For a few days last week, the leftist media (redundant, I know) tried really hard to make a “spirited” discussion between Governor Jan Brewer (R-Arizona) and President Obama (D-Chicago) into a “something.” Luckily, they’ve cried wolf (read: racist) so many times that most people just roll their eyes, pat the little media types on the head, and tell them to walk it off. There’s no crying in politics. Stop being wusses.
After failing to fan the racial flames again, the lefty media and blogosphere (the echo-chamber) then went with the “it was disrespectful!” angle. Apparently, it is disrespectful to point your finger at the President. Now, assuming Brewer was pointing/wagging her finger at Obama, and she was doing so in a scolding manner – let’s go ahead and ignore that the infamous photo above shows Brewer pointing up at the sky, shall we? – how is it disrespectful?
This is the United States of America. Sure, winning office grants you a certain level of respect, but are we really going to try and score political points when someone uses their hands in an expressive manner? She pointed/wagged her finger; she didn’t flip him the bird. What kind of politically correct nonsense is the media trying to pull here?
One could argue that on day one of his Presidency, Obama – or his sycophants in the media, to be more specific – commanded a certain level of respect. But there’s a history now, isn’t there? In Brewer’s case, Obama implied the now-infamous illegal immigration law she signed was racist. His Attorney General panned the law before he had ever read it. Isn’t that disrespectful to Brewer in her capacity as Governor? Where was the media’s outrage over this disrespectful behavior? There was none.
Maybe when the President of the United States calls people who oppose his policies the “enemy,” he loses the respect of those people? Shocking, I know. Especially shocking when you consider the very same people who are looking for the nearest fainting couches are the ones who spent eight years calling Bush a chimp.
Let’s just say it is disrespectful to point your finger at a head of state, for the sake of argument. Where was the “outrage” when this happened?
*crickets*
See the double standard? Brewer was being disrespectful, Obama is just talking… and pointing/wagging his finger. No biggie. It’s not as if Obama once disrespectfully left a meeting at the White House where Netanyahu was in attendance. Oh wait.
After failing to extract a written promise of concessions on settlements, Obama walked out of his meeting with Netanyahu but invited him to stay at the White House, consult with advisers and “let me know if there is anything new”, a U.S. congressman, who spoke to the Prime Minister, said.
According to lefty standards, Obama was being disrespectful – even anti-semitic – for pointing his finger at the Israeli Prime Minister. And yet there was no “outrage” over the wagging or walking out of the meeting. They must have missed it all.
Speaking of the heads of state of countries which are US allies, Obama seems to have a habit for wagging his finger at them.
There’s our must-be-respected President wagging a finger at Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper. I think Obama was just telling him that his administration was going to scuttle a mutually beneficial pipeline project which would cost $0 US taxpayer dollars to build and create thousands of new jobs. Maybe he was really pointing towards China and telling Harper to work with them. But, if we’re to follow the new rules of conduct per the leftist media, Obama is clearly being disrespectful. Where was the outrage then?
The answer, of course, is simple. This Brewer thing wasn’t about concern for respecting the Office of the President. It is yet another facet of the narrative the in-the-tank-for-Obama media has been building since the 2008 campaign. Anything that can be twisted into an example of racism, even something subtle like a white lady pointing her finger at a black man, is amplified to support the narrative.
Brian Williams: “Who have you ver seen talk to the President like this?” upon viewing the Brewer/Obama picture. Er, you, Brian.
Obama is to be treated with kid gloves. He’s the first black President and must be treated differently than any other President before him. Ironically, that attitude is more racist and disrespectful than the picture which kicked off the mini-firestorm. The left cannot survive in a society where people are judged by the content of their character and not the color of their skin. As the 2012 election nears, expect the media to ratchet up the racial and class division stuff even more.
Thankfully, they whiffed on this one.