They just can't stand him

[Cane4Dems]

It's that simple. That's why every few months they bring up fake scandals trying to bring down our President. The GOP is a party full of racist leadership who are revered by minions with no brains to think on their own

The constant vitriol that our President has had to encounter the last 5 years is just astounding. Why don't they just come out and say the real reason why they wan to badger him 24/7? - its because he is black

They just can't stand the fact that an African-American man is sitting in the white house. The current GOP leadership probably couldn't even comprehend a minority in this country succeeding and rising up the success ladder.

When the dust settles and nothing emerges from the fallout of these scandals they will go back into their bag and concoct some other crazy scandal.

just my two cents.

[Whisp]

1. and the APs will back up whatever shitnonsense they dream up.

[global1]

2. I Think It Is More Than They Just Can't Stand Him Or He Is Black.....

He is a real threat to all those things that they have gotten away with over the years. He really is sincere with changing Washington and transforming this country's ills.

He knows what needs to be done to accomplish this and they don't like it (nor do the top 1%, the banksters or the corporations which are the Repugs benefactors). If he is allowed to do what he wants to - this country would be in such good shape - and this would be attributed to a Dem administration - they would never achieve power again. So they have to do everything in their power to not let this happen. They have to discredit him and put roadblocks into everything he wants to do.

They can't let this guy - and here's where the racial motivation comes in - this "black" guy - show them up.

[JoePhilly]

4. He breaks their sterotypes and that's what drives them insane.

He's not a scary angry black guy.
He breaks every negative stereotype they have of African American men.

His family breaks every stereotype they have of African American families.

He breaks the stereotype they have of Democratic leaders.

Those stereotypes have been critical for the GOP for decades. Those stereotypes are useful tools.

And if those stereotypes fall, the GOP's demise comes just that much sooner.

[freshwest]

21. +1

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

29. Please marry me NOW!!! +1,000!!!!!!

[Bannakaffalatta]

3. Remember Kennedy?

The calumny heaped upon him by the same people? (OK, their fathers and uncles) In those days, you couldn't do this kind of hate-mongering in mainstream media, nor show such disrespect for the presidency. Ironically, it was Nixon (their standard-bearer, the one who established ethnic and class division as campaign strategy), who degraded the office and exposed it to public contempt.

All the same, Obama is sadly disappointing, much as Kennedy was.

ETA
I have not followed the story closely... Hell, i heard it on the Daily Show, and that's it. Still, i do wonder how many organizations with Patriot in their name have actually committed tax irregularities. I mean, is the scrutiny at all justified?

[AnnetteJacobs]

6. Um, wha...?

If you found Kennedy disappointing, which president DID you respect? Reagan?

[Bannakaffalatta]

22. What have i ever done to you?

Kennedy looked great on tv and made some very good speeches, but the Cuban Missile crisis nearly got us all killed and, really, how much the US or anybody gain from a war in VietNam?

[defacto7]

39. Welcome to DU...

but work on your history.

[Bannakaffalatta]

57. Done that

been there, lived it.

Look. No president is the hero his supporters and admirers make him out to be. It's a political office, and you have to do a whole lot of politicking to get the job, then you have to do some dealing and make some unsavoury choices to do the job, and the stress and glamour get in your head and prompt you to some stupid decisions; your own party leaves you up shit creek half the time and the other party demonizes you all of the time; half the people expect you to walk on water and turn it into wine, the other half demand that you turn all the wine to water. Your life is inside-out; you never get enough sleep or privacy; four dozen departments with their own agendas are doing stuff you're supposed to keep up with and everybody is raggin' on your ass.

Presidents are human - some better, some worse; none perfect.

[defacto7]

58. Thanks for the update...

I actually agree with you on most of your rant. I have no special untarnished place in my mind for Kennedy necessarily. But there are some nuances of history you sort of broad brushed in your earlier post that don't help your point. Some historians think with some semblance of reason that Kennedy could have been assassinated for wanting to get out of Vietnam. Too much money to be made to let him get in the way. Others will disagree but not with better proposals, they just don't like that idea. As for your take on the Bay of Pigs, that depends on your take on the Soviet Union at the time and their reasons for trying to deploy nuclear missiles in Cuba. Now we talk worry about nukes in kilotons, then it was megatons. We were closer to nuclear annihilation when it was Reagan vs. Andropov in 1983.

