Chicago Tribune!: Obama faces vile insults like no other president has

[steve2470]

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/commentary/ct-obama-lincoln-bin-laden-muslim-perspec-1212-jm-20141211-story.html

(yes I know it's not an official editorial)

I've been thinking lately about the persistently vituperative and insulting attacks on President Barack Obama since 2008. It is, of course, commonplace in American politics for presidents to be lambasted for their policies, their programs, their values and even their personal quirks. Sometimes the tone crosses the line.

John Adams was accused by a political opponent of "swallowing up" every "consideration of the public welfare ... in a continual grasp for power." James Madison was demeaned as "Little Jemmy" because he was short. James Buchanan, who once declared that workers should get by on a dime a day, came to be mocked as "Ten Cent Jimmy."

John Tyler, who assumed the presidency after the death of William Henry Harrison, was ridiculed as "His Accidency." Congressman Abraham Lincoln castigated President James Polk as a "completely bewildered man." Opponents of Woodrow Wilson's reinstitution of the draft in World War I accused him of "committing a sin against humanity." Critics of Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal attacked him as an "un-American radical."

Richard Nixon was famously known as "Tricky Dick," and of course he was not "a crook." At the height of the Vietnam War, Lyndon Johnson was excoriated by his opponents as a "murderer" and a "war criminal."

more at link

[MADem]

1. Can't read the article because it's behind a paywall, but my sense of the criticism of

POTUS is that an awful lot of it has a racial and racist tone. So much for post-racial America.

Edit--I was able to register and get through...I agree with that guy.

One fact that might lend some credence to the theory that racism has something to do with the tenor of the attacks on Obama is that only one other president in our history has been the target of similar (though more subdued) personal attacks.....

[steve2470]

2. funny, I can read it...that's weird...

I saw it on Google News...hold on.....

[steve2470]

3. try that url

http://news.google.com/news/url?sr=1&ct2=us%2F1_0_s_0_1_a&sa=t&usg=AFQjCNEhWxR9a1Q45yG6j9YNALRwtn9EqQ&cid=null&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.chicagotribune.com%2Fnews%2Fopinion%2Fcommentary%2Fct-obama-lincoln-bin-laden-muslim-perspec-1212-jm-20141211-story.html&ei=NMeKVLL1J43wggejxIGQDA&rt=HOMEPAGE&vm=STANDARD&bvm=section&did=-7699494030049156407&sid=en_us-sfy

[MADem]

5. That one came right up--not sure if it is because I gave 'em an email address before, though... nt

[Cha]

6. Okay, that works for me.. I'll read it now.. thank you!

[BootinUp]

9. When it loads up initially

you might be able to stop the popup by clicking on the browsers cancel button. thats what I did.

[Cha]

4. Tell me about it! Like I said on another thread.. racism didn't end with Obama being elected but

it sure brought the racists out from under their rocks.

And, the insults aren't confined to racism.. other ugly epithets are hurled as well, from frothing internet scribes who are real comfortable with calling him a "fucking piece of shit used car salesman" and the current one.. PBO says "sodomizers are patriots".. to list the two most egregious that I've seen on this site. 'Course there may be others.

The link says to continue reading I have to be a digital member.. which I am not .. nor plan to be. Darn.

Thanks steve

[steve2470]

7. try the link I gave MADem :) nt

[Cha]

10. Got it! And, brought this snip back with me..

"Now don't get me wrong. Every one of these messages is protected by the First Amendment, and people have a right to express their views, even in harsh, offensive, cruel and moronic ways. We the People do not need to trust or admire our leaders, and we should not treat them with respect if we don't feel they deserve our respect. But the sheer vituperation directed at this president goes beyond any rational opposition and is, quite frankly, mind-boggling."

The hate radio jocks/fox "news" craps have done their job too well. Lucky for them there's so many in America willing to have their brains turned to mush and reprogrammed with vicious hate on anything that's good for our country.

LOL.. they're programmed to save the Billionaire$$$$$$.

Mahalo steve

[steve2470]

13. mahalo Cha :) nt

[MADem]

8. Give 'em a tosser email address

[e-mail] with a password that's password1 or something--it will let you look.

[Cha]

15. It was easier just to go to that longass link, steve provided. :) thanks, MAD

[pinboy3niner]

16. In the future when you hit a paywall, try googling the article title

Using a link from search results usually bypasses the paywall. It doesn't work for all sites, but seems to work most of the time for news media publication sites.

[steve2470]

18. hey pinboy, hope you are well and happy holidays to you and yours!

[Cha]

19. I shall remember that, pinboy.. thank you!

[Itchinjim]

11. The Tribune has its own vile insulter:

John Kass. Or as I like to call him, "The reason I quit buying the Tribune"..

[Cha]

14. LOL

[greatauntoftriplets]

23. I call him John the "K" is silent.

[Itchinjim]

24. Kasshole is good too.

[greatauntoftriplets]

25. It is good!

Certainly descriptive of him.

[BootinUp]

12. Lincoln was something else, lol.

"completely bewildered man"

[Enrique]

17. it's going to have to be ramped up for the next president

for example, suppose Hillary wins. She will very likely have more slightly conservative policies than Obama, but the RW propagandists can't say that. If they did, the whole movement would collapse. They will have to pound away for eight years that she's worse than Obama. And to keep people from thinking about it, they will make their attacks personal. And of course an obvious angle would be to use her gender. I'm not sure they will be able to sustain it.

[ann---]

20. Oh, please

[msanthrope]

22. Yesterday, a DUer described President Obama using slave imagery....it was shocking, and was hidden.

What exactly are you disputing?

[YarnAddict]

21. All presidents face criticism

Get back to me when "Game of Thrones" shows Obama's head on a pike.