Rush Strikes Again!

[Piggy]

Oh, I remember that well. The difficulty I have is in reading the guys mind. Does he harbor ill feelings or does he believe there are real and substantive differences between races. Does he sincerely believe that racial minorities deserve all rights and privileges? While I think we can make the argument that racism falls on a continuum, I think in the context of this discussion we need to recognize that the word is easily equivocated. I would focus more on his being insensitive and bigoted. JMO.

Other than that I don't care to defend him. It hardly breaks my heart that people think him racist and he surely works hard to put that notion in people's heads. So I'll make that my last word.

I think it was probably just habit.

You spend day after day, year after year, dishing out the racist goop your audience loves to eat up, and it simply becomes a reflex, it becomes your schtick.

So he's in front of a microphone and gets into that mode, forgetting that he's talking to a very different audience.

 

[Polaris]

It's interesting to compare the myths about Bush versus the myths about Obama on Snopes. Some are the same -- so dumb they don't know which end of a phone is up -- but many are different, and in systematic ways.

For instance, no one looking at Obama's life, his policies, and his votes would ever imagine that he's a Socialist, a Marxist, a Communist, a supporter of reparations, or a "crony capitalist".

So why do those accusations stick?

It's because they conform to what his opponents want to believe about a black (or half-breed) Chicago Democrat -- taking money from hard-working white people and giving it away to undeserving lazy minorities in exchange for political power is "what those people do".

Ditto the rumors about Michelle Obama gorging herself on room service and living it up on the public dime, and the rumors that accuse them of having no class (see, for example, the "feet on the desk" brouhaha, and the Photoshop of Michelle in plain clothes next to the stylish first ladies of France and Spain).

This isn't the 1950s... people aren't standing up and railing against the -----s in the White House... instead, they're mounting whisper campaigns which conform to racist stereotypes: low-class people who don't know how to act in poper company and who are going to wreck the country by siphoning money from diligent whites and handing it out to their shiftless minority brothers.More subtle, to be sure, but clearly racist nonetheless.

A local DJ parodied this attitude by railing against Obama's living in government housing.

 

[kookbreaker]

That's not what he commented at all.


(Italics added for emphasis)

The media wanted a black quarterback to succeed. It would be ridiculous for the NFL to want blacks to succeed; they already do. IIRC, they make up something like 60% of the players in the league. But that wasn't enough; the media felt like blacks should also make up 60% of the quarterbacks in the league. And so they hyped young black QBs beyond where they belonged; Michael Vick and Vince Young being just two recent examples.

Now, as it happens, I think Rush was wrong about McNabb, who had started out his career as a good quarterback and had shown solid progression, to the point where he looked like a blossoming star. But he did play poorly at the beginning of 2003, when Rush made his comments. In the first two games that year, his statistical line was 37-82-334-0-3. In fairness, that was against Tampa Bay (defending Super Bowl Champs) and New England (went on to win the Super Bowl that year). Still, those are the teams that Philly had to beat, and McNabb definitely did not perform at an adequate level to give his team a chance.

McNabb did go on to have a great season in 2004, marred only by his listless play at the end of the Super Bowl, and performed at a high level for the next several years after that. So I think Rush was wrong about McNabb overall, and he was right about the media over-hyping black QBs in general (but not McNabb).

Rush flapped his jaw about racial issues when very few people mentioned it. This time it wasn't just his crony of an audience listening. As McNabb put it at the time, criticism is one thing, where did race come from?

 

[Roadtoad]

Rush flapped his jaw about racial issues when very few people mentioned it. This time it wasn't just his crony of an audience listening. As McNabb put it at the time, criticism is one thing, where did race come from?

Further evidence of McNabb having class, and Rush lacking it.

 

[Piggy]

A local DJ parodied this attitude by railing against Obama's living in government housing.

During the campaign, The Onion ran a hilarious article about a "black man asking people for change".

 

[I Ratant]

I eagerly await the joining of the rabid right here, with their Taliban anti-vaxxer brothers-in-arms.

 

[Dorian Gray]

Obama getting more scrutiny, etc., is more a product of our times, and less Obama being half black. The president after Obama will get even more as the internet becomes even more ubiquitous.

As I recall, however, Bush never specifically addressed the issue of whether he was involved in 9/11, and was never called to do it by any popular person on the order of your Trump. If any Democrat gave a 'if Bush says he didn't attack the WTC, then I believe him" or "I have no control over what the American people believe", I'd like to see a link.

Don't get me wrong - I don't think he was involved in that. On the other hand, he also didn't get Osama bin Laden because he really didn't care about that.

 

[MattusMaximus]

When is Rush moving to Costa Rica?

 

[BenBurch]

When is Rush moving to Costa Rica?

Dominican Republic.

Costa Rica.

Why am I thinking there is something in common?

