I've been on a brief hiatus for some time. I been observing the ongoing culture wars within the Republican Party for some time now. I decided to write an honest opinion on the matter.
The 2012 U.S. Presidential Elections is a challenge for incumbent Barack Obama. Five years ago, then senator from Illinois was under fire for what was perceived as a constant whisper campaign by conservatives the moment he announced he would run for the President of The United States.
As he gears up for a reelection against the potential Republican nominee, I want to go back to the many things the Republican Party tired in sabotaging Barack Obama. The gloves been off, and now we'll see the very same characters go after President Barack Obama. They want to deny him a reelection.
1. The Insight Magazine online publication making the claim that Barack Obama attended a madrassa in Indonesia when he was young. Fox News commentators John Gibson, Steve Doocy, Gretchen Carlson and Brian Kilmeade took aim at Barack Obama by claiming that then senator Hillary Clinton and her presidential campaign were responsible for the claim. The Barack Obama campaign responds back and calls the notion false. The campaign begins the boycott of Fox News.
2. The issue with his record as then state senator from Illinois. A pro-life activist Jill Stanek makes the claim that she knew Barack Obama when he was then a state senator, and made the claim that Obama was not concerned with a legislative bill that would prevent late term abortions. The talking point from conservatives such as Sean Hannity, and presidential candidate Newt Gingrich were that "[Barack Obama] is killing babies by supporting infanticide!" This issue would also come to light when Randall Terry, Alan Keyes and Jill Stanek were protesting President Barack Obama attending University of Norte Dame for a commencement.
3. A prominent Chicago pastor became the lightening rod for Barack Obama. Jeremiah Wright, a former pastor at the Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago was the subject of various attacks from conservatives over his sermons in which it criticized the United States role in the world. Wright, a former U.S. military doctor was critical of issues by then President George W. Bush and Republicans, the Hillary Clinton presidential campaign taking using "racial politics" to scare white voters and the media for misquoting his sermons. Fox News, in particular Sean Hannity was invested in the controversy. Hannity had interviewed Wright during a segment of his show and they got into a heated debate over Barack Obama's association with the church. This issue continues to be a thing that most conservatives refuse to let go. Jeremiah Wright has long left the church and is doing speaking tours at colleges and theological seminaries. Sean Hannity, Glenn Beck, Bill O'Reilly, Rush Limbaugh, Andrew Breitbart, and particularly Fox News continue to rehash this issue up once again and the 2012 Republican candidates promise that this issue will be mentioned again.
4. If you weren't aware of the whisper campaign about being Muslim, you're way out the loop. The never-ending notion that President Barack Obama is a closet Islamist radical was mentioned by conservatives. A conservative activist by the name of Andy Martin claims responsibility for the rumors. This controversy has been active during the 2004 U.S. Senate campaign in which Barack Obama handily defeated perennial candidate Alan Keyes. During the campaign, the supporters of John McCain's presidential campaign were making references to claims of his name. Cincinnati talk radio host, Bill Cunningham went onstage and made acknowledgement of "Barack Hussein Obama" in attempt to rile up voters still concerned with the fact his name is somehow tied to Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein. The madrassa story from earlier was a driving force to making conservatives suspect the presidential candidate was somehow a Muslim who plots on destroying the United States from within. As President Barack Obama, the claims of being a Muslim will never go away. The very fact that he attended the Trinity United Church of Christ is not enough to stop that rumor. When President Barack Obama went to Egypt to speak to the Islamic nation, that flared up more rumors of him being a secret Muslim. Recently, U.S. marines created a controversy by burning the Islamic Q'uran in Afghanistan. The president reached out to the leader of Afghanistan and apologized for the actions. U.S. presidential candidates Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich alongside former Alaskan governor Sarah Palin went on the offense claiming that President Obama has more sympathy for the "Muslims" than those who killed U.S. soldiers.
