It's Because He's Black.

Yep (0.00 / 0)

All of it -- the birthers, the deathers, and now this. As Mike put it, it's a psychotic break.

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by: JimC @ Fri Sep 04, 2009 at 18:29:19 PM CDT

It's really that simple (4.00 / 1)

People were saying they didn't feel like this was America anymore, just four weeks into his Presidency. The amplification of this comes from both the media legitimizing it, and from people fanning the flames.

I think it's a complex form of rascism, or at least a confusing form. I do believe a lot of people experiencing it don't understand it is rascist at it's root.

The just sense this uneasiness that this man would have the gall to run America. Who is he to do that?

The embracing of the urban majority in this country also has people out of sorts. I hear people saying these buttons of Obama scare them, it's like Cuba seeing people wearing them. But there were Bush buttons and posters -- they just weren't brightly colored, and they had a person that looked like them on them.

I would love someone to map out how much correlation there is between rascism and all these beliefs, but no one will do that.

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by: Mike Caulfield @ Fri Sep 04, 2009 at 19:14:38 PM CDT

A large segment (0.00 / 0)

A large segment of the population has felt disconnected from government for some time.  It's an alien entity and now that alien entity has been taken over by an alien person--i.e. someone not like themselves.

Also, there's guilt and a fear of payback for decades of negative attitudes and behavior.  Guilt is a worthless emotion because, instead of prompting people to stop doing what makes them feel guilt, they do it over and over to erase the guilt.
And, if the expected and earned pay-back doesn't come, that too will be resented because it means their antagonism wasn't worth responding to.

But, if we assume that these are insecure people who need to feel connected, then they have to be shown that being antagonistic won't do it.  I still think that the "silent majority" speaking out is a good thing.  Fears have to be voiced to be gotten rid of.

We've had three decades of fear mongering.  Fear is not going to dissipate in a few months.

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by: hannah @ Sat Sep 05, 2009 at 00:11:45 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

We should ask Judd Gregg (0.00 / 0)

To Condemn Reagan and Bush for their indoctrination of helpless schoolchildren.

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by: Mike Caulfield @ Fri Sep 04, 2009 at 19:16:42 PM CDT

Matt Suerman tweeted this: (4.00 / 3)

Matt Suermann of RedHampshire.com tweeted the following on Twitter:

New low 4 Blue Hamp RT @NowHampshire: Liberal blog says NH schools are bailing on speech because president is black http://bit.ly/IHFyw

Really, no one but Elwood is responsible for this diary: but I think Elwood may be right.  I will be happy to shoulder part of thre blame, if need be.

Suermann himself is a Republican leader: he has worked for several campaigns and is now a GOP lobbyist. He was retweeting someone or something called  NowHampshire: I do not know who that is.

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by: TimothyHorrigan @ Fri Sep 04, 2009 at 19:48:30 PM CDT

How does one pronounce 'Suerman' (4.00 / 1)

he asked innocently.

It's perhaps unfair to note that a tweet oversimplifies. But this diary isn't especially about the schools.

IIRC, NowHampshire is a Republican operative's supposedly non-partisan site.

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by: elwood @ Fri Sep 04, 2009 at 19:57:28 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

I don't know if Elwood's right (4.00 / 2)

. . . but, from "death panels" to the birthers, the Republican Party has sunk to new lows during the past eight months.  The nutbags are now the mainstream.  And the Judd Greggs of the world nod silently.

That's disgrace enough.

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by: Dartmouth Dem @ Fri Sep 04, 2009 at 19:58:18 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

ThenHampshire is more like it n/t (4.00 / 6)

A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, adored by little statesmen and philosophers and divines. Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882)

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by: JonnyBBad @ Fri Sep 04, 2009 at 19:59:16 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

Ask him to prove otherwise n/t (0.00 / 0)

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by: JimC @ Fri Sep 04, 2009 at 20:01:23 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

Again, I will not comment on the school speech story, (4.00 / 4)

but I do have the freedom to comment on my own reading skills.

Matt Suermann is either being dishonest or sloppy here.  elwood's diary is patently referring to the Republican party.

birch paper; on Twitter @deanbarker

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by: Dean Barker @ Fri Sep 04, 2009 at 20:26:43 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

Agree. (4.00 / 1)

Schools aren't opting out because they're racist, they're caving to political pressure.  The motivation of that political pressure is the issue at hand.

