Because he’s black

[Cyrano]

Why do so many conservative Republicans, virtually all teabaggers, and each and every bigot in America hate President Obama?

Because he’s a black man.

C’mon, America. Think. It’s all about racism, tribalism, and “The Other.” It’s all about the emotional and faux moral “values” that were drilled into people’s brains in their childhoods, or shortly thereafter.

The Republican Party will do anything and everything possible to generate hatred for any Dem, and especially for any human being who happens to be black, brown, yellow, native American, Jewish, Buddhist, Muslim, Hindu, Shinto, or anything other than a white Christian, and more specifically, "the right kind of white Christian.”

If you're buying into the bullshit peddled by Fox, hate radio, Republican politicians, and various other psychotics, they’re pushing your buttons, playing to your emotional distastes, biases and outright hatreds, and pursuing their own agenda which is nothing other than their own agenda of control, and total power.

Snap out of it. Recognize how they’re trying to disable your mind and your conscience.

Recognize those who fill you with hatred. Recognize those who are getting you to buy the toxic, deadly venom they are peddling. Understand why they desperately need you to buy the poison they’re selling. Grasp the fact that they are trying to destroy your basic human decency. Recognize their ulitmate goal: The enslavement of your mind.

Why not try something else in your life beyond hatred of the “Thems?” Think for yourself. Be curious about something. Reach your own conclusions. Read something. Think.

[Fred Sanders]

1. K & R, I appreciate a well written tirade, especially against the brainwashed Tpots and idiot tools.

[Enrique]

2. I don't think this is true

I think a lot of liberals are just as hung up on Obama being black as conservatives. From the beginning of his campaign, right up through now, I think the main thing too many people on both sides know, or care, about Obama is that he's black.

[JHB]

3. They're using the same playbook that they used on Clinton...

...namely, attack him on any pretext -- and when there are none just make some up. It's become more overt and intense, mostly because they've launched off the foundation they built with Clinton.

But 'mostly' is a key word there -- don't discount the racism.There are some for whom race really is the biggest factor, but a far larger portion where the racism is more subtle, mixed together with what among whites would be thought of as class and/or ethnic prejudices, and reinforced by decades of conservative meme-pushing.

For most of them racism isn't the main aspect, the "cake", if you will. But it's the special ingredient that lets the layer-cake of bullshit go down so smoothly (and asking for more).

[maddiemom]

5. Bingo!

Consider what Clinton had to deal with from the increasingly vicious right wing/Republicans, then add a huge amount of racism to that. Even more frustrating to them, is that, while Clinton had some real vulnerabilites (while nothing that honestly warranted impeachment) for his enemies to exploit, Obama has denied them that in his personal life. After all, a nice juicy sex-related scandal is what they look for, as they feel most of the dumb public doesn't care about any matters of governing policy that they can't relate to in their own, selfish lives.

[Jeff In Milwaukee]

6. With Clinton, there were just testing the system...

Talk radio, Fox News, internet websites.

They've now got it down to a science.

[calimary]

18. But also, remember, one of the slogans proudly adopted by Bill Clinton and the Clinton campaign was

that he was "the first black President." Because of his record of efforts on behalf of the African American community.

[JHB]

35. Better to say the Clinton forced them to come up with a new system...

Clinton was arguably the most "conservative" of the '92 Democratic primary contenders. He was the "pro-business" governor of a "right to work" state, wasn't anti-death penalty, talked about welfare reform, was personally charming, a top fundraiser, etc. If they'd tried to use the same playbook they used against Carter, Mondale, and Dukakkis -- "soft-on-crime, soft-on-defense, big-government, beholden to unions and minorities" -- all they would do is reinforce Bush's out-of-touch "wimp factor" image.

So they just ignored reality and developed a narrative around a collage of images and factoids connected by half-truths and no-truths, weaving in every RW-hot-button issue, with the narrative pushed by the growing conservative media machine. Thus we got "draft-dogin' dope-smokin' slick-willy (wink wink) Hippy Bill and radical feminazi Harpy Hillary".

Then when Clinton still won and they were all as shellshocked as Mitt Romney was late on election night 2012, the guy who pulled their morale out of the gutter, who told them that they'd been right and that everyone else was duped, that Clinton wasn't really legitimately president because he didn't get a majority of the popular vote*, that they had to stand up and fight the 'radical leftists' that had 'taken over the government', was none other than Rush Limbaugh, spending hour after hour on his show pounding that point. And with a bomb-thrower like Newt Gingrich as the Republican's Minority Whip in the House, that became the national strategy: constant attacks, scandal mongering, investigations, and blocking.