5. The alleged affairs by Barack Obama. From a conspiracy kook to a former campaign adviser, the Republicans were hoping that another "Monica Lewinsky" scandal to fall upon Barack Obama. The first one, Larry Sinclair. This man who has been known in the circles as a conspiracy kook was flaring up the rumor that Barack Obama had a homosexual affair with him while on a cocaine binge. Sinclair claims that the president is paying huge sums to prevent the stories from ever hitting the newspapers. Vera Baker, a former campaign supporter and adviser was allegedly involved in a romantic affair with then candidate Barack Obama during the 2008 U.S. presidential elections. Although she denied it, The Drudge Report and many conservatives were hoping that "smoking gun" is still loaded and hoping this issue will become a 2012 October Surprise.
6. The never-ending birth certificate issue. What was started by a vexatious litigant named Andy Martin, the rumors of President Barack Obama's birthplace continue to be a hot issue within the conservative circles. Talk radio host such as InfoWars founder Alex Jones, conservative talk radio hosts Rush Limbaugh, Bill Cunningham, Lou Dobbs, Fox News commentators such as Andrew Napolitano, Glenn Beck and Sean Hannity were invested in the birth certificate. Ongoing activist Orly Taitz, WorldNetDaily contributors Joseph Farrah, Dr. Jerome Corsi, and controversial Black preacher James David Manning invested the controversy. Many conservatives continue to deny the fact that Barack Obama is indeed an American citizen. In 2007, the whisper campaigns of him being a Kenyan came forth after the Washington Times, WorldNetDaily and The Drudge Report took upon "facts" from members of his estranged father's family. Barack Obama was born in Honolulu, Hawaii in 1961, and lived with his mother for a portion of his time growing up. During that time, he traveled from Hawaii, to Indonesia, back to Hawaii and then to the mainland. Before he became a U.S. senator, the rumors of his birthplace were mention but not to the degree as it is today. Barack Obama during the campaign released a short-form birth certificate stating his place of birth. That didn't satisfy conservatives. Orly Taitz leads the way in trying to bring lawsuits in federal court stating that she can prove Barack Obama is ineligible to be president. The conflict gotten worse. Donald Trump, a media mogul and potential candidate for president threw his weight into the debate. After a few moments of polling well against Mitt Romney, Sarah Palin and Chris Christie in a Republican match up against President Barack Obama, Trump decided to push the issue further by demanding the long form birth certificate. In April 2011, President Barack Obama presented the long form birth certificate. This issue hasn't went away. Taitz continues to push forth her lawsuits against President Obama and more conservatives are still unsure whether the president is an American citizen.
7. The guilt by association theme once again. With a former anti-war radical coming to light, Barack Obama once again has to defend himself from a person he knew only as a neighbor down the block. Bill Ayers, a retired professor at The University of Illinois branch Chicago became another issues conservatives pounced on. In the late 1960s at the peak of Civil Rights movement and anti-Vietnam protests, Ayers was a leader of the Weather Underground, an anti-war activist group that did domestic terrorism against political establishments. Sean Hannity once again rode this controversy all the way to the election. When former vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin came forth during the election, her quote "palling around with terrorists", conservatives managed to sway opinion against the professor and of course Barack Obama. Ambushing Bill Ayers and his family with cameras, conservatives continue to demand Ayers come clean about his relationship with Barack Obama. Recently the issue was rehashed again after conservative agitators Andrew Breitbart and Tucker Carlson went on Sean Hannity's show claiming they've met and dine with the former professor. They believe that he was responsible for writing two of the president's successful books. The issue will not die and expect this continue throughout the election.
