The current political debates, around the debt ceiling, budget deficits and Obama’s leadership are laden with vitriol and zealotry, but are especially frustrating because of the two elephants in the room which never get addressed.
Pretense of colorblindness as concerns our president. Obama is our first non-white president in a country which had widespread race-based slavery less than 200 years ago and widespread legalized racial discrimination until about 50 years ago and which still enjoys a widespread, if subtle, institutionalized racism which exhorts “whiteness” as the norm and regularly punishes those who do not adopt white styles of dress, speech and culture. Non-whites make up a ridiculously high percentage of the prison population, people living in poverty and people affected by the latest recession.
It is utterly absurd to pretend that race has nothing to do with the difficulties faced by our country and by Obama as leader of this white-normative nation. If I could ask for one bold change to Obama’s rhetoric, it would be for him to start openly and honestly addressing the race issue. White racists like Glenn Beck have been calling him “racist” and other epithets for (despite what artificial reasons they cite) taking what is “supposed to be” a white man’s job. Pundits and press frequently claim that Obama is an “elite liberal” which certainly does not reflect on his political record (filled with centrist and compromise positions), but does reflect his existence – as a black president.
How can we have a meaningful discourse on Obama as president without touching on the effect his race is having in his efforts to lead the country? How can we unpack the Tea Party and Republican/Conservative and, yes, to an extent, Democrat/Liberal backlash against Obama without discussing race?
President of (y)our Animosity
Audacity Pope
Facilitator Rancor
Ignore (not) Color
Entitlements reform. This concept is both hilarious and infuriating as meant by the people who are pressing hardest for it. Essentially, it is the people who’ve gotten the biggest handouts saying that people who get the smallest handouts deserve nothing at all. What is a trust fund or inheritence or having college paid for completely by someone else (e.g., parents) if not entitlement? What is getting a cushy job without even an interview at a parent’s business if not entitlement? What is making money through the privilege of owning something (e.g., property, stocks, business) and paying a lower tax rate on your money’s income than many who labor for their wages (you can get a rough idea of how the static capital gains tax compares to [top] income taxe in this chart) if not entitlement?
Politicians who are pushing for so-called entitlement reforms are the same ones who voted against ending oil subsidies (i.e., corporate welfare), even though oil companies have been making extremely large profits even during the recent Recession.
Entitlement Reformers (waggle golden fingers)
Accumulation
Cross-generational Spread
Luxury Spoon-Fed
