For those of us on the left side of the political spectrum, eight years of the Republican stageshow was a battle to endure.
Strangely, after only eight days, the Right and those against the election of President-elect Barack Obama have already resigned themselves to taking cheap shots.
It is slander and libel — misrepresentations that injure a person’s reputation — and it’s reminiscent of the scare tactics, now called “swift boating” that were laid out by the Right in the 2004 election to wrongfully depict presidential candidate John Kerry as anti- American.
Now it is happening again — and I believe it’s even more severe than in ’04. It hits close to home. Now that the election is done and Obama has won, the slander against him is still occurring.
I still see freshly spray-painted or chalked messages reading: “USA not USSR”, a suggestion that Obama is a Marxist, “Obama kills babies,” a claim that Obama is not only prochoice, but also pro-abortion, and the familiar reminder that “he mingles with terrorists.”
I have observed these remarks throughout campus, including on sidewalks near the Towers, the Undergraduate Library, Keast Commons and even illicitly tagged on the exterior of the Student Center.
The same locations we celebrated in when Obama was officially announced president-elect are now locations of slander and libel? This seems odd to me.
The claims already mentioned are all disturbingly false, but I think the most unbelievable suggestion has been the comparison between Obama and Adolf Hitler.
It is extremely disturbing to see an actual printed poster (a modified version of Obama’s “Hope” poster) that reads: “Hitler Gave Good Speeches Too.” I can’t figure out the people that have the audacity to suggest this of anyone — let alone Obama.
The sad thing is it isn’t only unaware college Republicans that hold this belief; this past week, Republican Congressman Paul Broun of Georgia was quoted saying that “Obama will establish a Gestapo-like security force to impose a Marxist dictatorship.”
Broun continued by warning Americans that “Hitler was elected in a democratic Germany” and that some of Obama’s ideas and methods are “exactly what Hitler did in Nazi Germany.”
We must have common sense when it comes to these attacks and realize the absurdity that they suggest. Would something like this really happen — would a system of checks and balances really allow us to seep into Marxism?
Would the American people just allow someone to assume full dictatorial powers? Would the nations of the world really allow us to practice terrorism? Common sense tells us no, of course not.
I wish I could say that those mouthing this nonsense and agreeing with these claims are fanatical extremists, but I cannot. Many are just bandwagon conservatives.
It’s surprising that Wayne State students I’ve met from Rightist areas, with Rightist parents or just students that stick anti-Obama bumper stickers on their cars are those still making a habit of extreme swiftboating post-election.
Tactics like these can be expected within a presidential campaign, but afterward are plainly superfluous and distracting to the transition of power and the resolution of issues … remember, issues?
Nevertheless, something about Obama’s victory has pitted them in a stage of maniacal, say-anything fear.
It’s a minority that makes these false claims and, of course, it’s acceptable to disagree. But lay off the lunatic accusations: “he’s a socialist ... no wait, he’s a terrorist… no wait, he’s a communist … no wait, he’s a Nazi … no wait … he’s gonna take our guns away!”
That is just irrelevant. To this minority — here’s a suggestion: Make the right choice (unlike you did on your ballots on Election Day) and only present credible and dignified arguments — the election is over and Obama won. The extracurricular swift-boating needs to stop.