8. The culture war is brewing again. After the 2008 U.S. elections, one thing became clear, Republicans wanted to stick anything to Barack Obama. A woman named Peggy Joseph went on camera stating that Barack Obama was going to help her with her bills and make things alright. Conservative went into uproar. Two New Black Panthers were standing at a polling station in Black neighborhood. One holding a baton, and threatening the conservative videographers. They post it online, and it became a conservative outrage. In 2009, Henry "Skip" Gates was arrested at his home by police officer Robert Crowley. The president went forth to acknowledge the issue as a problem due to the unprecedented profiling of Black and Hispanic/Latino males being pulled over. Conservatives went into an uproar. The president goes on Jay Leno and makes a off-color joke that makes fun of his disabilities in certain sports, conservatives went into an uproar claiming the president doesn't respect those with special needs. The president throws the ceremonial baseball pitch, conservatives mock his pitching stance. The president wanted a basketball court added to the White House, conservatives went into an uproar. The president delivers a speech to the elementary and high school students, a traditional theme among previous presidents. Conservatives went forth to pulling their children out of school and boycotting the president's speech. Conservatives went forth to attacking the president, First Lady Michelle Obama and their children for taking vacations. The conservatives blamed the president for overreaching during two terrible hurricanes, the Gulf Oil spill in which BP was responsible, and of course, the continuous blame for the economy. A thing he's inherited since he took office. When the president won a Nobel Peace Price in 2009, conservative went into an uproar. When the president tried to get the Summer Olympics to Chicago and it was rejected, conservative cheered. Glenn Beck, claimed the president has a deep seated hatred for white people. Sarah Palin claimed that President Obama's "Winning The Future" was a "WTF" plan. Rush Limbaugh declared that he "hopes he failed". Bill O'Reilly and Bret Brier interrupts the president during an interview. Fox network omits the president's addresses to the nation for television programs such as Glee and American Idol. The saving of civilians overseas from Somali pirates, the killing of al-Qaeda leaders Osama bin Laden and Anwar al-Awlaki, conservatives give little to no credit for the president effective actions. The constant impatience of the public has waned on his popular and conservatives are relishing in defeating the president.
9. The beginnings of the Tea Party movement. In 2008, the bitter fight between Democratic presidential primaries between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. They managed to take this fight all the way to June 2008 and during that time, a lot of disgruntled Hillary-supporters vowed they'll ditch the Democratic nominee and vote for John McCain the Republican nominee for president. Some have forgotten about the women who were involved in the grassroots movements, such as People United Means Actions (PUMAs), Clintons 4 McCain and Hillbuzz. It's leaders include: Darragh Murphy, Harriet Christian, Christi Adkins and Debra Bartoshevich, former Democrats who claimed that Barack Obama is not worthy of the leading the United States. Most in the media dismissed them as "plants" for the Republican Party, ridiculed them for playing the gender and race card and pretty much wiped them out of the mainstream press.
In November 2008, when Barack Obama secured enough electoral votes to be declared the winner, Republicans look upon this as a disaster and vowed revenge. Most conservatives believe that Barack Obama was given a easy ride based on his race. The conservative bemoan about the media's focus on a historical milestone of nominating an African American for president. They blame Barack Obama for the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act and the Troubled Assets Relief Program. Although President Obama carried upon the actions of these laws, the signature of the final acts were by President George W. Bush. Republicans were upset upon President Obama signing of American Investment Job and Recovery Act in which is stimulate growth in the economy and helped middle class families with a tax cut.
These notions were rejected by conservatives. In February 2009, spurred by outrage at what conservatives claim is "government overreach", the Tea Party was born. What started as a mild protest composed of the cult followers of Republican Congressman Ron Paul of Texas, became the hub for people such as Glenn Beck, Sarah Palin, Herman Cain, Joe The Plumber and those disgruntled Hillary Clinton supporters. The disgruntled voters vowed that he will only serve out one term and they will rebound with a suitable president capable of "taking their country back!" They've sought motivation in Glenn Beck, Joe The Plumber, Andrew Breitbart, Dick Armey and even comedian Victoria Jackson.
The process of the Tea Party movement was spurn with disrespect upon the President Obama by Joe Wilson, Republican congressman from South Carolina with "You Lie!" upon the Joint Session of Congress speech. It gave rise to presidential candidate Michele Bachmann, congresswoman from Minnesota. It spurred angry town halls in which Democratic lawmakers were challenged on issues such as the health care reform. It motivated political minded conservatives of Black, Hispanic/Latino and Asian race to enter into politics. Black Republicans such Allen West of Florida, Tim Scott of South Carolina were elected on the motivation of the Tea Party. It help secure the first Latina Susana Martinez woman to be governor of New Mexico.It helped two Bobby Jindal of Louisiana and Nikki Haley of South Carolina to become the first of Indian/Asian decent to be governors of two southern states. The Tea Party managed to elect Senators Jim DeMint of South Carolina, Marco Rubio of Florida, Mike Lee of Utah and Rand Paul of Kentucky. The Tea Party help the Republicans retake the House of Representatives and state/territorial governorships.
