As more and more people express themselves angrily, RE: health care and the executive branch’s liberal leanings, it becomes increasingly clear what this is genuinely about:
Race.
It is, and for those who don’t grasp the truth, well, I encourage you to open your eyes and see what we have here. When the masses scream, “I don’t recognize my country anymore!” and “This isn’t the America I know!” it has nothing to do with health care reform and everything to do with the dark face atop our government. Whites are scared. Not my whites—those raised to believe in diversity and multiculturalism; those who look back at segregation and cringe with disgust. But many, many whites see their nation slipping away from them. They look at the immigration issues and hear commercials in Spanish and watch a gay couple bring their son to school … and they feel trapped and scared and increasingly isolated.
To these people, Barack Obama—whether he’s a good president or not—represents their terror. They long for the days of Ronald Reagan and the ilk: White, wavy brown hair, American flags billowing in the wind, tough talk and (seemingly) tough action. They fear the government and its intentions, not fully understanding the irony that the guns they hold are officially registered; that the medicare (and, in some cases, medicaid) they receive are federally funded; that every public park and playground and zoo they enjoy is funded by government money.
No, all that is meaningless drivel, because Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity are issuing their talking points, and their talking points revolve around the idea of fearing the unknown; of fearing the different.
I wish there were a resolution here, but I don’t see it. Poor white Americans will vote against their interests time and time and time again, because—come day’s end—they don’t see themselves in an accurate light and they too often refuse to check out the mirror. They hear a 60-second advertisement saying Obama is a socialist, and they buy it. They hear another one saying the new health care will kill Grandma Bessie, and they buy it, too. They are used and used and used and used as tools by the white, wealthy Republican office holders, thrown a piece of red meat (gays, guns, etc) in return for voting against themselves.
Why?
Because the president is black.
Plain and simple.