[greytdemocrat]

4. +1. nt

[RedRoses323]

16. Agreed

[Hangingon]

37. +1

This argument is wearing out. When used, it insults people and we lose them.i

[12kbush]

7. Absolutely

MMMM I guess President BUSH could do no wrong because he was"t tanned enough whereas President OBAMA would be blamed if the sun rose in the West and set in the East. Its All About Race With Obama and always will be.

[calimary]

23. Welcome to DU, 12kbush!

Glad you're here. And you make a good point. The fact that Barack Obama is black - and also duly-elected President of the United States - just rips the veneer off. We have a clear track record since the Clinton days of ANY Democrat getting it in the shorts by the Sore Losermen on the other side who believe, deep down, in all that unfettered free market crap and a rather twisted notion of what true patriotism is - and that THEIR side has the exclusive rights to it. I call it the "World's Biggest Entitlement Program" - which is the GOP/CONservative wing in politics believing it has the exclusive rights to rule. They believe THEY are the ones "entitled" to rule, "entitled" to own and occupy the White House, "entitled" to control all of the government they hate, "entitled" to tell the rest of us what to do and how to live and what to believe, even while professing they're all about freedom-freedom.

Because freedom!

Freedom to pollute.
Freedom to price-gouge.
Freedom to cheat.
Freedom to steal.
Freedom to game the system.
Freedom to tilt the playing field.
Freedom to hate.
Freedom to intrude into people's privacy (just ask any woman in a gynecologist's office).
Freedom to dictate.
Freedom to impose your will upon others, regardless.
Freedom to impose your god (God?) on others, regardless.
Freedom to arm to the teeth with total disregard for safety or reason.
Freedom to distort and lie and slander and libel and otherwise misrepresent on the air and in campaign ads.
Freedom to flout whatever law you damn well feel like flouting.
Freedom to stand yer ground.
Freedom to mooch off the taxpayer with your cattle wherever the hell you feel like it, laws be damned.
Freedom to act like a douchbag.
Freedom to be selfish.
Freedom to be greedy.
Freedom to discriminate.
Freedom to trample and/or screw over your neighbor as YOU define whatever weird-ass threat there might allegedly be.
Freedom to go for the gold no matter who else gets hurt or cheated or robbed as a result.
Freedom to curtail other people's freedoms based on any fool thing you decide, say, or perceive.
Freedom to be stupid and willfully ignorant.
Freedom to deny facts.
Freedom to construct and inhabit another reality that reflects your own distorted world-view.

I could go on...

[WinstonSmith4740]

25. SO true!!

"They believe THEY are the ones "entitled" to rule, "entitled" to own and occupy the White House, "entitled" to control all of the government they hate,...'

They've been buying into the world's biggest "entitlement" program since KKKarl Rove launched his "permanent Republican majority" fantasy during Junior's forced tenure. It's one of the things that made his denial about the numbers on election night so wonderful to watch.

[grilled onions]

8. One Of Their Favorite Games

They love to stall.They prevent productivity by being asses in general and then they condemn the prez(or any leader in a pivotal position that nothing is getting done. They place the race ticket or insulting or just plain ugly and then when the dems point this out they try and turn it around that the dems are playing the race care.
By now people should be on to their games but there are a group that will never believe that rights of all people are more important than gun rights,non taxing the wealthy and that certain people,cultures,races are just not on the same playing field as "they" are.

[PCIntern]

11. Disagree...

they tolerate Thomas because he is, other than his voting, utterly without a presence. They are racist and as individuals, often proud to admit it.

[calimary]

24. Welcome to DU, Betty Rabbit.

Good to have you with us. True, they do like some African Americans. But only the herman cain, clarence thomas types - who conform to their political worldview.

[SummerSnow]

27. They "love" Clarence Thomas ONLY cause he goes along with their crap

they don't "love' him cause he is black. They hate Hilary and Michael Moore cause they go against them, nothing to do with their race,

[SummerSnow]

38. of course they do, especially if its to disenfranchise groups.

