...racist in chief? (a few thoughts)...

So I'm willing to admit it, I usually get my news second hand, already filtered through a reliable source. I don't watch the news, I consider newspapers with a wary eye and usually just troll around my favorite websites, especially blogs, for the hot topics. The only real problems I've found with this method is that I'm always super up to date on pop culture (score) but nothing else (damn), it's hard to stay current with international events, and when crazy stuff happens on cable news it takes me a while to decide if it's interesting enough to write about because I didn't see it firsthand.

For instance, apparently Fox and Friends anchor Glenn Beck called Pres. Obama a racist. I have been hearing this from Republicans for a while so at first I thought, whatevers. (I think that's my default response...) But then I started thinking about it, especially in reference to my last post about Gates.

So here are some thoughts (incomplete) about the whole "Is President Obama a racist?" situation:

1. If he were (and I'm not saying that he is) how would that make him different than his presidential predecessors. I'm not saying that it's right that we've had so many (all?) racists leading this country, but I'm wondering why it's such an issue now.... for Republicans? They didn't give a shit that "George Bush doesn't care about Black people" so why do they care that Obama may not (but obviously does) care about white citizens? And when was the last time these people defined racism, if ever?

2. I thought there was some study that showed that everyone was racist? If not, then I'll say that I think, at some level, everyone is a racist in this country. The mark of that person's humanity is how they try and stryggle against it.

3. My fave political blogger/journalist The Black Snob just posted the NAACP's official response to Glen Beck's statement that, for the most part is pretty ok. Really there's just this one sentence that irks me. But first I should say that they're right, this discussion of the President's supposed racism is, like a lot of other more frivilous issues, detracting from the real work that needs to be done to approve a health care plan, create jobs, lower the unemployment rate, strengthen the economy, etc. For me the problem is really just this one part:

How could the President be a racist? A man of both African American and
white heritage; a man who inspired millions of Americans to unite across the
divide of race, religion and age in his historic run for the presidency.

Um seriously, I've known more than a few mixed people who were completely and utterly racist towards one part of their "racial makeup" so... Essentially my point from the previous post stands: There's absolutely nothing in being mixed that precludes racism mostly because to be mixed is not a choice!

3. People like Beck are lazy!

I voted for Obama and my assessment of this administration is a mixed bag. Naming Hilary Clinton as the Secretary of State... WTF! Her crappy ass foreign policy agenda was one of the reasons that I didn't vote for her in the primaries! OMG... Why is Guantanamo Bay still operational? Why wasn't the U.S. at Durban II? And I need a better goddamn answer than Ahmadinejad because having to deal with crazy people you don't trust is a part of LIFE!!!! L.I.F.E. If I have to be cordial to those freaking diplomatic historians in my office then godammit the U.S. should have been in Geneva!

But on the other hand, I think the President should be commended for trying to push through a new health care plan. I'm not going to lie to you I'm a little hazy on the details (please inform me) but since that was an important piece of his campaign I'm glad to see that he's not abandoning that with his election.

And while I would prefer that the U.S. take a harder stance against Israel, I do appreciate that they are beginning to say that Israel is not allowed to do whatever it wants. That country should not feel free to decide that it can go completely against global opinion but still receive the bulk of U.S. foreign aid. It should not be allowed to disenfranchise countless numbers of Palestinians within their borders AND build on stolen land AND cut off an entire (displaced) nation from humanitarian aid AND participate in a bloody war but be the victims. WTF? And while I want to commend the U.S. for just starting to say no to Israel, I want to urge them to begin to say hell no, because this situation has been dragging on for too long and the West has helped create a fucking clusterfuck (best Daily Show gift to me) in the Middle East, maybe it's about time those countries really tried to fix it. (And I'm totally looking at you Britain...)

So I guess what I'm trying to say to people that would call our president a racist is: there are other more effective ways to criticize him. The trope of calling him a racist is beyond lazy. It was just as lazy as calling him a militant, or a foreigner, or a terrorist, or a Muslim (as if that was a bad thing). Let's pretend like we're all thinking, feeling human beings and do better.

* um, so I realize that my critiques are based on the Obama Administration's foreign policy. People should admit their biases and mine is that I'm always focused outward. Domestically... not so much. So feel free to tell me things that the Administration is doing well/not so well on the home front or call me to task on my discussion of the international issues. Discuss...