[treestar]

18. Not so

JFK was respected as holder of the office. Now looking back at what we know about his love life, he would have been exposed even then had it mattered. He still got the gentleman's press pass on that.

[hfojvt]

25. it was watergate that really opened the gate, so to speak

Since that time, some will spend a Presidency hoping to find another "gate" that will bring a President down. With Ford it was "pardongate" and the media spent four years bashing the heck out of Carter, enough to prevent his re-election. Reagan was sorta teflon, particularly after he was shot and also his two elections were pretty lopsided. The media was not particularly kind to Bush the elder, who I always considered a far more decent man than his dim son is, but they fully went to war against Clinton and then Gore. The hostility directed against Obama has not really equaled that which was thrown at Clinton or Gore.

[gateley]

28. Sometimes I think The Daily Show presents the story better than any of the news outlets.

[Enrique]

5. Bill Clinton n/t

[madokie]

7. I'll throw a couple pennies in there too

because thats how i see it also

[1ProudAtheist]

8. K&R

Been shouting this very same thing since January 21st, 2009. Subliminal racism is even worse than overt racism.

[caledesi]

12. Amen to that! nt

[Sophiegirl]

9. Obama is this....

The Jackie Robinson of Capital Hill.

[TinkerTot55]

10. Soph....

...NAILED it.

[Brigid]

15. We have our winner.

And the sad thing is, stress of dealing with the vicious racism Robinson encountered likely shortened his life. I hope the same thing doesn't happen to Obama. The increase in gray hairs since he took office has not escaped my notice.

[JohnnyRingo]

11. In fairness, I don't think it's entirely racism

Republicans think they own the White House. Democrats can hold majorities in the House and Senate, but just like Secretary of Defense, they believe only a Republican can control the executive branch.

They're now using a tried and true formula they first introduced and patented with Clinton. As you recall, the Republicans bombarded the White house with one tenuous scandal after another in an effort to keep them juggling the proof of innocence they demanded, and the Clinton people cooperated. It's a credit to the man that he got anything done at all in two terms.

One of the earliest and most ridiculous was "Troopergate", where they heard Gov Clinton would espy a pretty woman as he traveled in his motorcade, and have an Arkansas State Trooper pull her over and bring her back to his limo for roadside sex. Apparently, the young motorist no choice. It sounds absurd now, but Repubs investigated it with all their congressional powers.

After that, there was a slew of faux scandals including White Water and Vince Foster, and even tried investigating him on his way out for stealing all the "W" keys from WH keyboards. Their goal was to keep Clinton staffers so busy they didn't have time to govern. It didn't work, but there are still republicans who refer to him as "Slick Willy" for his ability to avoid impeachment on all those "serious" charges. ...Then they heard from a woman who knew someone with a blue stained dress. Like all the scandals previous, this was "bigger than Watergate" they said.

When GW Bush entered his second year in office, the Democrats tried their own investigations on the White House. Having invented the "throw everything against the wall" strategy, the Bush admin would have nothing of it, and if it wasn't locked in Cheney's "man sized safe", it was executive privilege. Like an informational black hole, nothing escaped that White House and scandals were dismissed as quickly as they were posed. To some extent, the Obama Administration have followed that lead. They have refused to cooperate in most of the "huge" scandals Republicans have brought forth so far.

I'm not saying Republicans don't hate Obama for being black, but at the top, politics trumps their personal feelings for the man. They never want to see a Democrat in the WH ever again, and they use race more as a rally for their ignorant base of voters. It's certainly true the masses of Barstool Republicans who call on their leaders to oust this president can't stand that a black man is having sex where Reagan slept, but I believe the party office holders have pure politics and the future of the White House at heart in smearing this president. In that regard, there's nothing new here from when the first saxophone playing "black President" was in office.

[Cosmocat]

19. People discredit the argument by muddling it with racism

as you noted, people have completely forgotten what they put BOTH Bill and Hill through.

Fricken investigating the christmas card list and the fricken cat.

You noted Vince Foster, they also accused Bill of being a drug dealer.

What would people scream if BO was accused of murder and drug dealing - PROOF POSITIVE OF RACISM! Except, they did it to the white guy.

Yeah, the race bait. No debating it. But, that is just an easy (for them) tool.

