This has nothing to do with the two books we've been assigned, but I still feel a need to bring this up. The media and all of the politicians are unfairly judging President Obama, blaming him for all of the problems with America. He's being blamed for things that started way before him, and things he could have done NOTHING about. For instance, critics and the media are bashing Obama because of the Iraq and Afghanastan wars, two things that started with Bush. Now, I do admit, I don't like the fact that he's sending in more troops, but what else can he do? He's wanted to stop the war ever since the beginning of his campaign, but no one will compromise with him. He tries to stop something, the Senate and all of the politicians around him give him a hard time until he gives up and sends in more troops. With all of the controversy he's going through and the fact that politicians disagree with every little thing he says, how can we expect him to stop an almost-decade long war in less than a year?
On top of that, people are blaming him for the oil spill. Seriously? That's like blaming him for global warming because we can't stop polluting our world. The oil spill happened out of nowhere- there was absolutely no way Obama, or anyone else, could have predicted something so random to happen. Now is that really fair, especially since he's doing so much to help figure out how to stop the oil spill?
Don't think I'm biased just because I'm African American, too; I would be against any president being blamed for crimes he did not commit. It's honestly not fair; I mean, he's barely been in office for a year and people already expect all of America's problems to be solved. The media is a big factor in this; if it wasn't producing so much gossip and so many debate programs full of people bashing Obama, the public might not be so blinded to what's going on right in front of them. But even if the media wasn't against Obama, would it make a difference in how America sees Obama? Does the fact that he's the first visually non-white president play a part in this?
Woman who ignored warnings signs is dead
1 hour ago
What an outrage! People shouldn't blame Obama for something that he didn't cause. He had nothing to do with the oil spill- it was a freak accident! I could see if he swam to the bottom of the ocean and drilled a hole in the oil pipe; I would blame him too! But that's not the case. Why are people so hateful towards him? I mean, it's not like his just laying down eating donuts. He's working hard, day and night, to stop this crisis from getting worse. Also, it's not like what he says or does will please everyone, right? After all, not everyone can be happy with Obama's decisions.
ReplyDeleteAnd yes, I believe it's because he is "visually non-white" that he is being blamed for everything. This is the sad truth, in my honest opinion. Take my mom and dad's friends, for instance. They are republicans, so they feel this 'need' to mock a democratic president! They are always sending my parents dumb emails and texts 'making fun' of him. That's just sad, wouldn't you agree? And what's funny, is that the emails that are intended to make you laugh, aren't even funny; they're just flat out rude! I despise these 'hypocritical' people.
Honestly, Lenora, no, I don't think his being non-white plays any part in this. It isn't even bipartisan divides. It really is just plain old politics. You could also say it is the people just being the people.
ReplyDeleteHere are a few examples. Take a look at the Shakespearean play "Julius Caesar". Caesar's assasins swayed the public to believe he was a dictator, but his friend Marc Antony got them back against the murderers. And, though this is a sensitive subject, Michael Jackson was ridiculed for his alleged crimes. It took his death to regain respect.
I hate to sound political, but if you can have a way with words and control a mob, you can make an enemy of anyone, even your own President.
Also, if I must make a plain point here, why is it that we rely on these politicians at all in the first place? We, as a democracy, are defined as the government. It shouldn't be their opinion that matters. It should be ours.
ReplyDeleteLenora,
ReplyDeleteI see that this is frustrating you and it upsets me as well. From the get-go I was on Obama's ban-wagon but more and more into his presidency people have blamed him for Bush's mess and things he can't even control. Personally, I think it has something to do with his background. "Oh, he's black so he can't do anything right,"--that's all I hear but do these ignorant people realize he's not just black and that he is fully educated? They just pick at every little flaw and imperfection or mistake. I agree with Cabusora when he says it's just "Plain Ol' Politics" but I strongly believe it's about race too. If Obama was a white man, would this be happening? Would he be targeted? You would think people of this day and age would except variety of people and their origins but we still haven't fixed that, sadly. Wow, they even blamed O8bama for the oil spill? Real mature. BP should be the ones breaking their backs to fix the spill not anyone else. But Lenora, I agree with you and I think it halfly has to do with race. +I agree with Kevin Cabusora's last comment too. Now I finally get why people relate Obama to Hitler.--->
http://threesecondsofdeadair.files.wordpress.com/2009/10/adolph-obama.jpg
I agree with Kevin to an extent. It could just be a racial issue disguised as a political feud. But once it's labeled as such is sounds like a typical conspiracy which, in truth, is kind of ridiculous. But going back to Kevin's comment on how it's "just plain old politics" and, in reality, it is. My cousin is an intern at the office of a senator back in D.C. and the other interns have tried to put her down. At a glance one might think that it's just because she is an African American female, but then again, if you look closely everybody gives and recieves snide comments. It's a prime example on how in reality they have nothing against her (and in turn Obama) but if they want to get ahead in the game then they're going to have to put people down. It's like a crazy popularity contest on steroids; if you want to reach the top then you're going to have to be mean. Also, since Obama is still fairly new in office the disagreements about his win over John McCain are still a hot topic in some parts of the country. I'm not going to deny that people don't have issues against him being black because, lets face it, there are still racist people out there but no matter what race he was she would still face these problems. It's politics; you win some, you lose some.
ReplyDeleteI think the reason Obama is blamed is because the people want to blame the government, but instead blame Obama because he is the embodiment of the government. But this is an argument for the realm of politics.And besides, what you bring up isn't new; it's been happening for as long as the office of presidency has existed. One thing I will say is the oil spill could have been prevented- partly. BP was doing some things they aren't supposed to do. It's the government's job to make sure they don't do those things. They didn't. Thus, we had an oil spill, and like I said before, the people want to blame the government, but instead blame Obama for aforementioned reasons.
