Racism, alive and well in the USA

I’ve never seen such a climate of mistrust and antipathy toward the president of the United States of America. Granted, I’m only 43, and I’m sure things were worse during the civil war, the Vietnam war, and probably a few other choice points in history. Granted, some level of antipathy has been there all my life. Even in my twenties, I understood that Clinton’s impeachment had nothing to do with his ability to serve well as president, and everything to do with politics. His enemies found his Achilles’ heel and tried to bring him down with it. Liberals like me mistakenly thought Bush’s Achille’s heel was his lack of foreign relations skills. We did our level best to bring him down for getting us into the wrong war at the wrong time. President Obama’s Achilles’ heel is that many white Americans are not comfortable with a black president. His enemies are using the weapon of mistrust to try to bring him down. They are using your unexamined, unspoken, guilty little secret, racism. Never mind that he is the most qualified president we have had since the founding fathers, in terms of education, intellect, temperament, and natural leadership skills. Never mind that he more truly represents our nation today than any white man could. His personal history is black and white, Christian and Muslim, welfare and Ivy League. His story is quintessentially American.
I should be philosophical about it, I suppose. All is fair in politics, after all. But I can’t because Clinton and Bush made really big, stupid mistakes. To some extent, they brought it on themselves. As far as I can tell, Obama has not. Instead, his enemies are spreading lies and rumors about him, playing up our most disturbing, nameless fears. The stories are designed to keep you profoundly uncomfortable, even afraid of the untrustworthy black man. “Obama wants to socialize health care.” “Obama is like Hitler, fooling Americans into creating death camps for ‘undesirables’.” “Obama wants to euthanize the elderly.” ‘Don’t let your kids see his stay in school speech and be indoctrinated by our most liberal president ever.” “Obama’s birth certificate has never been produced.” “ Obama is responsible for the biggest budget deficit in history.” Really? Do you believe the shit being spouted by the likes of Sarah Palin, Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, and their like? Why? Why believe that instead of doing a little bit of research, not on conservative blogs and talk shows, but on factcheck.org. You can even read the health care bill (as it stands now) on congress.com. The stories are racist. Believing them is racist. Holding this president to a different standard than any other is racist. I cannot let it go unsaid any longer. I’m fighting the racism right now.