It is not the motive.

They like the 6-6-6 moron just fine.

You can be a black, baby beating, child molesting agnostic, but if you call youself a republicans and rail on the evil liberal boogyman you are just fine.

You could be the most devout christian in history who served in the military for three decades but if you ran for office as a D you would be a god hating, america hating scumbag.

Barrack Obama is the latest D they have spent every ounce of energy to destory, he just happens to be black.

But, Clinton, Gore, Dean, Kerry - white men, got the same treatment.

Hillary got the same treatment.

It is politics, simple and undeniable.

[Cane4Dems]

20. yeah i understand your point but...

look at how republicans treat bill clinton now- they acknowledge that he was a great president and give him the respect of the presidency.....do you think they will offer the same courteous privilege to Pres. Obama once he leaves the white house?- nooo way....there's def more than politics behind their rage at Pres. Obama- race is a factor

[Cosmocat]

46. Nonsense

Republicans were JUST FINE with Barrack Obama until late in 2007.

At that point, he was the likeable pup who was polling at about 5%.

Until that point these jackasses spent literally a decade and a half defaming Hillary Clinton.

And, of course, people were saying it was BECAUSE OF MISOGYNY!

EVERY ounce of their vitriol was aimed her.

Then, right at the start of 2008 it became clear that Barrack Obama was a viable candidate, and going into the February primaries had the momentum.

At that point, all of a sudden ...

Hillary Clinton was a conservative rock star.

They loved them some Hillary.

They then used her as wedge - trying to stoke bad blood all during the general, and afterwards, and used her as the good example at first while she was SOS.

Then, right after BO won reelection ...

They have started the turn on her knowing she is next up again.

All this Bengazhi nonsense, part of it is about her.

And, you will increasingly see them finding ways to go after her.

10 years from now, they will do the SAME EXACT THING they doing with Bill now.

They will use the popular prior democratic president as an example to rail on the current democratic president.

You will see Eric Cantor's smiling smug face babbling on about "Sherrod Brown is completely unreasonable. I remember how Barrack Obama did everything he could to work with republicans ..."

Race is not a "factor" in why they hate him.

It simply is comfortable turf for them to defame him.

Christ, they destroyed Howard Dean's career over a the fricken "scream."

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

30. Sorry. It's ENTIRELY racism!!

[JohnnyRingo]

43. And I think they'd use the same total scandal immersion...

...if Hillary was president, but then it would be "ENTIRELY" misogyny. Limbaugh pushed hard for her nomination because he has a huge verbal ammo box already written for her. Besides the golden oldies, the Republicans would have thrown one scandal after another at her just like they did her husband. We'd see more gates than a ticket agent at O'Hare International.

As I pointed out, programmed racism is what keeps the Barstool Republicans hungry for a scandal, but for those in charge it's become a patented technique to smear the White House. They're still upset about Nixon and need to even the score.

Hopefully, the public will get weary with scandals they know will go nowhere.

[patrice]

54. I agree: to those at "the top", EVERYTHING is about the acquisition, bartering, & uses of POWER

Race is one of, if not THE, most effective, most universally powerful means to power that there is, so racism is most highly cultivated, but what end does it serve in and of itself? . . . other than the acquisition of power to act one way or another relative to the issue of race. I am not saying that racism would not exist without the power that relates to it, but something more like how racism becomes even more racist in service to power acquisition.

[clarice]

55. I humbly disagree. nt

[Beacool]

48. To this day, the tin foil crowd of rabid conservatives think the Clintons are murderers.

That Bill ran drugs at the Mena airport. That Hillary had a love affair with Vince Foster and killed him. Never mind that she was in AR at the time because her father was very ill (he had suffered a stroke). They keep insisting that Hillary is gay and that she has slept with many women. Odd that not one single woman has ever come out to support that claim. If the stories were true, in the era that we live in, there would be women lining up outside the FOX studios fighting to be interviewed.

Crazy bunch of hateful people.

[WorseBeforeBetter]

49. Exactly -- MURDER. And Limpballs and McCain attacking a young Chelsea...

based on looks. (The brouhaha over Malia's peace sign t-shirt is nothing new.) Were people on this board paying attention during the Clinton years?! Republicans pursued (non-)scandal after (non-)scandal thanks to a deep-pocketed Richard Mellon Scaife looking to protect his class.

