I am continuing to run into such sentiments as "Obama is a Communist" and "Democrats are the enemy of America." My question is, when will these people ever learn?
If Obama had been a Communist - or a Hitler, or a totalitarian, or anything else of which these people accuse him - then these people would be in a labor camp, or else they would be dead. Instead they are free to spread their propaganda, using government-built Internet of all places, without encountering any kind of legal prosecution. Which means either that these people are completely misjudging the the situation and are sincerely deluded or that they are lying. A real totalitarian would have them all in labor camps; and since they are not in labor camps it is ridiculous to portray Obama as anything like a totalitarian, a Communist or a Hitler.
These same people are claiming that Obama's supporters are Marxists who are fomenting class wars. I've known maybe one or two Marxists in America, and they were into themselves; but I have known many more Republicans who are out there fomenting class wars for real. It is the Republican class war against the so-called "liberal elites" that has been the ugliest class war ever waged in America. Their attacks on scientists, journalists, teachers, filmmakers, artists, of America are making it hard for these people to do their jobs and are severely undermining America's competitiveness. Without government, vastly liberal, science, that's at the root of all technology; government, vastly liberal, education that makes people employable; government projects such as the Interstate and the Internet that provide the infrastructure for business to do its job; and vastly liberal computer industry that was the true source of 1980s and 1990s economic growth; capitalism would be nowhere. And I for one find it unbelievable that this obvious argument is not being made in political discourse.
These same people are blaming the deficit on the Democrats in the government. Did they forget that the only time in recent history that there was fiscal sanity in the government was in the later years of the Clinton administration? Did they forget that budget went from a large surplus in 2000 to a huge deficit in 2002 and afterwards? Did they forget that Reagan started the giant deficits - a move that many Democrats saw as a Republican ploy to hobble the government? Obama had a task to perform. He had to rescue the economy from a free-fall. Whereas Bush had zero excuse for his irresponsible policies, and America is still nowhere close to having recovered from his malfeasance.
Then there's the claim that Obama is the enemy of America. Last time I checked, Obama has continued the policies of fighting America's real enemies. The same people who claimed Bush to be a great American patriot have called not only Obama but also Clinton the enemies of America. I got the news for these people. A patriot is judged based on what he does to either improve or to damage his country. And by this real-world standard, Clinton is one of America's greatest ever patriots, and Bush is one of America's greatest-ever villains.
And Obama, having rescued America from its worst crisis since Great Depression, certainly qualifies as a true American patriot.
We also see the claim that Obama is a socialist. If he had been a socialist, he would have listened to those who advised him to nationalize the banks. Instead he rescued America's capitalism from collapsing. This cost him dearly, and this cost his party dearly. And what we see here is someone who is so patriotic, and so good for his country, that he would knowingly risk his own party's fortunes in order to rescue American system.
Simply, it is ridiculous to impugn Obama's patriotism or to portray him as an enemy of America. He has done much for America. Not only that, but Obama also epitomizes the American dream. Here is someone who was raised by a single mother, who is black, and who through his own wits and hard work rose to become the President of America. We see few people today who embody American ethic to a greater extent.
Then there are the people who see him as culturally un-American. What, do you expect him to wear a baseball cap, watch Nascar and drink Miller Lite? I am reminded of some black people who claimed that Obama was not black enough (a comedian responds, "what do you want him to do, run around with gold chains selling crack and slapping hos?") America is a huge and diverse country that has been built by people of different extractions, and it is ridiculous to claim someone to be un-American because he does not practice the worst aspects of one of the many cultures that exist in America. A country that promises liberty should welcome diversity. People are different and, when left to their own devices, come up with different adaptations. Diversity is the visible proof of liberty, and lack of diversity is a certain proof that liberty is missing. Which means that one cannot use the terms "freedom" and "culturally un-American" in the same sentence.
There are people who see Obama as part of "liberal elites"; then they go on shouting about Marxist class wars while practicing much worse class wars themselves. There are people who call Obama a totalitarian, then they advocate overtly totalitarian tactics such as killing and imprisoning liberal Democrats. There are people who claim that they are America and that the majority of America - which voted for Obama in the last election - is not. The danger to America does not come from Obama or Obama's followers. It comes from these people.
Democrats will remain in the White House through 2016, and I have no idea what will happen afterwards. But it is important to know who and what the right-wingers are and what danger they pose to this country. Make no mistake about it: These people want your blood. And they would do anything to get your blood, from lying without reprieve to performing whatever corrupt machinations they want to perform in order to get into power.