, I mean when a group creates and manipulates an irrational fear that they fanned. The Republicans are very good at it. They’ve been doing it for the last 50 odd years, starting with the Red Scare. Pick a decade and there is a boogeyman that we are all supposed to be afraid of.
Laura,
This might provide some insight as well. Could be among the most important 13 minutes you’ve ever sat through:
http://www.pjtv.com/v/2343
Sigh, I guess I’ll have to respond to each of these questions one by one:
(1) When the Framers constructed the Constitution, they had it with limited government in mind (as evidenced throughout). This was not so much an instruction of what govt COULD do, but what it COULD NOT do which is important. It was set up where we could function as freely as possible without govt intervention. I realize that capitalism can be abused (monopoly) and, in that way, can actually be similar to socialism or communism. However, it was apparently understood that a free enterprise system was most beneficial for its people regarding quality of goods and the lowest prices possible;
(2) Nowhere in the Constitution or Declaration of Independence will we find the word “Democracy”, which means “rule of the people (or majority)”. Instead, we were set up as a Republic, which means “ruled by law”;
(3) The coined term “socialism” may have been invented after 1776, but be assured that the principle has been around since the beginning of time. Our own country was founded due to the need to escape “big government” who meddled in all of its people’s affairs. So yes, I agree that the word “socialism” is not part of our Constitution, but you can bet that its results were a catalyst not only for escaping it, but to set up a wiser govt system as a result;
(4) The “majority” you are talking about – please refer to (2). It has been proven throughout history that any “Democratic” govt dissolves into an Oligarchy eventually;
(5) What is your definition of “fearmongering”? Is it the same definition that most Leftists use when a person on the Right happens to disagree with them based on something substantial?
(6) I definitely agree that Leftists think “outside the box”. And there are plenty of examples even within my lifetime: (a) Jane Fonda supporting the Communist Viet Cong while, simultaneously, some of our returning veterans were spat upon while being called “baby killers”. I guess it doesn’t matter that a Democratic Administration is who sent our troops there and kept them there for as long as possible; (b) People such as one of our former Presidents can go to foreign soil and verbally bash the very country that provided his opportunity for success; (c) The public burning of the American Flag under the guise of Freedom of Speech yet seldom having the guts to move somewhere else since they, in their heart of hearts, know that there isn’t anywhere else who could provide a similar lifestyle and/or the freedom to bite the hand that is essentially feeding it; (d) etc to infinity.
Yes, you are 100% correct. There are very few on the Right who are as “creative” when it comes to “thinking outside the box”. And I hope that I am always among them.
Maybe this is a stupid question, but where in the Constitution is it stated that capitalism in any form, especially unfettered capitalism, is synonymous with democracy or a republic?
Socialism came about as a theory AFTER the founding of this country. How do you know that the Founding Fathers would have rejected it all or saw it as mutally exclusive from democracy? Isn’t the point of democracy, even representative democracy, giving people the right of self determination when it comes to government? What if the majority, if they were allowed to experience socialism without fearmongering, actually liked it? As a democracy, wouldn’t it be their right to choose it?
Maybe it’s just me….. but us left wingers have been accused of thinking outside the box before. I mean civil rights, that was an radical idea at the time….
That was my point, Communism HAS BEEN successful in China.
Regarding Japan, some people would argue that it is a Democratic company and others that it is socialist. But whatever the case, their economic system has hit disaster as of late.
The Communistic system is of itself monopolistic where government owns and controls everything. So it is understandable why so many tyrants have desired to utilize it since it plays right into their power thinking. Also, communism and religion are well known to NOT co-exist, as suggested by Marx.
The defenses y0u are making are quite scary, to tell you the truth. Are you possibly so far left that you will give different systems the benefit of the doubt over the American Republic? Our forefathers constructed a constitution that limits government and who leaves people alone. As a result, America became the most powerful and benevolent country on earth. Of course, now it is weakening because of insiders who are attempting to give her government more infringing power and eventually negate her sovereignty.
If Communism is such a failure in China, how id it they own such a huge chunk of this country?
Japan’s government is heavily involved in its industry and in subsidizing, yet they are one of the foremost economies inthe world, especially notable given its size. I have never heard “socialist” used in reference to it and as far as being competitive in a free market world economy, the fact that they have kicked our butt in many market segments points to the fact that government/industry cooperation does not automatically mean failure.
The dangers of Communism do not come from the system itself, but from those who are placed at its head. Do not blame the system, blame the people in charge who exploited it. Those countries were not truly Communist, they were totalitarian.
Laura,
Instead of equating the “socialist” accusations with paranoid propoganda, first I would humbly suggest that you not take my word for it (not that you would, of course) but conduct a study on 20th century socialist regimes and then study the measures that are now being taken by our President for governmental control over major entities. Believe me, though I know this article drips with sarcasm, the context was not a product of my imagination. Nor is the fear of a possible socialistic American government a product of the imaginations of many who are vocalizing against it.
Regarding the word “Communism” and its common usage in the 50s: I challenge you to travel to Cuba, or China, or North Korea and see if Communism is just a bunch of hype (not that they would be able to give you an accurate description since their media is govt-regulated). Or do names like Pol Pot, who was responsible for the murders of 1/3 of the Cambodian population, have any significane of what it means when people try to resist Communism?
Is it racist? No, I don’t think it is, but I could see how others would see a black man in white face as racist.
Do I think it’s appropriate? No, I don’t, but it’s not the picture that I find to be inappropriate. It’s the tag of socialist. I don’t think the people using this word even have a clear idea of what that actually is and are using it only to create fear, as the word Communism was in the 1950′s.
Is it racist? No, I don’t think it is, but I could see how others would see a black man in white face as racist.
Do I think it’s appropriate? No, I don’t, but it’s not the picture that I find to be inappropriate. It’s the tag of socialist. I don’t think the people using this word even have a clear idea of what that actually is and are using it only to create fear, as the word Communism was in the 1950′s.