Two-Faced Media: Love/Hate Obama

If you are one of those people that believe everything you see and hear in the news, then it’s clear: The American people have turned against President Barack Obama. We’re led to believe this because of the health care bill that Obama signed into law. But the media’s coverage of the growing malcontents had started even before then. Judging by what we see on the news every night, one would conclude that the 66,882,220 Americans that voted for Barack Obama (43% of that 66 million were white) now regret that decision and favor immediate impeachment! It’s hard to believe that 14 short months ago, the nation’s 44th president and the first African-American president took office amid a groundswell of adulation and support. The media talked about Obama as being a transformative president before he was even sworn in. Said that his very election would usher in a new era of race relations in this country. Headlines declared we were now in a “post-racial” America. Because he had such appeal among white voters and was, in fact, bi-racial himself, it was said that Barack Obama transcended race. We saw story after story of whites in tears, side by side with blacks as Barack Obama took the oath of office. The country, after its long and terrible history of hatred and discrimination was finally united. That was the picture that was portrayed by the media, not too long ago. I admit, I bought into it too. After all, electing a black president was a very big step forward. I thought that maybe, just maybe the country had matured over night, and that old, entrenched feelings on race were now a thing of the past. Now, I’m starting to think that this unified picture of a happy, healthy, color-blind, race-aloof America was Act I in a sinister script that now has the media showing images of the old, pre-Obama America, except we went back, not to 2008, we went back 50 years before that to 1958! So Act II is the bombardment of images in the media of violent, racist Tea Party demonstrators spitting on black congressmen and calling them ‘Nigger’. Act II is also the constant mention of the re-emergence of radical civilian militia groups, and whites going to their local gun shops and buying guns in record numbers. And as if to further emphasize (and escalate) this point, much was made over the recent comment by Sarah Palin, telling Republican supporters to “re-load, not retreat”. This comment was made, I believe the day President Obama signed health care into law, and was meant to rally Republicans around the idea of trying to repeal the legislation. To all this, I say, so much for the “pass” that critics say Barack Obama got by what they claim was a chummy, pliable media during the 2008 presidential election. [Source: CNN for 66,882,220 votes for Obama; The New York Times exit poll showed 43% of those votes were white.]