--
Hope > Anarch-tea
Twitter: @DougLindner

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by: Douglas E. Lindner @ Fri Sep 04, 2009 at 20:35:44 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

The schools have been used to propagandize. (0.00 / 0)

So, now there's concern that Democrats will do the same.

Conservatives believe that society is run by people giving orders.  So, when the wrong people are giving the orders, it's a catastrophe. We already know that's not how it works, which is why when Democrats talk they try to address real world issues like the environment and energy production that can be affected.  But, that doesn't change what conservatives believe and have been taught to believe.

Remember the PR administration?  Publicity and propaganda are so seductive because they're easy and conservative folk are basically lazy.  Not so the majority of the people who believed them.  They're hardworking people who are waking up to the fact that they've been cheated in a major way.  And, to be honest, Democrats do share some blame 'cause they let the crooks get away with it.

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by: hannah @ Sat Sep 05, 2009 at 00:32:40 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

Schools have been used (0.00 / 0)

by right wingnuts to intimidate teachers into propagating their lies. see: http://www.dailykos.com/story/...


...the Doo Dah Man once told me you've got to play your hand. Sometimes the cards ain't worth a dime if you don't lay 'em down.

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by: rambler american @ Sat Sep 05, 2009 at 08:20:33 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

Dean.. (4.00 / 2)

Matt Suermann is either being dishonest or sloppy here

I don't recall reading anything he has uttered  that is not both.

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by: Ray Buckley @ Fri Sep 04, 2009 at 20:48:29 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

And as night follows day, (4.00 / 1)

Patrick Hynes "Staff Reporter" at Then Hampshire repeats the bogus claim (no, I will not link).

Ultimately, there will come a time in the future when a super-majority of persons of integrity will populate the internet and thus give it the credibility it is still earning today.

Someday.  

birch paper; on Twitter @deanbarker

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by: Dean Barker @ Fri Sep 04, 2009 at 21:32:42 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

I trust elwood (4.00 / 2)

to point out the, um, elephant in the room...  

2012 is sooner than you think. Ready?
Peter Leishman is ready right now -  http://peterleishman.org

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by: GreyMike @ Fri Sep 04, 2009 at 20:23:25 PM CDT

Hope redux (0.00 / 0)

I'm not ready to give up on attributing the darkness of the hour to the economy.  To some degree, it's what happens in big recessions.

That said, I can't help thinking it must be at least in part about race, and largely about a simple hatred of Democrats.

--
Hope > Anarch-tea
Twitter: @DougLindner

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by: Douglas E. Lindner @ Fri Sep 04, 2009 at 20:34:19 PM CDT

Not sure I agree (4.00 / 4)

If Hillary Clinton had been elected president, I think the same thing would be happening.  



"When you get to the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on."  Franklin D. Roosevelt    

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by: Kathy Sullivan 2 @ Fri Sep 04, 2009 at 20:43:54 PM CDT

My wife made the same point at dinner - (4.00 / 5)

and yes, that complicates the analysis.

My guess about that alternate world:

• We wouldn't have a 'birth certificate' issue
• We would have an 'indoctrinating schoolkids' issue
• We would have wingnuts with guns at her public appearances
• We would have major media quoting right-wing radio asking about her sexual orientation and about her being too cranky

I guess my conclusion is, the rabid conservatives and the Party that courts them would just as eagerly adopt virulent sexism as virulent racism.

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by: elwood @ Fri Sep 04, 2009 at 20:52:43 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

The virulence is the glue that holds them together. (4.00 / 4)

It used to be simple antagonism but now a bit more frustration has increased the intensity.

Adults having temper tantrums is not a pleasant sight.

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by: hannah @ Sat Sep 05, 2009 at 00:36:23 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

The same thing, differently (4.00 / 2)

The same haters would hate another way.

Perhaps -- perhaps -- it would get less attention because hatred of a Clinton is older news.

Nah, scratch that -- there would be anti-Hillaryism that I can't even guess at, because it would be so far beyond the pale.

But in both cases, you wouldn't see party leaders denouncing it. And we won't.

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by: JimC @ Sat Sep 05, 2009 at 06:53:58 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

Kathy you are partially right (4.00 / 2)

But I don't think it would be taking this "I don't even recognize my country anymore" route. With the Clintons it was going after them personally, so the focus of the sleaze was Hillary killed Vince Foster, Bill was a serial rapist.

With Obama they are tapping into something different. The language of coups and illegitimacy is related to this I think. I also don't think there would be the fear the Clintons of "brainwashing" kids, the way they have attributed to Hypno-Obama.

