Ever since President Obama made his debut on the national stage, we've seen some dirty, racially-charged attacks from the right. But what we might be seeing now could be the lowest of the low ... In the wake of the Clint Eastwood's RNC empty chair "performance," one Austin, Texas homeowner hung an empty chair from a tree branch in front of his house and later attached an American flag to it. (Talk about a creepy, "offensive," "insulting" use of the flag!) The man reportedly told a blogger who said she had concerns about it, "I don't really give a damn whether it disturbs you or not. You can take [your concerns] and go straight to hell and take Obama with you. I don't give a [expletive]. If you don't like it, don't come down my street." Then, in Centreville, Virginia, an empty chair with a sign reading "Nobama" was strung from a tree near a park.
Meanwhile, news outlets report critics are upset that these incidents are meant to symbolize "lynching of President Obama." Um, you think?!?
How is this even a question? A matter of debate? Both displays are so blatantly racist, hate-filled, completely sick. What year is it again? Oh yeah, 2012, not that it should matter, because it's not like lynching -- or even using it as "metaphor" -- was ever something that should have been condoned by any American! This isn't civilized political protest -- it's grotesque and, as Rosemary Edwards, chairwoman of the Travis County Republican Party in Austin, put it, "deplorable."
Thankfully, the Secret Service is taking the incidents seriously and reportedly conducting a followup. But, at the same time, one local Republican speaking out against these isn't good enough. Because these vile displays were clearly triggered by Eastwood's strange performance at the RNC -- in which he said, "When somebody doesn't do the job, you've got to let them go" and made a throat-slashing gesture -- we need to hear from him and the Romney campaign. Granted, neither of these sick "empty chair" displays actually show any support for the GOP or Romney, but it still only seems right that they publicly denounce these acts.
It's no different and perhaps even worse than in 2008, when some McCain-Palin supporters adopted a mob mentality and began shouting out hateful, threatening remarks about Obama. Thankfully, Sen. McCain made the decision to shut down some of that ignorance at one rally by telling a racist supporter that Obama "is a decent person and a person you don’t have to be scared of as president of the United States."
Sadly, we can see that in some pockets of the country, not much has changed in four years. Hence why it is even more imperative that the Republican party and the Romney campaign take a strong stance and make it known that these deeply disturbing, incredibly "un-American" (because, you know, if you want to slap that FOX News-y label on something, this is it!) displays are nothing short of shameful and will NOT be tolerated.
How do you think Clint Eastwood, the Romney campaign, and the GOP should react to these "lynching" displays?
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Comments 89
Guess who wrote that hateful, ignorant article about Ann Romney's miscarriage? Yep, Maressa Brown. Same blogger who has her panties twisted over a chair hanging from a tree. How's that for hypocrisy? I wonder when Obama will come out and denounce Brown for her vile attack.
Nice to know you have nothing better to do then keep score, rightside. It's laugable that you think this silly little blog that you waste all your time on is even on the President's radar.
Just a good memory, Moron. And yes, it is laughable, isn't it, what with you right here next to me, wasting all your time?
tinypossum FTW, of course.
If you think that this man simply dangled the chair from the tree with an anti-obama message because he "had nowhere else to put it" and that it has nothing whatsoever to do with a lynching metaphor, you're being willfully obtuse. I don't think any of you here are that naive.
billsfan, why do you continue to respond to procrastamom? She's a Canadian who has flat out refused to educate herself about our governing system. Refuses to read the constitution, refuses to educate herself on how our government works works and what it's obligations and restrictions are. She's not deserving of your time.
jagamama, I don't share the interpretation you have of this action. However, for the sake of argument, let's say you're correct and it's intended to represent the hanging or lynching of a black man who is President of the United States, don't you give it more credibility by reacting to it? Wouldn't it be better to simply ignore it? If it's meant the way you suggest then you are giving this idiot everything he wants and more. Sounds to me like he's won.
Yeah, floridamom, ignoring racism and violent threat. Great plan. I hate to break it to you, but the Canadian has a better handle on American politics then you or billsfan do. And you are indeed willfully ignorant. Thank you jagamama! That sums up the women on this site quite nicely.
Gee Floridamom, I was not aware that one had to read the constitution in order to form an opinion about racism. Silly me, I just always thought racism was wrong and I didn't need a 200 year-old piece of paper to tell me that. My parents, my peers and my community instilled those values in me. Too bad a number of these commenters didn't get the same moral education.
As for Romney, I've never once seen him denounce the birthers or anyone else who has directed hate at the President. It would be really easy for him to simply say, "I do not agree with the racism and lies directed at my opponent. These are the real issues I want to talk about. Now let's get to it." But of course he wouldn't do that. He's too far in the pockets of people like Birther King Donald Trump to ever do that.
2nd, you have proved my point. You expect Romney to denounce every asshole that hates Obama, But does not expect Obama yo to the same when people are assholes against Republicans.