Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Disturbing

After watching yesterday's rousing speech by Senator Barack Obama, news stories like this disturb me.

ATF Says Racists Plotted to Kill Obama (Washington Post)

Plot to Kill Obama Uncovered, Feds Say (AOL News)

I know there have been similar stories in the news this campaign season. There was even a postcard on PostSecret a few weeks ago that eluded to the potential for assassination of the president, should Obama win.

I've avoided posting news like that during my political round-ups because they sicken me and, I believe, they simply give fuel to those who harbor these notions. Frankly, I don't want to be party to perpetuating ideas of hate.

We're better than this, America. Talking about Obama's color and targeting him because of that is unAmerican. That's unpatriotic, in my opinion.

I've said it before and I'll say it again: we're better than that. If we want to be proud as a nation and a people, we must stop with this hateful rhetoric and these violent actions. They have no place here.

The content of yesterday's entry offers us a picture of the kind of America we can and should be: united.

1 comment:

JulieAnn said...

The sad fact is, you are better than that; I am better than that. Many people here in the USA are not. We are a nation of voters swayed by sound bytes and rumors. We are a nation run by fear that has been perpetuated by lies and mongering for almost a decade. We are a fast food nation with no more balls then a gelding because we've handed our power over to a select, pathetic few.

I am discouraged. But I am also encouraged that we may just do the right thing on November 4th. If I don't pray now, I will then. Surely if there even is a God, he or she is sick of being used as a puppet in deceit more than the American people are.

We are fighting the same fight; we are uneducated, for if we look at our history, we would be loathe to repeat it.

There are not many of us out here, so those of us who aren't afraid to use their voices, stand, speak, scream from the rooftops! It's time for change.

I find it interesting that people who bespeak against Obama in such violent ways are not treated as criminals. It's too reminiscent of the civil rights movement. And we haven't moved at all.