Would they be as sleazy? Yeah, they would try. But there's something here of note.  

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by: Mike Caulfield @ Sun Sep 06, 2009 at 23:27:18 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

What it comes down to (4.00 / 3)

in my mind is that we are dealing with a national minority outbreak of self-empowered bullies.

The kind of behavior that has shown up in "town hall" settings, online, and in the other media is nothing more than bullying. Bullying does not only occur on the playground but extends to adults as well.

If some of us (and our representatives) took the time to consider any of the current literature for kids and parents on dealing with bullies, we might gain a few insights into what's going on in the so-called adult world.

Verbatim from the link above:

Some bullies are outgoing, aggressive, active, and expressive. They get their way by brute force or openly harassing someone. They may carry a weapon. This type of bully rejects rules and regulations and needs to rebel to achieve a feeling of being better than everyone else.

Sound familiar?

There are parallels in the business world as well that are worthy of note.

Bullying in the guise of protected speech is still bullying.

2012 is sooner than you think. Ready?
Peter Leishman is ready right now -  http://peterleishman.org

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by: GreyMike @ Fri Sep 04, 2009 at 21:02:07 PM CDT

Yes, and we did just have eight years of a bully in the White (4.00 / 2)

House.  
The bullying behavior has to be stopped with an intervention.  But I think we might consider that what prompts the bully to want to feel better than everyone else is an effort to equalize a deep-seated insecurity and feeling of worthlessness.

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by: hannah @ Sat Sep 05, 2009 at 00:43:57 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

Yes, and at this point in history, (4.00 / 1)

that group is suffering the shock and horror of being disenfranchised, as they see it. They can't comprehend that a majority of their fellow citizens voted against their wishes, and they are throwing a full-on tantrum. They are also finding "sympathetic" voices in the media that are doing their best to whip them into a fury of antisocial behavior.

Doesn't matter to them that they are in fact raging against their own best interests; what you wrote above about the "wrong people" giving orders is exactly right.

One thing is for certain in all of this: placating bullies is absolutely the wrong strategy, it only encourages the behavior.

It's time for the majority to act like one, and refute this nonsense across the board.

2012 is sooner than you think. Ready?
Peter Leishman is ready right now -  http://peterleishman.org

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by: GreyMike @ Sat Sep 05, 2009 at 07:53:26 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

I believe that it is racism (4.00 / 3)

I am not a native of NH, having lived in other parts of the country.  I know we like to think that there is no racism here, but I have heard enough comments since Obama was elected from mostly white males of a certain age group to come to the conclusion that someone like them should have won the election.  It is not all racist, but that adds the extra to push it over the edge.  It is also years of "government is the problem" indoctrination.  But fear and the resulting anger at the "other" is under the whole mess.  

My daughter lives outside of DC, she is visiting (lovely!) for the weekend.  We were talking about this last night, and she said that while there is still racism in her area, the enormous diversity of the population makes it much easier to refute.  There are many successful professionals of all flavors of humanity everywhere down there.

This all makes me so uncomfortable it is almost unbearable.  I have suffered under the Republicans for so many years now, and worked so hard to elect someone intelligent and caring, to have them snatch it away again in such a disgusting fashion is really hard on an old lady.  

We believe in prosperity & opportunity, strong communities, healthy families, great schools, investing in our future and leading the world by example. We are Democrats; we are the change you're looking for.

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by: bloomingpol @ Sat Sep 05, 2009 at 05:45:24 AM CDT

I attended the Inauguration (4.00 / 4)

and though the cold was bitter I was warmed by the smiles of all those around me. There were no black or white people, just an enormous crowd of happy people come to witness a new birth of this nation. I naively believed that this marked the beginning of the end of racism and that the country was going to come together after eight divisive and painful years. I was so happy I cried. How incredibly mistaken was I. We have instead seen racism legitimized and brought out of the shadows to where it now strides arrogantly down the main streets proudly showing its ugly face to all. This was not supposed to happen. I daily fear for Obama's safety.  

...the Doo Dah Man once told me you've got to play your hand. Sometimes the cards ain't worth a dime if you don't lay 'em down.

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by: rambler american @ Sat Sep 05, 2009 at 06:22:34 AM CDT

We can't back down. (4.00 / 2)

Fear only further emboldens the sociopaths.  

2012 is sooner than you think. Ready?
Peter Leishman is ready right now -  http://peterleishman.org

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by: GreyMike @ Sat Sep 05, 2009 at 07:58:27 AM CDT

[ Parent ]