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
Oh, and wamon- hanging a chair is not a crime. Even when there is some hate behind it. So the fact that the redneck wasn't arrested means nothing.
I clearly addressed that point in my comment.
"SickOfMorons"!
"Once again you obviously did not actually read my post. ... In fact I made a comment to that effect. Stop telling me I said things I didn't say. Pay fucking attention if you want to debate. Don't pull comments that I never said out of thin air and take me to task for them."
ROTFLMAO!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Criticism of these things is entirely legitimate and proper.
Mindlessly shrieking "racism" when these facts are given voice simply cheapens the word, and is offensive.
The fact that this president is of mixed race does not immunize him from the laws of the land, nor does it give him an excuse for accountability for his errors.
Technically, if one chooses to be a racist, that is their right.
However, as a society, we regard racism as wrong and as a bad thing. Therefore, we cultivate a social stigma to racism to discourage it. Thus, we cultivate a culture were racism is considered vulgar and wrong.
Therefore, FALSELY accusing someone of racism is at a minimum equally as bad, or arguably worse than actually being a racist.
"Criticism of these things is entirely legitimate and proper...Mindlessly shrieking "racism" when these facts are given voice simply cheapens the word, and is offensive."
LOL! As if the chair-hanging Texan was presenting some sort of measured, well-reasoned argument about the President's policies and passersby just started shrieking "Racist!" Please. The old coot was asked why he hung the chair; if he had said "This is- for me- the equivalent of the time-honored tradition of burning an effigy of a despised political figure" I would have thought, "OK old-timer. I thought you were making a racially charged symbolic gesture. Guess I was wrong. Carry on, great Patriot!" But instead, he says, "Uh, I didn't have anywhere else to put the chair (I gaze at the picture of his expansive lawn) so I hung it." I think about the amount of physical effort required for an old man to hang a metal folding chair (finding some rope, maybe having to set up and scale a ladder, etc.) and I think, "Gosh, that guy really wanted to hang that chair! Putting it out on the lawn just wouldn't do!" So forgive me, but his explanation strikes me as disingenuous. Not that it matters. He can be a racist if he wants. He can hang chairs if he wants. Its all the same to me because I don't care.
That is in fact more or less what they did. The old man should be commended for merely giving them a smart arsed comment, as opposed to turning the garden hose on them.
And, yet again, on CafeMom we have the unintelligent screaming and name-calling because they lack the ability to debate. Wamom and Guest, you are wasting time and energy trying to have a conversation with the unintelligible. A chair tied to a tree is only racism if you are racist. If you do not see people as a skin color you do not see racism hiding behind everything you disagree with. For all those hollering that this is racist I say you are the racists.