I’m sure most of you have seen the picture of President Obama with the Joker make up in the style that Heath Ledger wore in the Batman movie with the word “socialism” underneath him. This picture leaped from the streets of Los Angeles (hardly a conservative stronghold) unto the internet. The picture has been the center of much discussion in both the media and the blogs. (Both conservative and liberal)
What concerns me is: I’m seeing an element from the Left that I feel is just as bad as the Neo-Cons are from the Right. These Neo-Libs are just as obnoxious and closed minded as their counterparts on the Right. During the Bush years, if you spoke out against President Bush, the Iraq War, Patriot Acts (Hardly, what a true Patriot would support), the War Commissions Act, Gitmo and various other things: you must be UnAmerican! Unpatriotic, or even worse…A Terrorist!
I guess I’m a terrorist then.
The Neo-Cons were effective (sadly) in pushing this belief system out. Now the Neo-Libs are doing the same thing with this picture of the Joker.
Their claim is: This picture is RACIST!
What the hell?
How can one justify that claim?
However, these are the same people that had no issue with a similar picture of President Bush wearing the same styled makeup on the cover of Vanity Fair.
The Joker is a psycho nut on a power trip. I can see resemblance with Bush. What about Obama?
He has expanded the war in Afghanistan. He has not repealed the Patriot Acts or the War Commissions Act. He promised last March that he would close Gitmo within a year. In April 2010, let’s see if he keeps that promise. We will be out of Iraq by 2011. I’m not holding my breath. The Government took over the GM. The House passed Cap and Trade in a way that was very similar to the Banker Bailout Bill from last September. Something President Obama campaigned against during the election after the Banker Bailout was approved. His policies towards Wall Street thus far have been very similar to his predecessor.
If one wants to suggest the Bush picture as the Joker is justified, one could argue that Obama’s is as well.
Okay, if you don’t like the picture… If you think the picture is unfair criticism… If you think it is off base…
I would have no issue with anyone from the Left making a case for any of these points. However calling it racist????
Is all the criticism from the Right towards President Obama racially based? With the Neo-Libs, you would think so.
As I surf the web checking out various political forums, I have seen discussions about various topics and eventually a Neo-Lib will step in and call those arguing against President Obama policies racists. I have also seen various reports that Conservative Blacks are being called “Uncle Tom’s.”
Earlier in the year, Janeane Garofalo said on Keith Olbermann’s show, “It’s not about bashing Democrats, it’s not about taxes, they have no idea what the Boston tea party was about, they don’t know their history at all. This is about hating a black man in the White House. This is racism straight up. That is nothing but a bunch of teabagging rednecks.”
I will not deny that there are racist idiots who can’t stand the fact that our President is a black man. However, I doubt everyone that has attended Tea Party events are all racists as Janeane Garofalo claims.
Presidents will always be criticized. Remember the head masks of Nixon, Carter, Reagan, and Clinton? So if one makes a mask of Obama, are they going to be a racist?
I can’t say with a 100 percent absolute certainly that the creator of the Obama as Joker picture isn’t a racist. However, I do believe the Neo-Libs who are making such claims have no evidence to support their statements.
Perhaps, we all, both Left and Right are seeing too much in the picture. Maybe, the artist really thinks Obama is just a joker. Who knows?
Anyone who has heard the podcast knows I’m not a Bush or Obama supporter. Well, I guess I have to live with the fact that to the Neo-Cons that I’m a terrorist, and to the Neo-Libs, I’m a racist.
What will I do now?
5 Comments
Yeah, there’s not much racism at all at the tea parties. Except for the signs comparing Obama to a witch doctor, to Urkle, etc.
Or the ones calling him a Kenyan. Or a monkey.
Dude, if you can’t see the growing and increasingly less overt racism among the opposition, you aren’t looking. I mean yeah, the Joker poster is not a racist image per se, but you can bet that racists love it, and that the person who designed it might be one.
Oh, and let’s not overlook the underlying racism in the easily debunked Birther conspiracy theory.
Brian,
Thanks for the comments.
I do wonder if you have attended a Tea Party?
Well, I have.
There was Tea Party demonstrations across the country around July 4th. Yes, there was a lot Anti-Obama posters and the Democratic leadership. I can honestly say that none that I saw I would say were racist. (Albeit, not very flattering either.)
So I will assume what coverage you saw was from the media. Earlier in the year, I posted three videos involving CNN’s Susan Roesgen. In one, she covers a liberal protest rally where she is friendly like she is having coffee with her best friend. Another one, she covered the tea party in Chicago on tax day. She was very combative with the people who were attending. The last one, she was filmed by a third party while being chastised by an attendee saying her report to CNN was biased.
I will concede FOX is no different. If FOX sends a reporter out to some Liberal event, they will interview the hippie dude who did way too much LSD in his youth. Hardly, a person that a Liberal would want as their spokesperson. MSNBC will grab a redneck who probably can’t count to 10. This is one of the points I was trying to make in the post.
You, yourself conceded that the Joker picture isn’t racist. However, MSNBC and CNN spent days telling the American Public that it is.
Again, what I am seeing is the Neo-Libs are calling anyone who are Anti-Obama racists. I see it in the news, blogs and many forums. Do I think everyone who are Obama supporters are Neo-Libs? No, I don’t.
Yes, I will not deny that there are racists in the country who can’t stand we have a black president. However, I can also say Janeane Garofalo is off base saying that every Tea Party Attendee are as well.
From my point of view, I see no difference between the Neo-Libs calling people racists and the Neo-Cons calling everyone who didn’t support Bush’s policies UnAmerican.
They have tracked the picture creation to some young artist that was trying a new program to convert the image from Time magazine cover to a joker face. Once created it and posted on the net it got put up in LA on posters – no specifics on who or why. So no racism intended.
People see what they want to – its sad they think what they see is fact.
But on the racism thing I don’t quite get it. If you care to assign race. Obama is just another white president. How can I say this – heresy. Facts – Black father – White mother (who actually raised him). In Hawaii. Went to Harvard. Why does the absent father get all the credit and Obama becomes just a black man. People get to hate because of the color of his skin. I don’t care. What I do care about is his politics and what they will end up costing me and my country.
The calls of racism are smokescreens. Either on purpose to silence opposition, redirect attention, or internally clouding the small minds of people that see other people through their ethnic backgrounds. That way they can avoid considering others opinions and ideas and just hate them and consider them small minded. Enjoy.
Wierd , your post shows up with a grey hue to it, what color is the main color on your site?