Huffington Post Photo.
Antichrist, Hitler, pimp, homo, bisexual (like a bicycle). That's just a sampling of the things that Barack Obama is (without empirical proof).
That people are calling Obama "Hitler," makes me wonder if there are any intelligent people left in this country. Obama wants us to "hope," Hitler took away not only the "hope"- but the lives of millions of people. There is a difference between being a "liberal" and committing genocide while simultaneously trying to overthrow the free world.
Calling Obama an Antichrist is just as ignorant. Obama has tried to empower us with the message "yes, WE can," but apparently some die hard religious nutcases want the world to know that "no, WE can't" and "only Jesus can." No offense, but Jesus died 2000 years again, and he hasn't shown his face since. It's time for us to start taking the personal responsibility that Obama urges us to.
Using gay/homo as an insult is not only close-minded, but it makes me think "so what if he is?" The gender someone is attracted to does not define whether or not they are a good person.
The worst thing is that I do not even think that any of these people actually believe these things. They are just using it shape the opinions of people who are not smart enough to understand that it is propaganda. Because in the end, it doesn't matter whether Obama is a good person/president/Christian/whatever; it is much more important to have a republican in the office who will make sure that the rich can get away with anything that they want to.
2 comments:
Firstly the lack of empirical evidence to support the claims that Obama is a bisexual or a pimp, don't simply make them unfounded attacks, but blatant ad hominems, unworthy of any place in a debate. Furthermore, you posed the right question in saying "so what if he is?", the same retort Colin Powell had in response to the GOP's tactics calling Obama a Muslim as if it were a derogatory term. Simply disapproving of the practices of another, which do not practically impact your life give an individual no grounds to attempt to restrict another's rights. The Islamophobia, homophobia and the like perpetrated by those in power in order to promote mass hysteria for their political ends is despicable.
To play the contrarian for the moment... While those in the video clearly lack the faculties of reason to advance their argument, a comparison to Hitler is not entirely unfounded, albeit a gross mischaracterization of the President. Their are elements of fascism evident in Obama's policies, particularly with regard to his economic agenda. Attempting to preserve the status quo is a principle of fascist governments, where the focus of government is first and foremost to preserve the state at all costs, followed by an expansionist view of the role of government is in keeping with corporatism, which many consider a fundamental component of fascism. Even Obama's ascension to political power came in much the same way as Hitler. Obama in many ways came to power thanks to the tough economic times experienced by the public, which is not entirely dissimilar from the terrible economic conditions suffered by Germany between the first and second world wars. Germany was in a state of hyperinflation caused mostly by the requirements of significant territorial concessions, massive war reparations mandate and disarmament of Germany by the Treaty of Versailles. That coupled with the destroyed industry caused the hyperinflation of their currency, requiring Germany to take out loans to rebuild their industry so that their economy could function in order to pay back their war debts. When the U.S. was hit by the Great Depression, Germany could no longer borrow money from the U.S. to continue rebuilding their industry, which left their economy in stagflation, with unemployment rate at nearly 30%. This caused anxiety among the public which Hitler used and focused toward a common enemy (most notably the Jews and Gypsies) upon which they could displace blame for their problems. Hitler's rearmament and repudiation of the Treaty of Versailles inspired renewed confidence in the German economy and ultimately allowed for a fascist state to arise. Forgive the digression, but that said, Obama did come to power because he was a similarly charismatic politician as Hitler was, and owes a debt of gratitude for the harsh economic conditions experienced as they are largely attributable to Obama's successful presidential campaign.
All that being said, being able to draw a few tangible connections between a politician and fascism is a gross misrepresentation of the ideology and a hasty generalization of the politician. It is incredibly unfair and reduces the debate to little more than ad hominem attacks. On a side note, it is amusing that such a thing exists as Godwin's Law: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Godwin%27s_law
While I agree with you that a comparison can be made, the same is true about Obama and Elmo (the sesame street character). There will always be some similarities when you compare two things.
My main problem with comparing Obama and Hitler is that the people doing it are using it as a fear tactic. They are mostly interested in the visual imagery of making Obama seem like someone who is evil and who will detroy us. Maybe 5% of the people that liken Obama to Hitler have logical reasons to do so, but the vast majority just say "Obama is Hitler" blindly because they are die hard conservatives and caught an odd 5 minutes of broadcast on Fox News or somewhere similar. People did the same thing during the election when they started the rumor that Obama is an Arab with terrorist connections; it's all about fear.
Another thing is that there is a difference between saying that Obama has had a similar career like Hitlers, and saying that Obama IS Hitler.
I definitely think that people should scrutinize what the President is doing in office, but it bothers me when people don't like him (or what he is doing) and it is based solely on the political party that he is associated with (and not his own merit). It just gets frustrating when so many people want to talk politics, but they don't use rational arguments.
Thanks for your comment, it was interesting!
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