 

[Foolmewunz]

Google Results

1 of 12,700,000 results for SEND OBAMA BACK TO KENYA
1 of 122,000,000 results for SEND OBAMA BACK TO AFRICA

Are the birfers just ignorant of what country he's claimed to have been born in? Or is this more indicative of something else?

(Argumenum Ad Googleum was introduced by someone else.)

 

[SezMe]

Oh, really? How about the Bush Hitler comparisons? .....
Keith Olbermann called Bush a fascist:

Of course, Brainster, you can find a low jab at Bush that is similar to those directed at Obama. No surprise there. But I think that misses the point. It is not the occurrence of jabs, it's the ongoing relentlessness that I think makes the difference.

Another difference is that most Congressional Dems in the Bush era did not join in the nastiness. That cannot be said of Obama's foes. Even today we hear Rep incumbents and challenges mouthing the birther crap, the socialist nonsense, the "hates America" bull, etc. How long has it been since Obama released his long form certificate (much less the short one, which should have shut the thing down) yet Arpaio still carries on like an idiot and the PRESIDENTIAL nominee courts his endorsement. Jesus, Brainster, that's disgusting.

Google Assassinate Bush: 2,660,000 hits
Google Assassinate Obama: 403,000 hits

When you're reduced to comparing Google hits, you've lost your argument.

 

[Piggy]

A quick overview of rumors about Obama which are widespread enough to merit treatment on Snopes... presented in reverse chronological order...

There are many listed on Snopes, including those that get recycled for every president, so I've chosen the ones that illustrate the relevant themes for this discussion -- the view that the Obamas are low-class people with socialist leanings who are essentially non-American (they don't understand America or are aligned with foreign interests) and only want to use their power to funnel income from hard-working whites to shiftless minorities.

Note that some of the rumors are false, but others are spin on actual events:

Obama wears his flag pin upside-down to indicate his solidarity with Muslims and had a Marine relieved of duty for pointing it out.

Michelle Obama dresses like a Hoochie-Mamma at an awards program.

Obama's publisher says he was born in Kenya.

Obama makes false charges against Navy SEALs, then tries to take credit for their work; Obama goes soft on terrorists at Gitmo, then tries to claim that information from the prisoners helped him get bin Ladin.

Michelle Obama insults the flag.

Obama's lawyers admit to birth certificate forgery.

Obama doesn't know what Wisconsin's state flag looks like, assumes it's a union flag. (Rich irony in that one.)

Obama's Columbia ID states that he's a foreign student.

Obama throws a tantrum at a meeting with Congressional leaders.

Obama snubs American manufacturers and orders a bus from a Canadian firm instead.

Obama overpays his staff.

Obama has a stolen Social Security number.

Obama supports openly fraudulent payments to black farmers.

Michelle Obama behaves in a low-class manner around high-class Brits, and so the Obamas are snubbed by William and Kate.

Obama removes jewelry in observance of Ramadan.

Obama admits he is foreign-born.

Obamas live high on the hog in India at taxpayer expense.

Michelle dresses in Mammy clothes at a foreign state dinner.

Kagan is nominated to SCOTUS for helping Obama cover up his ineligibility for office.

Obama lies about his father's military service.

Obamas fly their dog around on his own jet at taxpayer expense.

Obama removes red-white-and-blue decor from office and replaces it with Middle Eastern decor.

Obama delivers unprecedented snub to fallen soldiers.

Obama cancels National Day of Prayer.

Obama hates the Boy Scouts.

Federal stimulus money goes to save Michelle's brother's job.

Kenya claims to be Obama's birthplace.

Obama never attended Columbia.

Obama desecrates Oval Office.

Obama hates Christianity and the military and is sympathetic to terrorists.

Obamas salute the flag with their left hands.

Obama refuses to salute veterans.

Obama called to court over problems with elegibility for office.

Obama tries to claim that the Founders are socialist (or something).

AP reveals that Obama is a Kenyan.

Obamas pimp it up at a White House ball.

Obama was in the Black Panthers.

Obamas gorge themselves on lobster at taxpayer expense and rig an event in Montana to give a false impression of support for his policies.

Michelle has a huge entourage paid for by tax dollars.

Obama has a Kenyan birth certificate.

Russians refuse to shake Obama's hand.

Obama had a non-US passport.

Michelle can't travel to Muslim countries because Obama is a Muslim.

Obama received financial aid as a foreign student in the US.

Obama interferes with SEAL rescue effort.

Obama doesn't want to pay for veterans' health care.

Air Force One's tail number is a racial slur.

Obama funds Palestinian resettlement in the US.

Nostradamus predicts America's downfall when a black president is elected.

Obama snubs police.

Obama's association with domestic terrorists makes him ineligible for a security clearance.

Obama admits to being a Muslim.

