Something happened yesterday and I want to know if my politics are clouding my judgement here. So all you guys who identify yourselves as conservatives - Duck, KenP, anyone else who disagrees with President Obama's politics - I'd like to know if I'm letting my personal politics get in the way.
Yesterday, I had to go to the Post Office. On the sidewalk near the entrance were a couple of people, a man and a woman, and a number of signs complaining about President Obama. Hey, whatever, it's an election year, and even though they've got an uphill climb in very liberal Rhode Island, everyone has their opinions. The thing that really got to me was that they had a bunch of signs that portrayed President Obama with a Hitler mustache. I lost my shit, literally screaming at them about just how inappropriate it was to put a Hitler mustache on the sitting President of the United States, whoever he is. "You think that's funny? You think that makes a point?" I screamed. "Ask a Jew about that comparison...you fucking assholes have no idea just how offensive that is!"
Not being exactly in my right mind I failed to mention that Hitler despised the political left; he hated Bolshevism and Communists almost as much as he hated Jews, but that's neither here nor there.
I mentioned fairly recently that I treat officeholders with respect, notwithstanding whether or not I agree with their politics. For example President Bush had the right to call him "Rummy," but I never called him anything but "Secretary Rumsfeld," despite my complete lack of respect for the job he did. It's a lesson I learned from my dad as readers of this little chucklefest might remember. So putting a Hitler mustache on President Obama offends and outrages me on a number of levels, being an American, and being a Jew.
But I'm also a registered Democrat, proud of it, and have every intention of voting that way come November. And that's why I would like the opinion of my friends on the other side of the political spectrum: How offended would you be to see the President of your country, even though you didn't vote for him, being compared to Hitler?
And just in case you needed any information on just how evil Hitler was, consider: everyone knows that Hitler killed 6 million Jews. What you might not know was that the entire Jewish population of Europe was 9 million. Hitler killed 66% of all the Jews as far west as France and as far east as Romania. Today, there are less than 1.2 million Jews in all of Europe. It's a population that might take 20 generations to replenish itself.
And THAT'S the person to whom our President was compared.
OMG! Those people were in my town too.. I did not know they were protesting Obama or anything.. I just saw some weird dudes with some Hitler poster (I am kinda blind) outside the post office and figured I did not want to go anywhere near losers like that.
ReplyDeleteI think you are totally right to be angry if your left, right, or middle politics. People are stupid these days.
Not only is it wildly ignorant, it's not even clever. And they think it's genius.
ReplyDeleteThere will always be morons, you're better off ignoring them and moving on with your life.
The nice part is that they don't really cancel out your vote, what with their multiple felony convictions and all.
Just to set the record straight, I am a fiscal conservative. Socially, I would probably be considered a moderate.
ReplyDeleteAs far as the Hitler/Obama comparison, it's wrong on many levels. I certainly agree with you that there should always be respect shown for the presidency, regardless whether or not you agree with his politics.
This exhibition was far from that.
They needed to be called out and you did that. Good job G-Man!
What do you expect from followers of Lyndon LaRouche? What I hate is that in addition to the Obama stuff they also want the return of the Glass-Steagall Act which is basically regulation of the financial industry. I hate it when crackpots take a position I agree with.
ReplyDelete"How offended would you be to see the President of your country, even though you didn't vote for him, being compared to Hitler?"
ReplyDeleteI guess I would be pretty safe in saying that you did not vote for George W. Bush. Google "George Bush Hitler." You can be sure the conservatives and republicans didn't make and post those images.
My biased opinion is that the scariest people in this country are the far right AND the far left. I cannot belive the hate I see posted on facebook and other social media by extremists on both sides.
Light, you're right of course - I voted for Vice President Gore and Senator Kerry. And yes, there are a lot of images of President Bush out there that are just as icky as what I saw. But they didn't show up at MY post office, nor did I have a hand in their making. I cannot be answerable for those who choose to be disrespectful of the office, just because they happen to vote the way I do.
ReplyDeleteMy whole point is that this is an issue that transcends personal politics.
I'm registered Republican, but probably fall about the same place as Lucki Duck. I'm fiscally conservative and socially moderate. I may not have had as strong a reaction to those protesters as you did, but I definitely would have told them that I didn't appreciate the imagery they were using to try to get their point across.
ReplyDeleteI personally hate election time. I've used that unsubscribe feature on Facebook very freely since my friends (left and right) started sharing their political views.
I think your reaction was understandable, Gary.
Of course, since you are liberal, perhaps we should federally fund some type of entitlement program to help get you through this? : o )
ReplyDelete@Wolfie, is Lyndon LaRouche still alive??
ReplyDelete@Waffles, JT, Duck and Duggle, thanks for confirming that this goes beyond partisan politics.
@lightning, we could do that - or, since you're conservative, maybe we could take that money and use it to fund yet another idiot tax break for people who are already flatulently rich...
Actually Gary those guys aren't GOP. LaRouche was a Dem candidate for president for a number of years. His views ranged all over the place
ReplyDeleteThought he was Libertarian, actually. Hmm.
ReplyDeleteI just want to know why Obama should continue to be in the white house, in your opinion?
ReplyDeleteAround the lunchboxes that were parading around with Obama posters with Hitler mustaches...BOO!
Happy that you gave them a piece of your mind!
My sign would have been more respectful.
Hey there Goondingy - welcome to the site. Poke around, hope you like what you see.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your opinion on the mustache matter. To answer your question, I like President Obama for the same reason that (I think) I'd like Governor Romney: despite my personal beliefs specifically, in the big picture I believe the nation is served best when run by centrists and pragmatists, as opposed to ideologues, from either side of the political spectrum. Unfortunately, usually ideologues are good at winning primaries, so what's shaping up to be a field of two relative centrists is a rare treat.
Anyway, welcome aboard.
Please link to the post(s) you have made that defend Sarah Palin against the disgusting, vitriolic posts made by people on the left side of the spectrum over the last five years so that I can judge your objectivity as I would love to agree with your concerns.
ReplyDeleteI look forward to the links.
Thanks.
Michael
Michael, nobody came to my home town Post Office and showed my neighbors and me a picture of Sarah Palin in a Hitler mustache. Besides, the focus of my blog isn't politics, except here and there and then mostly from an anthropological perspective, so there aren't any links denouncing any damn body, except for the two people who stood outside my Post Office two days ago and put a Hitler mustache on the sitting President of my country.
ReplyDeleteA great deal of my anger was aimed specifically at the Hitler imagery, not necessarily that people are often less respectful of people than they should be - although that pisses me off too.
I'm sorry if I haven't proven my objectivity to your satisfaction.
Actually Michael, to speak the perfect truth I have denounced one person: Jerry Falwell, almost five years ago now, in one of my very first posts:
ReplyDeletehttp://craftysouthpaw.blogspot.com/2007/05/god-finally-breaks-his-silence.html
Nothing to do with this discussion but I wanted to correct the record.