[hughee99]

29. So it really sounds like their issue is ideology.

If a black person supports what they do, they'll like them. If a white person doesn't, they won't. Find a black person that agrees with their bullshit that they don't like, and you'll have a great case for racism.

[SummerSnow]

39. I agree with you.

[treestar]

34. Thomas, Cain etc

Rs simply use them to "prove" that they cannot be racists. The Presidency is sacred to Rs. A SCOTUS justice is OK. But there was no way they ever intended to let Cain have the nomination. They cannot abide a black man winning what they think is the chief prize. That's why they claim he is not legitimately there, whether claiming ACORN fixed the elections or the birtherism. They want to think it is inherently impossible for a black man to be that successful. The 2008 win simply blew their minds. It cannot be real to them.

[jwirr]

10. Yes, their all white world is threatened. They are going to become a white minority and they are

setting the election cycle up to deny most minorities the vote. They are afraid of the consequences of their past actions. Cowards.

[Nye Bevan]

12. Yes, it was all bipartisan sweetness and light under Bill Clinton.

Except for that thing when they impeached him.

[mackerel]

13. well said

[Tikki]

14. The power you and I might receive from knowledge and curiosity and intellectual pursuit...

they get from holding a weapon in their hands and dreaming of how they will use it, some day, against us.

Sadly, a lot of their perceived 'us' is actually them but they are so blinded by racism, sexism and hate
they can only see a square inch in front of their face.


Tikki

[DaveJ]

15. Believe it or not...

I'm sorry to say this, but I have met a few racist democrats too. So I'm not sure if racism is really the problem. The problem, I've always believed, was their lock-step attitude which is inherently bigoted because they see only one proper way of doing things. Naturally any other culture developed outside the U.S. is unwelcome in their party. They do not believe in freedom. They believe anyone who steps outside the straight and narrow path prescribed by their philosophy of greed deserves punishment, which is a very obvious attitude they have and a little unusual compared to other cultures regardless of race.

[SmittynMo]

20. Yeah, there are some

racist democrats. But not to the extent of the far right. It's maybe, 95%(R) to 5%(D). And the far right controls the money for advertising, smear campaigns, lies etc.

[hughee99]

30. If you remember the '08 primary, about half the Dems are racists,

and the other half are sexists. At least according to the more vocal Clinton and Obama supporters.

[GeorgeGist]

42. I rarely see evidence of 'them' calling out the blatant racism ...

So I would tend to believe 'they' don't disagree.

[karynnj]

17. While some of the intense hatred is because he is black, it also is because he is successful

In 2009, the entire energy of the Republican party was focused on stopping two things: healthcare legislation and the needed stimulus package to keep the economy going over the cliff.

Why? There fear was that he and Democrats would get "credit" for fixing the economy and for providing something that was greatly needed by many who were not wealthy or lucky enough to have an employer with a decent plan.

They have spent years voting against things that routinely passed and which they had at one time sponsored. (Oddly, the killing of earmarks made this easier for Republican leaders - the Democrats could not peal off votes for say highway bills using completely justifiable grants to fix roads in their districts.) They have acted as a break on really restarting the economy -- kind of like the kid who jumps onto the wagon only to intentionally drag his feet slowing it down. This has made every effort Herculean. Still the economy is very slowly reviving.

As to healthcare, they did not want the Democrats credited with a program that helps people. Until recently, they have done absolutely nothing constructive - and they are still doing a huge amount of completely destructive things. The root is - IMO - partly ideological. They don't want a bigger government or anything tilting (even slightly) to socialism. There are two American narratives at odds here - the rugged individualism and the stories of immigrant communities that had barn raising parties for each other. On their side, this comes out as defining 47% of the country as "takers" -- ignoring everything these "takers" add or have added to the country.

I suspect that what some of them see is that since 2009, our side has won on ACA and even more so on social issues - especially those concerned with gay rights. This may explain some of the more ridiculous behavior on their side - they see the changes as losing the country they thought they had.

None of this is to diminish the fact that they can't deal with his being black, handsome, very charismatic and possessing a great sense of humor. (They have an even harder time accepting Michelle.) However, remember that they did not accept the Clintons or even the Carters. The latter is harder to explain based on them as people as both Carters were very Southern, incredibly gracious and very down to earth people. Culturally, they should have had no problem with them. But, they did. That's why I think it has to do with trying to pull the country in different directions and resenting anyone succeeding to any extent in doing so in our direction.