Now as the 2012 elections gear up, these elements are still brewing. The Republicans are currently in disarray over the perceive notion that the field of Republican candidates are weak. The Tea Party is really upset with not only President Barack Obama but the Republican leaders as well. The dubbed the moderates and the politically established as RINOs (Republican(s) in Name Only). They are feuding within the party over who's capable of being a conservative leader capable of beating the president. So far, it's still long road ahead with the field and they hope that it can bring them together. In spite of the disarray, Republicans are rushing legislation such as voter identification to prevent Blacks, Hispanic/Latinos, the poor and young voters, a key demographic to Barack Obama from voting. The Republicans are planning to run campaigns to distract voters with culture war issues such as eliminating subsides for lower and middle class, rolling back regulations on the environment, and control a woman's right for birth control.
10. Once again, I stress that the Republican Party and its allies in the conservative movement are wrapping their asses around the American flag in preparedness of a culture war. The culture war has an enemy. The middle class, the working class, the lower class, minorities, [independent women and single mother's] rights, GLBT, those who practice in Islam, and the many supporters of President Barack Obama are considered enemies of the state. The Republicans passed legislation that catered to extremists. Since he took office, the race issue came forth after many Republicans were force to apologize for sending racist and downright offensive emails to their friends. Colorado Republican Congressman Doug Lamborn called President Barack Obama a tar baby. He later apologized. Arizona Republican Congressman Trent Franks questioned his birth certificate, and called him an enemy of humanity. Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky the Republican minority leader, stated his goal was to deny President Barack Obama a second term. Black conservatives play upon the narratives that President Obama is not an effective leader to the Black community. Glenn Beck targeting his former adviser Van Jones. Andrew Breitbart, James O'Keefe went after a community organization known as ACORN. They successful put ACORN out of business. The Republicans passed legislation to cut funding to NPR and Planned Parenthood. Republicans held public sessions to make the case against the Muslim community. The Republicans called for the firing of Attorney General Eric Holder for the mishandling of firearms in which it lead to the killing of a U.S. border agent. Holder, is the first Black attorney general. In states where Republicans were in control, some legislators passed laws that go against the federal government. State Republicans are passing legislation that targets illegal immigrants overstepping the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency. Concealed carry firearms in public places were passed in states. Republicans passed legislation to prevent abortions and outlaw birth control. Voter identification laws were passed to prevent lower incomes and minorities from voting. All these issues are certainly out there and people are not happy about the results.
Republicans are very unpopular right now. They spent a majority of the 112th Congress on culture war issues. The government overreach has made voters in swing states turn sour on the Republicans. Ohio governor John Kasich was handed a defeat after he and Ohio Republicans passed legislation that prevented public sector unions from collective bargaining. Wisconsin governor Scott Walker and Republican state senators are facing a recall election after the passage of a bill that also stripped collective bargaining from public sector unions. Florida governor Rick Scott is under fire for his signing of mandatory drug testing for food stamp and welfare recipients and the rejection of a commutator rail service in the state. Arizona governor Jan Brewer, signed legislation that overstepped the federal government's role in handling illegal immigration. The law is being challenged in court.
The Republican Party have created so many controversies, President Barack Obama's allies can't stop them all at once. My goal is simple. I will waste no time trying to help this man win reelection. I will no longer endorse the notion the Republicans are capable of fixing the economic turmoils we all are facing as Americans. I will continue to stand independent of the situation and offer my honest opinion of issues that matter.
I share with you links to websites that outline the ongoing culture wars within the Republican Party.
http://addictinginfo.org/
http://republicancivilwar.com/
http://motherjones.com/