ReplyDeleteActually, I want to take back what I said in my comment about people blaming Obama for the oil spill, I said that BP should be the ones to blame NOT Obama but he is partly to blame and for me to say he wasn't at all was uninformed and ignorant, and I apologize.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading this Lenora, I looked up anything relating to the BP Oil Spill, and Obama, I guess you could say, is technically to blame. He made off shore drilling illegal, making on shore drilling the option available. He did this because he felt that the U.S. is too dependent on the middle east for natural resources and oil, thus he wanted to be a independent country. So to be this "independent" fend for ourselves kind of U.S., he made off shore drilling illegal (no more middle eastern help). So what I am saying is, if Obama never made that decision, the oil spill would have most likely, never had happened. And because of his strong ban on off shore drilling he may be the reason the ocean is being destroyed and the lead to our decease in years to come if the spill is not fixed.
"Also, if I must make a plain point here, why is it that we rely on these politicians at all in the first place? We, as a democracy, are defined as the government. It shouldn't be their opinion that matters. It should be ours."
ReplyDeleteKevin, just for the record, we're not a pure democracy, we're a Federal Republic. Direct democracy was very much opposed by the framers of the US Constitution. I know it seems like a minor thing to fuss about, but it's better to let you know.
Maybe I am just an idealist in government, Raul. I just think that we do not vote for people in order to blame them for our problems. I also most certainly think this is a relevant topic, since Postman describes how the media, including the TV, was powerful enough to sway public opinion of the Vietnam War and stop racism.
ReplyDeleteLenora I agree with you, but then I don't. Obama was not even close to becoming president when the war in Iraq began. He is in a deep hole because if he send more troops the people hate him, but if he stops sending troops Congress gets on his case. But the oil spill was Obamas fault as Breahna was saying because he gave the order to make off shore drilling illegal. The United States cannot function on its own. Almost everything is made in China! So this oil spill problem was actually his fault and now he does not know what to do. In conclusion, when Obama took the pledge to become president he knew that he would be faced with problems from past president's choices and his own. So what im saying is, is that he should have came up with a solution to fix the problem in Iraq and find ways to fix his own problems. But until then we are going no where besides downhill.
ReplyDeleteYeah, all of you guys are right. I guess, since he passed that law, it's partly his fault for the oil spill; but that still doesn't justify his being blamed for the wars going on. Still, though I'd like to claim this to be the first time a president has gone through so much in a long time, that's probably not true. I haven't been paying enough attention to politics before the past two years to know; I've either been too young to understand or too naive to care. I guess that if I paid more attention back then, I wouldn't be so shocked with all of the drama Obama's going through. Thanks for the clear up; it makes me a little less angry at Congress and politics in general. But only a little.
ReplyDeletePolitics is theater, and the entire world is watching the stage. This is not an easy situation, but I think everyone has blood on their hands (mostly BP). BP did cause the spill which came from an offshore oil rig that showed to may have had several violations. These violations were overlooked by the Minerals Management Service, a government agency that was supposed to be regulating offshore drilling. Technically most of the fault is in BP's hands but some of it is in the government's as well. Unfortunately the media can spin a story however they want to and it's usually against Obama as well as BP, and if the media's against him, than the country's against him. Not because he's black, but because he's supppose to represent "us" and the people don't like what's happening. And regarding Kevin's comment, its unfortunate that a perfect representative democracy is pretty much impossible to have. A "person" is smart and rational enough, but "people" are stupid, fearful, and paranoid.
ReplyDeleteI take back some of what I had stated previously. Breahna, I had no idea that Obama had made off shore drilling illegal. Well, it looks like I was partially incorrect. Despite this, though, I still agree with Lenora. It is a huge shame that people are pointing fingers towards President Obama for just about everything that goes wrong!
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with Quangle's comment, but from less of a political view and more from a sociology standpoint. Obama's appearance and ethnicity is a tiring detail is the actions he makes, and to bring it up is only allowing biased opinions to regulate. The people who are upset about the oil spill and Obama are concerned with his actions as our president; however, those who continue to bring up the fact that he is black, no matter what Obama accomplishes, are ignorant.
ReplyDeleteChyenne Nation, I don't want to go on a "tit-for-tat" argument, but I just wanted to bring light to the fact that everything that happens in politics and with the government can't be solved "logically" or by the text books. Wicked things still go on that still involve race, whether you want to believe it or not. Saying he is black is not making excuses, but it's the sad truth, as Joey had stated--it's what happens in the real world, maybe you haven't been exposed (I don't mean to say you haven't because I don't know you personally)--but maybe you haven't been exposed to real racism and or bias before because we are still young, living in sheltered lives. But some of us have.
ReplyDeleteThe fact that Obama is not visibly white may not be the main factor, but it plays a big factor.
There basically is almost no way to have a sudden stop to end the Iraqi war because it’s been more than 5 years we have been involved. We are in a deep situation that ending it abruptly might not be the answer to ending a problem that started because of our previous President.
ReplyDeleteObama has done a lot of good to this country but considering it is not noticeable, most of us don’t feel the impact. He is starting out with small changes and working his way up to the big ones. Changing the insurance policy to be under a legal guardian of a parent up to the age of 26 rather than 23 is already a big difference. His deal with trying to enforce health insurance is another one of his changes. Obama is different in many ways out of all the presidents we had but changes can’t happen overnight.