A Wild Eyed Radical

Someone here in my hometown sent me an anonymous letter last week. To begin with, anonymous letters are a sign of a coward. Generally I ignore such letters because my philosophy is “if you don’t have the nerve to sign your letters, don’t send them”.

The basic objection was about my support of President Obama for reelection. The letter was supposedly authored by a college classmate of President Obama. The classmate accuses the president of overwhelming the US economy to create systemic failure and social chaos. The author doesn’t explain why the president would want to do such a thing or even how, since there are three arms of government and the presidency is just one of them. He just makes a list of wild unsubstantiated statements.

He also accused the president of being a devout Muslim. That’s an old unproven statement generally made by someone who doesn’t do his/her homework. The letter’s author also quotes Glenn Beck, which automatically sends up a red flag to me. My opinion is that anyone who lends any credibility to Glenn Beck is definitely a wild eyed radical.

The letter goes on and on with one unsubstantiated accusation after another including one that accuses the president of trying to turn the US into a Marxist state.

I won’t dignify the letter by sharing any more of its content.

Common sense is lacking in this group. I have seen pundits criticize President Obama for being a secular socialist one minute and a secret Muslim the next. Let's pick one, guys!

In reality, Obama's Christianity is much more Gospel-based than that of any of the right-wing nut jobs. You don't need to get beyond Matthew 5 to realize that. His own family life is more traditionally American than that of any of his rivals. He emulates "American Exceptionalism" more than any of his rivals (though I hate the term). He grew up in a half-immigrant family, went to good schools on scholarships, got married to one exceptional spouse, and had two kids.

I also find whacky the right wing talking-point that he is "not an American" in his thinking. Since the President is well to the right of me on most of his actions so far, and my positions, in many respects, are close to views held by Eisenhower Republicans, what does that make me?

It covers up the real issue of racism and a racist attitude. My belief is that 85% of all objections to the president is poorly disguised racism.