Yes, I disliked George W. Bush with a passion but …

Is there a difference between wanting Congress to impeach a man who lied us into a war that resulted in the death of 4346 American men and women and people wanting a president to die because of right wing rumors? Well of course there is.

Pastor Steve Anderson

I disliked George W. Bush. I thought his cowboy attitude was bad for America and our status on the world stage. But I never wished him harm. Things have changed – dramatically! A so-called pastor in Arizona, Steve Anderson recently said, “I don’t want him [Obama]
to be a martyr, we don’t need another holiday. I’d like to see him die, like Ted Kennedy, of brain cancer.”

Now before I go any further, it might help to know that I consider myself a Christian, and as a Christian, I was taught that God hates no one and doesn’t want us to hate anyone either. I do hold people in disdain, I do dislike people, but hatred is such a vitriolic emotion that it will eat you up on the inside if you embrace it long enough. Which makes me wonder how a so-called man of the cloth could say that God hates someone. Once again, Steve Anderson is behind the rhetoric. In a sermon he actually titled, “Why I Hate Barack Obama“, Anderson said, “God Hates Barack Obama, I hate Barack Obama. I hate Him. God wants me to Hate Barack Obama.”

I have to hold people like Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh responsible for the
up tick in the public malevolence against President Obama. With Beck saying Obama hates white people and Limbaugh stoking the fires, we are heading toward trouble with extremist that could erupt in several versions of Tim McVeigh and Terry Nichols. Many of these people are already on the fringe of society and just need a little shove to go on a killing spree.

William Kostric

For all the turgidity from the right wing over protecting our country from terrorism, they don’t seem to mind agitating terrorist of the homegrown variety. We have people like William Kostric showing up outside town halls attended by President Obama carrying weapons and claiming 2nd amendment rights to do so. While I don’t have any problem with gun ownership, I do think gun owners need to show responsibility and prudence. The first amendment gives us freedom of speech, but it doesn’t give us the right to yell “fire” in a crowded theater – unless there really is a fire.

When the Department of Homeland Security was created in the wake of the 9/11 attacks, Conservatives lauded the new department. My how times have changed. When DHS released a report back in April entitled, “Rightwing Extremism: Current Economic and Political Climate Fueling Resurgence in Radicalization and Recruitment” these same Conservatives were aghast that the department would issue such a warning.

They shouldn’t have been surprised. The last time the Republicans were swept out of office the radical right showered us with events like Ruby Ridge, the Branch Davidians, and the Oklahoma City bombing. What’s wrong with being prepared? Perhaps Condi Rice shouldn’t have dismissed the warning about bin Laden determined to attack the US using high-jacked airliners.

Limbaugh and Beck

The color of Obama’s skin, while not behind all of the rhetoric, does raise the stakes even more. In addition to people being frightened by things like Sarah Palin talking about Death Panels – she even took her grandiloquence to Hong Kong – we also have racists disturbed about a black man being president. Perhaps Obama is right and most of the tea-baggers are simply opposed to his policies, but Jimmy Carter has valid points too. There are racists. To deny this fact is ludicrous. The election of Barack Obama was historic and a huge step toward ending racism in this country, but because of people like Limbaugh and Beck, we may actually be taking two huge steps backward.

I don’t hate anyone, but if anyone wants my respect, they have to show compassion and a willingness to accept change that might actually be good for the country instead of the antipole.

September 24, 2009 • Posted in: General information • 9 Comments