And then there's this from a reader at talkingpointsmemo:Where to start to explain this hysteria? Since the height of Sarah Palin's dishonest and divisive campaign last September, I've been alarmed by the unique way in which Obama's opponents paint him as "the other." For the life of me, I can't think of another American politician -- not even Hillary Clinton, although it's close -- who has spurred such visceral, irrational hatred. (Tell me if I've missed anyone in comments.) Sure, John Kerry was "French" and Michael Dukakis was Greek (and looked like a pinhead in that dumb helmet), but only Obama is a Marxist Communist who pals around with terrorists and wants to harm your children.
The hysteria Obama inspires in his far-right foes is primeval, primordial. From the Birthers' obsession with the facts of his birth -- which lets them obsess about his origins in miscegenation -- to the paranoia that he's coming for the children, there's a deep strand of irrational paranoia that can't be anything other than racial. These people don't merely disagree with him, they distrust and dislike him viscerally. He's not merely wrong, he's scary; even terrifying.
How long did it take the right to go from: "if you criticize the President you are a traitor" to "School children should not trust the President."I've been meaning to ask that myself. One guy lied to the country, spied on the country, allowed torture to occur and caused the needless deaths of thousands of American troops and countless innocent Iraqis. The other guy, however, can't be trusted with our nation's children.
Crazie.
3 comments:
You know, David Brooks has a column today where he is basically asking Obama to go back and really reform healthcare costs. What he doesn't say (although I haven't read it totally closely yet) is that the reason the current healthcare/insurance bills don't reform enough is because Obama's willingness to compromise gave conservatives a wedge opening, into which they pushed town hall loonies and "death panels".
I think conservatives who want to be seen as rational, thoughtful, moderate people are becoming embarrassed by the republican party. Even as very liberal Democrats express annoyance with Obama over his moderateness, some conservative commentators are saying enough is enough about their party. George Will saying we should leave Afghanistan, David Frum breaking with his own people (although he may just be a little unhinged), David Brooks and now Joe Scarborough. Republicans and the conservatives who serve party ideology may say they are just doing to Obama what the liberals did to them during the Bush years (e.g. Dick Armey). But people who are not normally partisan may take away a different message from all the accusations of socialism and fascism leveled at Obama. In the end, Republicans may push a majority of Americans into embracing change they can wish for, and maybe eventually believe in.
today’s from the wayback machine
House Democrats criticized President Bush yesterday for using Education Department funds to produce and broadcast a speech that he made Tuesday at a Northwest Washington junior high school.
The Democratic critics accused Bush of turning government money for education to his own political use, namely, an ongoing effort to inoculate himself against their charges of inattention to domestic issues.
Hunh, HTTT, no "Democrats accused Bush of using kids to advance a socialist agenda" or no "Democrats accused Bush of taking a step towards creating his own personal "Hitler" youth"?
I read some where, but have not confirmed for myself, that Ronald Reagan used a speech to school kids to promote the ideas of low taxes and the line item veto. At least Bush (and supposedly Obama, though we won't know until Monday when the text of his speech is released) was not that bad.
I don't want to get into that Madrassa ... excrement again, but I was going to say that to be fair, neither GHW Bush or Barack Obama ever attended an inner city public school as a child. The way they are now, Bush's and presumably Obama's "Stay in School" message might not have been/be totally well received.
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