Michelle pigs out on room service. (Why is it always lobster?)

Obama won't speak the name of Israel.

Obama reads books by Muslims who oppose US power.

Obama is buddies with Bill Ayers.

Obama wants to force banks to make bad loans to poor people.

Obama's finances are shady.

Obama wants to forcibly redistribute wealth.

Obama replaces US flag with his logo.

Obama snubs soldiers in Afghanistan.

Obama has a forged birth certificate.

Obama wants to tax working people heavily to pay for socialized medicine.

Obama campaign paid for by foreigners.

Obama not a natural-born citizen.

Obama is an anti-white racist.

Obama lies about his background, credentials, religion, voting record, etc.

Obama involved in Kenyan politics.

Obama wants to replace National Anthem with Coke jingle.

Obama wants to take away gun rights, and raise taxes on the weathy to fund socialist programs.

Obama's family are a bunch of low-lifes.

Obama wants to fundamentally change America.

Obama lies about his connection to the civil rights movement.

Obama campaign funded by Hugo Chavez.

Obama refuses to salute flag.

Obama is a radical Muslim.

So the question is, why is it that these rumors in particular are the ones to gain traction?

The pattern is pretty clear.

The message is the one that folks who are most likely to oppose Obama are most likely to believe -- he is not like us, he is not one of us.

* The Obamas are low-class people with low-life families who lie about their credentials and don't deserve to be where they are.

* Obama is a foreigner, and his rise to power was supported by foreigners.

* The Obamas don't know how to dress or behave in high-class company.

* The Obamas are living it up on the public dime.

* Obama wants to funnel money away from wealthy and working people and give it to other shiftless low-lifes.

* Obama does not believe in our religion and doesn't understand our institutions or values.

* Obama is in cahoots with anti-American interests, especially radical Muslims.

All of this, of course, plays into racial stereotypes and racial fears.

People believe this because they are already predisposed to believe such things about blacks, Democrats (especially Chicago Democrats), and people who have spent time outside the US (especially if they were partially raised overseas).

The days of publicly railing against the uppity Negroes are over (except in my state, where my own representative called the Obamas "uppity" and stood by it), but it is still possible to play into that stereotype without coming out and saying it, and that's where the propaganda has gone.

It allows Obama's opponents to feed on those unspoken stereotypes without coming out and actually naming them themselves, which gives them a "Who, me?" excuse if charges of racism are raised. (ETA: See also, for example, Gingrich's comments on Obama's misunderstanding of the UK because of his Kenyan mindset.)

But it's difficult to look at that pattern of rumors and not see what's going on.

 

[I Ratant]

Magnificent!

 

[Chaos]

Magnificent!

That list is so long and so thoroughly put together, it´ll be at least five minutes, maybe even ten, before the usual suspects completely ignore it and continue wailing the "but the Left´s hatred of Bush was much worse" chorus.

 

[leftysergeant]

Oh, really? How about the Bush Hitler comparisons? Why, there's even a poster on this very thread who has a website called the White Rose Society, after the group of German students who were executed for opposing the Nazi regime with leaflets. He's bravely standing up against the new fascism; amazingly he has not yet been beheaded.

This time, the sane people are not letting the corporatists take control of everything without a fight.

Keith Olbermann called Bush a fascist:

Well, he did try to turn as much of the government over to the military/industrial complex as he coud and he used some really sleazy lies to get us into two warts with no hope of an exit under his plan.

 

[SezMe]

Well, he did try to turn as much of the government over to the military/industrial complex as he coud and he used some really sleazy lies to get us into two warts with no hope of an exit under his plan.

I think that is a wonderful typo.

 

[Piggy]

That list is so long and so thoroughly put together, it´ll be at least five minutes, maybe even ten, before the usual suspects completely ignore it and continue wailing the "but the Left´s hatred of Bush was much worse" chorus.

Well, of course, the left did spread rumors about Bush. But the narrative was very different.

The Bush rumors portrayed him as a coddled, inarticulate, not-so-bright scion of privilege, a cronyist who was a closet racist and wanted to turn the country into an Evangelical theocracy.

The narrative for Obama is quite different, though, and it's clearly a narrative tailor-made to fit the stereotypes of xenophobes, Islamophobes, and racists.

(What's also interesting is that Obama has already racked up more rumors on Snopes than Bush did in 2 terms, and many of Bush's Snopes entries are positive ones -- such as jogging with a wounded serviceman, hugging relatives of 9/11 victims, or his wife giving Xmas gifts to inmates' kids -- while virtually all of the rumors about Obama are negative.)

 

[Tricky]

Everybody knows that Snopes is based in a Moslem enclave in Kenya.

 

[BenBurch]

delete please

 

[BenBurch]

Everybody knows that Snopes is based in a Moslem enclave in Kenya.

In fact;