Dissent is Now Racism

When did dissent become racism? Since Barrack Hussein Obama was elected president.

With the opposition to his health-care proposal and its imminent failure, the race card is being heavily played on Obama’s behalf by a wide and somewhat prominent array of people on the left … to smear dissent.

Personally, I find this disturbing. Not so long ago, it was considered "patriotic" to dissent from the sitting president's position on any given issue. This from www.democraticunderground.com:

Dissent is patriotic - IMPEACH BUSH

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x2363184

But now that Bush is gone, dissent is racism.

Not surprisingly, the pace of racial accusations has picked up as opposition has grown. Just in the past few days the usual and not-so-usual suspects have been seeking to out-do each other in making accusations of racism including Eugene Robinson, Maureen Dowd, Jimmy Carter, Rep. Hank Johnson, Chris Matthews, a wide range of Democratic politicians, and of course, almost all of the mainstream media.

http://legalinsurrection.blogspot.com/2009/09/allergic-reaction-to-race-card.html

and;

But, fair or not, what I heard was an unspoken word in the air: You lie, boy!

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/13/opinion/13dowd.html?_r=1

For the record, I suspect that Obama's race leads some of his critics to feel they have permission to deny him the legitimacy, stature and common courtesy that are any president's due

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/09/10/AR2009091003406.html

In an interview with NBC's Brian Williams, former President Jimmy Carter said he has been extremely bothered by the heightened climate of racial and other hate speech since the election of President Barack Obama.

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2009/09/15/carter_claims_there_is_racist_tone_against_obama.html

Chris Matthews, on Tuesday’s "Hardball," insinuated racism may have been behind Rep. Joe Wilson's outburst against President Obama.

http://newsbusters.org/blogs/geoffrey-dickens/2009/09/15/matthews-was-joe-wilson-outburst-race-thing

Eight months into Barack Obama’s presidency, as criticism of his administration seems to reach new levels of volume and intensity each week, the whispers among some of his allies are growing louder: That those who loathe the nation’s first African-American president, and especially those who would deny his citizenship, are driven at least in part by racism. It’s a feeling that’s acutely felt among those supporters of Obama who are themselves minorities. Conversations with Democrats at an otherwise upbeat Democratic National Committee fall gathering here, an event largely devoted to party housekeeping, reflected a growing anger at what many see as a troubling effort to delegitimize Obama’s hold on the office. “As far as African-Americans are concerned, we think most of it is,” said Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-Texas), when asked in an interview in between sessions how much of the more extreme anger at Obama is based upon his race. “And we think it’s very unfortunate. We as African-American people of course are very sensitive to it.”

http://mobile.politico.com/story.cfm?id=27120&cat=topnews

From CNN anchor Don Lemon:

A Member of Congress calling the President a liar, town hallers yelling at lawmakers, carrying guns to rallies, refusing to let kids hear the commander in chief. And on and on and on. What's behind it? Is it racial? Yeah, I said it.

http://newsbusters.org/blogs/brent-baker/2009/09/13/cnns-lemon-praises-maher-raising-anti-obama-racism-finally-someones-tal

Fortunately, it doesn't seem as if the country as a whole is buying that dissent from Mr. Obama's policies is racist. A recent Rasmusen poll shows that,

Twelve percent (12%) of voters nationwide believe that most opponents of President Obama’s health care reform plan are racist. The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 67% of voters disagree, and 21% are not sure. In recent days, several Democrats have suggested that racism is a factor. The most prominent to make that accusation is former President Jimmy Carter.

http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/current_events/healthcare/september_2009/12_say_most_opponents_of_obama_health_care_plan_are_racist

By painting anyone who opposes Mr. Obama's positions on many of his policies is going to backfire on the Democratic party. Because, the vast majority of people who voted for him, are not registered to any particular party. They voted FOR him because he sold himself as a moderate/centre left politician, not a far left liberal (despite his voting record as the most liberal member of the US Senate and Illinois Senate). Because he is pursuing aims that are far to the left of the American political mainstream he will, in all likelyhood, lose the large Democratic majority in both the House of Representatives as well as the US Senate.