Republican Lies!

Someone asked me: "Don't all of the negative ads, and emails, about our President Obama make you depressed?"

 

No, it doesn't, because most of the attacks are so far off base as to reflect more about the sender than they do about President Obama. They reflect how desperate many of those who hate President Obama are. Most of these lies are based on an unspoken prejudices or bigotry.

 

The types of criticism that is out of line and is primarily based on prejudice,  hate, and inaccurate facts, include:

That President Obama does not respect the American Flag,

President Obama is a communist (others claims he is just contolled by Wallstreet - that's an interesting mixture!),

That President Obama has removed the American flag from Air Force One,

That President Obama is a Marxist/socialist,

That President Obama turns his back on the American Flag and refuses to salute the flag. I have emails that "prove" his lack of patriotism, using images of the president, that are being sent to the vulnerable and those easily fooled,

That President Obama has given away 7 Alaskan Islands,

That Persident Obama was not even born in the United States,

That President Obama is Muslim or a Muslim sympathizer.

I have emails that question President Obama's faith and/or patriotism,

That President Obama is an idiot,

That President is gutless,

That the economy is still in recession,

That the economy is doing worse now than when President Obama took office when the U.S. was losing over 700,000 jobs per month, and when unemployment reached over 10%, and the economy was in free fall.

That President Obama doesn't appreciate those who have built a successfull business,

That President Obama hates wealthy people ( he is one and wants everyone to have the same oportunities, that he and Michelle had, to be successful),

That President Obama has hindered oil and gas production ( it's never been higher!),

That President Obama stole $717 billion from Medicare ( Did Romney/Ryan also "steal" from Meidcare when they used the same $716 billion savings in their busget?).

The Republican Party contributed/contributes to one of the biggest lies. They used a scoreboard size digital banner that dominated the RNC arena as that debt approached $16 trillion. This image was accompanied by inaccurate statements that indicated that they, the Republican Party, were not a primary contributor to the national debt.  They imply that they were the party that was willing to work on solving the national debt problem.   These images try to hide the fact that most of the national debt, 80%, occurred under their watch and was part of legislation that was put into law/effect by Republicans and Democrats before President Obama took his oath of office.  A Democratic, Clinton, Administration had balanced the national debt (we had a $380 billion surplus!) , that will need to be addressed by Republicans and Democrats working together. In my lifetime, only (all!) Republican Administrations have increased the U.S. national debt. George W.Bush, George H.W.. Bush, Ronald Reagan, and Gerald Ford all oversaw an increase in the country's indebtedness. All of the former Democratic Administrations ( Bill Clinton, Jimmy Carter, Lyndon Johnson, John F. Kennedy, and Harry S. Truman) reduced public debt as a share of GDP. It is deceptive for the Republican Party to portray themselves as ever having worked on solving the problem of the national debt. It isn't true. It is a big lie.

That "everything is going up". Several speakers at the RNC, including Ann Romney, made untrue statements implying that the cost of living is "out of control" and that shoppers are dealing with "unbridled" increases at the gas pumps and at the grocery store. Gas prices are high ( they still haven't reached the levels that occured during the last Republican administration) but the rate of inflation is lower (averaging 1.7% per year) during President Obama's administration than any president's first term, ever.  It is a lie to imply that President Obama is causing record increases in the cost of living.

That Republicans were never major players in mandated health insurance plans,

That Republicans never championed the goal of providing health care for all Americans.

These lies do not depress me. They indicate the desperation on the part of those who use them, and who try to fool those who are vulnerable to such claims. The use of those lies give me, give many, more motivation to work to see that President Obama get credit for the good things he has done and not be unfairly challenged.

 

There are valid criticisms of President Obama that could be used to base a campaign against him. It would be valid to criticise his success in being a person who would work with his Republican opposition. There is a bigger divide between the two parties than ever. If I thought that divide was the result of actions on the part of President Obama, I would find that be a valid criticism. I think it may be equally valid that President Obama tried too hard to get cooperation from a group that early on indicated that his efforts would be for naught. The Tea Party, led by Grover Norquist, indicated from day one that they would not be cooperating and that any Republican, who would cooperate with the Obama Administration, would be replaced with people who refused to cooperate and they were very successful at doing so. From day one the leader of the Republican Senators, Mitch McConnell, said that it would be the number one goal of Republicans to make sure that President Obama does not get another term, more important that working to provide jobs, more important that working to solve the problem of the national debt.

It would be a valid criticism of President Obama that he has not been successful at reducing our national debt as he said he would do. I think that is his primary failure. It is not true that he hasn't worked very hard to achieve progress with reducing the national debt. He and House Speaker, John Boehner, came very close to accepting a compromise deal that would have made large inroads in reducing our national debt. That deal fell apart very close to having been accepted. The reason for the collapse is subject to interpretation but it is accurate that the leader of the Republican's in the House of Representatives was not able to get the support of his own party, primarily the Grover Norquist Tea Party representatives, for the progress that he and President Obama had made.

 

I welcome valid criticism of President Obama but dispise the use of lies.