Meyerson: Birthers Hate Having A Black President

Washington Post:

Judging by the first public meetings on health-care reform that members of Congress have begun convening in their districts, America is in Second Coming time, in the William Butler Yeats sense. The best may or may not lack all conviction, as Yeats wrote in his classic poem, but the worst are sure as hell full of passionate intensity.

Last weekend, right-wing Republicans stormed a number of such meetings across the country, shouting down members of the House and, in Philadelphia, Sen. Arlen Specter and Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius. In Austin, protesters blocked Democratic Rep. Lloyd Doggett's car and made it impossible for him to talk to constituents about such matters as appointments to military academies.

Read the whole story: Washington Post

Comments

[ncmom54]

yea well, over half the Nation's voters hated having a GOP President.­..
and did something about it.

[PlainBread]

They also hate that the earth is not the center of the universe.

[deschl]

finally the truth be told

[wakeup804]

Well now the birthers know how we felt for the last 8 years. Most rational thinking people I know hated having a Non Thinking President. So after we elect the President for his second term, we'll call it even.

[MeddlingMonk]

I don't think so. The Bush administration was guilty of waging wars of choice on false premises, violated domestic laws and international laws, and generally subverting the Constitution. Obama is guilty of being...no­t Bush. How is that in any sense 'even'?

[corncat]

Any criticism of or disagreement with the present administration is viewed in terms of "you just hate him because he's black" & the whole thing turns racial. I don't agree with everything this President says & does, but it is NOT because he's black. I simply have a different point of view, so why should my differing with the President & his policies be interpreted as racial? Black people who disagreed with President Bush weren't labeled as racist for criticizing a white man. What ever happened to a civil exchange of ideas & debate of differing viewpoints? The President doesn't take kindly to criticism, even from those in his own party. I think he needs to be more open minded & realize that he's governing an entire nation ... not just a limited voter base in one state. There will always be some who don't see eye to eye with him on everything & they should be allowed to speak their mind without fear of intimidation and/or retaliation.

[ayisha]

first of all...ever­ything you just said seems far more applicable to the previous President than to the current one, who has gone out of his way to engage his opposition, to no avail.

secondly..­.if your problems with the President are as you describe, then the "birther" label (and this commentary) do not apply to you. if, however, you refuse to accept that the President is in fact a US citizen, and you're running around with signs calling him a 'secret Kenyan Muslim' (not that there's anything wrong with being Kenyan or Muslim), then i believe Meyerson is talking about you. note, he did not call all Obama critics, or even all Republicans, racists...­just the lunatic fringe who the GOP have allowed to hijack the public discourse, and who seem insistent on believing that the only way this black man could be President is through some multi-national, multi-generational trickery.

[wakeup804]

Are you talking about W? President Obama has been more than fair in trying to extend his hand, to the Repubs, other nations, and anyone else who is willing to sit down and have a civil discussion. What one state does our current President pander to? In my opinion, he has reached out to every group out there, whether they agree with him or not.

[petite bijou]

The title line of this piece says it ALL.
That is the BOTTOM LINE.

[hauty007]

AGREE about President acting black, he is a US citizen, we all know that. The people want to see his credentials, what's the big deal AMERICA?

[tiredofthesameoldstuff]

He already was checked out by the FBI, CIA and other agencies numerous times through his life when he became a senator. The man has a security clearance above Top Secret for crying out loud.

He is the only president who has been asked to provide things that are protected by federal law that was passed in the 1970s. Sigh the birthers have no understanding of things such as birth certificates or college records or what a security clearance is.

[WoodyIV]

His credentials have already been made public, according to the rules of his birthstate. The birthers will never be satisfied, no matter what proof you will provide. The fact that they will create and or embrace obviously counterfeit documents to advance their agenda, is proof of this. They deserve no more thought than those still around that believe the earth is flat.

[MissElaineous]

The big deal is that they keep moving the goalposts. He produced the requisite documentation. The Republican governor of Hawaii and the head of their health department verified the documentation. Even if they brought Rush and Savage and a Fox news team into the file room where the original was and the guys filmed Rush holding the birth certificate, the birthers would say that those guys were paid off by the liberal media and conjure something else up.

[tb92]

I hope no African-Americans find this offensive, but I think Obama acts as "white" as anybody I've ever met. It's a bit disappointing. I was actually hoping for MORE diversity.

[Sundei]

You're right...he is half white, raised by whites, and lived in non-black communitie­s...I saw this way back during Iowa campaignin­g...

[psbintl]

What exactly is a"acting white" or "acting black"?!

What an ignorant statement to make!

[Bernique]

Mr. Meyerson,

I always enjoy your contributions, here and elsewhere, and this one is very astute. There are so many simple fixes to our imperfect democracy, but each decade brings us further away from rational reform. The insane have taken hold of the asylum, it seems. And the election cycles seem to have no effect. Sigh.

[plaidsportcoat]

They also hate devilishly satanic left-handed people!

[Spikepine]

plaidsportcoat, I hope your mother is not left-handed.

[wally61]

once again the poor saga of the angry black man...get over it..it's not that he's black.it's that he is a socialist ...52 million voters did not vote for him 4 or 5 million left and jumped ship for some kind of change. it will not be hard to get them back next time around. he's making it easy.

[quillsinister]

Find a poli sci 101 class and enroll in it. If you think Obama's policies in any way resemble socialism then you need it badly.

[Wide Stance]

I glad to see that this woman, Oily, is becoming the face of Nutter Nation.

[avah]

Two times in one day, a blatantly INACCURATE headline for the story.

This story is about "minority rule" vis a vis the function of filibusters. Also, a subtext of the story is that the town hall meetings that are being targeted are largely ignored by "the immobilized majority," while the rabidminority have the gonadsto use these forums.

How many people on this comment board even knew that their Representatives hold these meetings regularly??????

If you didn't, you're part of the "the immobilized majority" and you are personally allowing your democratic process to behijacked by the lunaticfringe. Congratulations. And congrats to this s *te for once again blowingthe real story.

[Oldtt]

Headline says: Meyerson: Birthers Hate Having A Black President
The following story mentions this topic exactly once when it includes this speculation:

"When future historians look back at this passage in our nation's history, I suspect they'll conclude that this Obama-isn'­t-American nuttiness refracted the insecurities and, in some cases, the hatred that a portion of conservative white America felt about having a black president and about the transformation of what many thought of as their white nation into a genuinely multiracial republic. But whatever the reasons, a mobilized minority is making a very plausible play to thwart a demobilized majority."

But the HuffPost headline writer has turned this idle speculation into the entire story purely to serve his/her own agenda. It's getting harder for readers to decide what articles are about anymore.

[dimplesmile7]

Put the birthers and teabaggers in Gitmo. They are domestic terrorist!

[TardisJockey]

I was just lurking over at the Drudge Report, where I saw our President openly referred to a Chocolate Jesus, Boy, Barrak Osama, and Monkey Boy.

Tell me again how the racism card is being overplayed and how we're all crying wolf.

[Spikepine]

TardisJockey, Jesus was not a white man when he walked on this earth.

[tb92]

Once again, the facts are on our side. (Love your name, btw. Long live The Doctor!)

[stevi]

Yes, absolutely. Every time I read a wing nut post blaming the left for "playing the race card" I just cringe... What a bunch of professional lying liars, who work for lying liars. Credit to Senator Franken for the lying liars line which I use often, especially when Drudge is discussed.­.

[wesinohio]

I'm glad we elected our 11th Irish-American president. Erin go bragh.

[Bitsko]

Slainte!