You know, growing up in a solidly Reagan dominated, Republican America while in a Democratic-leaning family, I got used to feeling of being in the minority opinion, if you will. Being a family that tended to be interested in and discuss political matters, the subject was always fascinating.
The thing was, there seemed to hardly be any real political discourse within the country itself. Ronald Reagan was such a popular president, that it seemed almost unfathomable to question the wisdom of his policies. That said, that might have been because we lived in a bastion of conservatism in the wealthy and growing suburbs of northwest New Jersey.
This political spirit of the nation, or perhaps a lack thereof, lasted until the 1992 election, when the Gipper's successor, George H. W. Bush, unexpectedly found himself in a serious race for the presidency. As an incumbent who had led America to a war that was widely hailed as a success, Bush seemed unbeatable maybe a year before the election. But to his credit, Clinton focused on the economy, and exposed the weaknesses of the economy, and Bush's handling of it. Ross Perot's presence helped as well. And, surprisingly, Clinton managed to win the election.
Almost as soon as Clinton actually was inaugurated, I noticed a very different feel politically in the country than I had experienced before. While there certainly were dissenters to Reagan and Bush, it was quite muted, and nobody questioned their validity in holding office.
That was not the case for Clinton. Within weeks of his first taking office, I started seeing Impeach Clinton bumper stickers everywhere. The claim, I guess, was regarding the now largely forgotten Whitewater scandal, and conservatives tried to undermine his very credibility in office, despite a convincing election win, by harping on this subject, and calling for his impeachment, fully six years before the Monica Lewinsky scandal.
This spirit of detraction from the legitimacy of the nation's leader lasted throughout the entire eight years in office for Clinton. Much like with Obama, I was not a big fan of Clinton. Unlike with Obama, I actually voted for the guy - twice! Admittedly, I did so enthusiastically in 1992, and then with a greater degree of reluctance and detachment in 1996. He was not what I had hoped for or expected. Perhaps a part of it was that he had seemed untrustworthy among the Democratic candidates early in 1992 (my man was Tom Harkin), but by the time he actually showed a possibility that he could win the whole election, he seemed almost like another John F. Kennedy to me. But after four disappointing years, I was less than thrilled with him, and beginning to feel that the Democrats and Republicans were not as different as I had believed (and frankly, hoped) throughout my life.
Still, there were some things that conservatives attacked him on which, quite frankly, seemed just so utterly absurd. The Whitewater scandal was overblown, and his numerous sex scandals were flashy, but hardly grounds to suggest that he dishonored America. And yes, I believe that the efforts to impeach him were ridiculous, and amounted to an intense personal dislike of the man, mixed with a false sense of entitlement among increasingly bratty and immature Republicans, that led to the impeachment. If this country did not hold such outdated, puritanical attitudes when it came to sexual affairs and scandals, it might have been able to focus on far weightier issues.
When Bush got in office, he did so after a tremendously controversial election that undermined his authority as far as many people were concerned. That went away after 9/11, but it came back once he began to push aggressively for an unjustifiable war with Iraq. It also seemed that Democratic supporters, and more generally dissenters of President Bush (and there were many) took the opportunity to treat Bush with the same measure of disdain and a questioning of his legitimacy that Clinton had been forced to deal with throughout his two terms in office.
Therefore, it was no surprise that when Obama took office, he was also seen as lacking legitimacy. It took a bit longer for those attacks to gain traction. But when they came, they came with a vengeance.
No, I am not myself a big fan of Obama. I think he has done some decent things while in office, and particularly since last November's elections (which the Democrats lost resoundingly). But by and large, to me, he resembled George W. Bush far too much, particularly during those first six or so years, until those last elections. Now, he is beginning to seem like he is indeed setting himself apart from his predecessor, which is a refreshing change, although I am still not sure if it is, or will amount to being, a case of too little, too late.
Anyway, I am getting ahead of myself. The attacks against Obama seemed to gain traction in no time, and my suspicions are that a lot of people seemed to wake up when things got very bad, and the generally gullible American people heard Republicans shouting relentlessly about how bad things were in the country and pointed to the man now in the Oval Office (rather than the man that was in the Oval Office when the everything hit the fan all at once), and decided that Obama was responsible. Perhaps there was racism behind it, perhaps not - although that is not a topic that I wish to address right at this moment. But make no mistake: Obama was harshly and unfairly blamed for the condition that his predecessor left the country in. Obama was guilty, evidently, of not waving a magic wand and instantly and painlessly fixing things, which is apparently not only what the American people wanted, but expected.
The falsehoods gained traction, while the things that Obama rightfully could be criticized for (such as, again, seemingly being a clone of his predecessor) remained largely muted. People actually were calling Obama the worst president in history, despite having been through eight long years of George W. Bush! If that is not hypocrisy, I don't know what is!
So, there are all sorts of things that many American people, a great many of whom would consider themselves as proud conservatives, seem to believe about President Obama, regardless of whether or not the facts suggest otherwise. Many of these things really have nothing to do with politics, but simply, stupidity. He is a foreigner, having been born in Kenya. He is a secret Muslim and, by implication, sympathizes with terrorists. Some have even likened him to the Anti-Christ.
A while back, I published a blog entry about a sketch from the Jimmy Kimmel show in which he asks numerous Americans what they think about "Obamacare" and then, what they think about the "Affordable Care Act", even though they are one and the same. It showed that, generally speaking, a lot of Americans strongly opposed it when it was called "Obamacare", but liked the idea when it was called the "Affordable Care Act", even though they were, of course, one and the same.
Again, the American people tend to be politically naive. They believe what they want to believe, and feel a false sense of entitlement that is best represented in their belief in "American exceptionalism".
So, here is yet further proof. Another video from a late night talk show host revealing just how easily swayed too many Americans are, especially when it comes to disliking Obama. Click on the link below to see the video for yourself:
Watch: This Video Proves Americans Will Believe ANY Lie About Obama March 16, 2015 8:51 pm by: Omar Rivero
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