With Obama they get to attack on race.

With a Democratic female president we'll see some *seriously* ugly misogyny.

It's always something...

[Beacool]

50. Yes, I don't think that Chelsea had turned 13 yet.

Both Limbaugh and McCain joked that there was a dog in the WH and that her name was Chelsea. Disgraceful comment about a child, particularly from Mccain who as a Senator should have known better.

[WorseBeforeBetter]

51. Yep. It takes a real big man to call a 13-year-old girl ugly.

Senator... and father. Disgusting.

[thesquanderer]

13. I don't think it's really about race

I'm sure there is some racism, but I really don't think that's the core issue. If the GOP leadership felt they could win in 2016 with a Colin Powell, or Condi Rice, or (shudder) Herman Cain, they'd back 'em. And if they had a black person in office, they would be fine with it. What matters is just keeping power out of the hands of Dems. And if they can use racism to help accomplish that, to help motivate their base in subtle (and some not so subtle) ways, they will do that. But ultimately, I don't think they really care about Obama's color per se. And really, I'm not sure they've gone after him any harder than they went after Clinton. There were plenty of phony scandals then too. (And, unfortunately, at least one real one.)

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

33. We liberals really need to come to grips about this: IT'S RACE!!!

[tblue]

37. Exactly. They'd support Allen West, Alan Keyes,

Colin Powell (before he backed Obama), and the others you mention. The Republican Party has plenty of racists, but I do believe, at heart, they (the ones in Congress) are pragmatists and what they want is very basic: They want all money in the hands of their wealthy friends and all power in the hands of their powerful friends, and whoever threatens that, they will destroy by any means necessary. Think they'd be one iota kinder to Obama if he was white? Hahaha. Right.

[uponit7771]

44. No they would NOT support those people like they would rMoney for instance because they're black

...there's no way one can make the argument of engagement when it comes to GOP leadership and race

[Marta Steele]

14. Here You Go

Jewish Nazis? http://www.theroot.com/views/black-tea-partiers-speak

[Populist_Prole]

16. I don't think it's race as such, but the alarm that the WASP longtime hegemony's days are numbered

Now reactionaries were always hostile to liberal or progressives because it was a threat to their hegemony; their ability to call all the shots. The fact he is black and just lays their fears out all the more bare: The world is changing, and they can't do a $@$%*$ thing about it, and so they're getting mean and nasty.

People I've known ( friends, co-workers, acquaintances ) for 20+ years, people of varying degrees to the right of me, people who heretofore mostly kept their opinions to themselves have gotten sharply more vocal. Not only are they willing to spout and engage in unsolicited debates, but they're more than willing to let a debate escalate to whatever ugliness it might: regardless of the effect it could have on long-time friendly relations.

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

31. Doesn't that prove it's racism? Read what you wrote again. It's race. Plain and simple.

[treestar]

17. Amen, Amen, Amen

It is quite obvious. And shame on those on the left who do not have the back of the first black President. We should stand up to the right wing and tell them we know what they are doing.

[spanone]

23. k&r..

[Beacool]

24. They impeached Clinton over oral sex and he is white.

They just hate Democrats, regardless of race.

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

32. Be honest. It's because he's a Democrat, but add race to that. Even Bill said it himself...

"I've never learned to hate as much as they hate him"

-DNC convention

[gateley]

26. As Joy was saying, it's the only thing the party agrees on.

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

27. ...and many here on DU as well...

[tblue]

34. They hated Clinton too. Impeached him too.

I really don't think it's because Obama is black, for most of the Repub Congress. I don't think they'd hate him at all if he was a Republican. OTOH, they don't mind at all if his race helps them get the racists in their party stay motivated. And they are not above race-baiting to advance their agenda. Race is a useful tool for them just a means to an end. But they were nasty awful toward Bill Clinton too. They were brutal.

[Art_from_Ark]

38. They were brutal to Carter, too

Very brutal. Non-stop coverage of the Iranian hostage crisis. Half of the nightly news, every day.

[grammiepammie]

35. They just can't stand him

Well said. I did not want to believe it at first but after five years of this garbage it is the only conclusion that one can believe. Nothing, and I mean nothing that this man does will is ever right for this Republican party, even when the idea is a Republican idea. They will allow our country to go down in flames rather than give credit to President Obama. They call him the worst president ever and if you call them on it, they can't give a reason. He has done nothing to deserve the hate that has been spewed, which leads one to believe that it is the color of his skin. It is a sad time for our country.

