Try Holding Your Breath Until You Turn Blue

I am becoming very weary of the tendency to label all those opposed to Obama as racists. Whether they are being labeled as overt racists or told they are expressing unconscious racism it only slams shut the doors of communication.

As I said previously, indiscriminately labeling everyone as a racist is just the same as Bush opponents being labeled as unpatriotic or treasonous.

While I agree there is a good deal of racism behind some remarks. (I'm reminded of the woman in my mother's Sunday school class who when told that perhaps it was "God's will" that Obama was elected said (inside the walls of the church) "It ain't God's will that a n-word is in the White House."

She is a racist.

Most of the rest are just acting like spoiled rotten two year olds who have lost mommy's full attention because there is a new baby in the house.

Throughout the entire lead up to the election of Bush, throughout his entire presidency, those on the far right were courted and petted and praised. Their most banal beliefs were lifted up to the level of direct missives from God himself. They were told over and over that they were the true Americans, they were the chosen ones, they were the only ones with the correct answers. They could do and say no wrong.

And during that time, anyone who disagreed with them were held up as evil, Satanists who wanted to destroy everything that they believed in. We evil demon possessed liberals just wanted to tear down every church in the nation and force the believers to give up their Bibles.

And now, they have lost the attention that had been lavished upon them. They have lost the ability to make politicians jump through hoops with nothing more than a lifted eyebrow. They have lost their power.

And in their eyes, we evil ones now have the power.

So they are throwing major tempter tantrums. Just like a two year old having a massive meltdown in the middle of a nice restaurant, these disenfranchised few are staging their meltdowns in as public a place as they can find: the media.

And to incorrectly label some of them as racists only fuels their frustration and leads to further tantrums.

We need to treat them as a two year old having a tantrum. Acknowledge their frustration but do not give in to the tantrum. Remove them from public eye when they become hysterical. Explain to them that we will listen to them when they can speak calmly and rationally. Explain to them that being listened to does not mean that they will get their way.

It's time to grow up, America.

Thor sez: I find harking up hairballs in the path of bare human feet a very effective method of protest.