Dee Evans: Political Rhetoric and Attempted Assassination

'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

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