[Tarheel_Dem]

36. For a slither of the Republican party, especially the teabagger element, you are right.

Let's face it, the teabagger element is the most influential at the moment, and the element that formerly sane legislators are now deathly afraid of. Other democrats have been savaged by the GOP, but I can't ever recall any of them being asked to "show their papers". Some, even in his second term, are still convinced that he's not a native born American, and therefore illegitimate.

Kennedy, Carter, and Clinton certainly suffered indignities, but their parentage was never up for doubt & ridicule. There were even some "Democrats" who made race an issue. If you recall, gerry Ferraro made the comment that "he's only where he is, because he's black". She as much as called him an Affirmative Action hire. That's certainly a different take for most of us who are African American, but that was/is the thinking of many white folks, on both sides of the aisle, and yes it is indeed racist thinking.

[defacto7]

40. Unfortunately race is ever present in one way or another

but... though their voting base is stupid and gullible, most of them are not. They will do whatever with whomever to get where they want to go, stay in control and make bucks. It doesn't matter if the president was chartreuse.

[Rex]

41. I think they got jealous, we were fighting with ourselves

and started to make them feel...obsolete? So they charged back in with both shoes firmly in mouth.

I have to admit, that was a stupendous attempt by the GOP, with Dick bleating about it being 'the worst thing in recorded history'. Then the other vipers slithered out and I knew it was a strike out for the loser team. Then they all slithered away.

Is Dick Army still opining about Bangladesh or did someone give him an atlas finally?

[moondust]

42. "Poverty of ideas."

To quote Nancy Pelosi from a few days ago.

I see them as salesmen with nothing of value to sell so they spend their time trying to destroy what others have. Eventually that's all they know how to do. They did an awful lot of it to Bill Clinton, too, so it's not just racism.

[corkhead]

45. I don't think it is personal; They would do the very same thing to ANY President that is a Democrat.

They are all about the failure of government, which can be accomplished even when in the minority.

[Nye Bevan]

47. YES. If Hillary or Joe Biden were President the Republicans would just let all this stuff slide.

I mean, look how bipartisan and cooperative they were when Bill Clinton was President (except when they impeached him).

[Frustratedlady]

52. So, if they hate blacks, why don't they look at the half of Obama that is white?

It doesn't matter, they want power...and, they'll fight anyone and everyone to get it...legally or illegally. We've certainly witnessed the latter.

Eventually, we'll know if its racist if the Repugs take over the White House and send in a crew to sterilize it from top to bottom. Such a scuzzy group of human beings they have become.

Their actions are an embarrassment to the rest of us, Democrats and traditional Republicans.

I might add that part of the problem with Obama is that the Pugs think he is elite and well-educated (on their dime, of course, since he probably took the place of some white during his college years) and they don't want no science in their government.

The scandals they keep bringing up is their way of making Obama dance for their enjoyment. Can't you just picture McConnell with a gun, shooting at Obama's feet to make him dance for the white folks? Purely disgusting displays.

[Bannakaffalatta]

59. Being half white makes it worse

as that element has yet to get over miscegenation. They're still fighting the civil war.

I doubt the Repug elite is sincerely racist, though - i suspect they have just as much contempt for common white people, and everybody outside their club. But they will use whatever means are available to get what they want. Like religion, job insecurity and nationalism, racism is just another ring in the nose by which to control ignorant people. When they recognize a weakness in the electorate, they play to it, feed it, develop it, showcase it on their radio and television networks - then exploit it.
Of course, having done this so successfully, they can't turn it off when it becomes inconvenient to their own agenda.

[Sheldon Cooper]

53. Agreed.

They hate him in the same way that they hated Bill Clinton - both are (were) young, and most importantly, smart guys, and it was too much for them to bear. It absolutely galled them.

[go west young man]

56. So true...

my wife and I watched "Django" the other night and afterwards we thought " this is exactly like what's going on nowadays". In the movie they keep using the word "uppity" along with there N word. The Republicans really are these ridiculous characters who grandstand and act all high and mighty while in actuality they look like the buffoons in the movie. They just can't see it even as they watch the movie themselves.