'Did Hateful Political Rhetoric Help Lead To Attempted Obama Assassination?'
Do you recall back during the 2008 presidential campaign when all the sane voices of the world were practically pleading
with the far-right wing to stop the vicious, personal attacks on President Obama? Remember when the Tea Party was being
all revved up by the likes of Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, Sarah Palin, Mike Levin, Sean Hannity and Ann Coulter by
calling Barack Obama a socialist, a communist, a Marxist, un-American, a Nigerian, “not one of us” and..the anti-Christ
(yes, this was said by some). Remember back when many of us were trying to get the far-right to understand that, "all it
takes is ONE"...one disturbed person to take these remarks and comments about Obama seriously to cause a national
catastrophe?
Fast-forward to 2011 where we now actually have someone in jail for shooting a high-range rifle at the White House in
the hopes of assassinating President Obama because--wait for it—he thinks Obama is the anti-Christ!
While the likes of Sarah Palin and John Boehner were saying that it's not their job to police what their supporters are
saying, Oscar Ramiro Ortega was stocking up on rifles and ammunition in the hopes of killing (yes killing) President
Obama!
BTW, I cannot believe how little coverage this is getting in the national media! Someone has been arrested and charged
for trying to assassinate the President of the United States for the first time since the 1990’s and every time I turn
on my TV (or the Internet), all I see is what seems like 24 hour coverage of Wall Street protesters and Penn State
pedophiles! (I know these 2 stories are news but good grief, we’ve seen nothing but this on most cable news shows and
the Internet for weeks…when does it become overkill???)
And even in the wake of all of this, the head of a Republican student group at the University of Texas recently sent out
a tweet noting “how tempting” it is to shoot the President! This is where hateful politicians and media heads have
brought us. College students are now tweeting about assassinating the President of the United States and actually
thinking it’s funny!!! It’s perfectly fine to disagree with the President, it’s perfectly fine to dislike the President
but when is it fine to hate the President so much that the thought of his death amuses you?! Would this have been funny
during Reagan, Clinton, Bush??? I believe it all goes back to what many have been saying is an increased narrative in
our current politics that for some reason, this particular President does not deserve or is not worthy of the same
rights, recognitions and respects that have automatically been afforded to other Presidents.
People always want to point out how badly George W. Bush was talked about but whether you admit it or not, that WAS
different. People talked about Bush’s perceived lack of intelligence or his “cowboy-instincts” when it came to war, they
did not question or challenge his faith, his citizenship or his race…yes, race--because while most want to act like it
doesn’t matter, President Obama has to deal constantly with a whole constituency of people in this country and around
the world who simply do not like him for no other reason than the color of his skin. That’s a FACT and one that no other
President has ever had to deal with!
Who knows how many other Ortegas are still out there and how many of them feel that their fears and actions have been
justified by the on-going right-wing hate-fest against this President? Can we now have a ‘serious’ conversation about
the increased level of hateful rhetoric in this country and especially in our politics? Did we learn nothing at all from
the Gabby Giffords ordeal? I know there are those who will say the political rhetoric likely had nothing to do with this
and that this was just the actions of one disturbed person…my answer, isn’t that all it takes? Because next time, there
might not be bullet-proof glass in the way...or maybe we're just waiting for another reason to erect a memorial in
Washington D.C.
It’s time to get serious people…STOP THE HATE before it ‘literally’ kills someone!
Respectfully-
Dee Evans
Plano, Texas