[SmittynMo]

22. I don't even think they look at the successful piece of this.

However, it just adds fuel to the fire. As for being successful, they make it a point not to mention anything about it. And you will never hear the right say Obama was successful at anything. Never!!

Obama has done the impossible as far as I'm concerned, and will go down in history as our best president ever. Just to survive 8 years as our first black president in incredible. And it was against the worst congress in history and the most vile republicans ever.

Add no new wars, shutting down Afghanistan, Bin Laden and the ACA, and that pretty much does it for me.

[karynnj]

26. Of course they will not call it successful

From their POV, it is going in the wrong direction.

It is increasing entitlements - unlike us, they do not think that government should be involved in healthcare. We see 8 million as a success, they see it with despair as harder to get rid of.

As to DADT and DOMA falling - here, they likely really would be happier with Putin's laws.

I agree that Obama will be seen as a great President. Your list is great but excludes that he really did keep the economy from going off the cliff, he did get far more bank regulation than most people thought possible, and hopefully, he will have more foreign policy successes. This week, there were articles that Iran has destroyed some of its most highly enriched uranium. They are doing what they committed to. Obama made a very gutsy move to ignore Netanyahu, AIPAC and the neocons in negotiating that interim agreement. So far, it has been successful, but the achievement of a real resolution and reestablishing relations would be an incredible achievement - especially if Iran then takes a lead in tamping down (rather than fueling) the Shia/Sunni fights.

Had he become President in an easier time, he would have been an historic President just by being the first black President. However, he came in facing incredible financial, domestic and international crises. We were very lucky that he has the strengths he does and that with him leading the ticket, his coat tails in 2008 were so long that we briefly had 60 Senators. I suspect that when people are in the position of looking back on what he did, they will see how he calmly really did move the country.

[SmittynMo]

19. I've been saying this for years

As each day goes by, the far right confirms it to be true

[The_Commonist]

21. Preaching to the choir here.

Unfortunately, none of the people who need to read this will ever read this.

But yeah, it's really sick and obvious to those of us who recognize it how so many people in this country are being used and abused by a few twisted demagogues to further a totally fucked up agenda. It may well be too late for them, and for all of us, when the used and abused do finally wake up from their fever dreams.

[Skip Intro]

31. Sorry, but it is bs. Pukes threw all they had at Bill Clinton too.

And John Kerry when he ran.

[treestar]

32. Totally agree; remember the respect they demanded for this office

When the Shrub was in it? Suddenly that's gone.

They would be that way toward any Democrat. But, there's a hysteria that you can see is greater. They will say anything to support their belief that it is simply not possible that a black man could be eligible for this office and win. They did not worry about where Clinton was born or claim he had stolen the election. If Clinton had been black, they'd have found ways to do this to him. Something about his changing his name to his stepfathers and they'd find a way to say he was illegitimate and that the illegitimate are not natural born citizens.

[egduj]

33. I'm sure part of it is because he is a member of the opposing political party, too.

[TBF]

36. I think it's both -

You are correct that the republican party will do anything to generate hatred. I don't really think that many at the top care about POTUS being black, but I'll bet the Koch's do. If you look back at the Nazi and John Birch Society connections that is pretty clear... but most of the old school thinks about their money and not much else. I've known a few of these through my travels and they seriously couldn't care less about anything but the bottom line on their taxes. This is what capitalism creates - a greed that goes above all else.

BUT I will also say that they are not above using racism in their efforts to divide, conquer, and keep democrats from winning. Race, religion, gender - we see them using all of it to divert from income inequality and keep people focused on something other than the truth. They know there are still many racist folks in this country so they use it - just as they attack women and pander to the conservative religious types. They tried to lie about fiscal policies but people have caught on that trickle down doesn't work. Appealing to the emotional issues are all they have left.

[Corruption Inc]

40. That's why racists hate everybody, not just Obama

There are plenty of racists around whom hate Whites, Asians, Hispanics etc...

Repigs are corrupt to the core and only use racism as one of many of their many manipulative tools.

[1000words]

41. They hated Clinton with equal fervor

Make no mistake, being black sure is making it easier to really run with it.

[pampango]

43. Their US vs THEM mentality thrives with a Black president.

That is not to say that they don't have the same mentality towards all OTHERS". It is just worse when the president is such a classic American OTHER.