"When people show you who they are, believe them."
~ Dr. Maya Angelou
There's been a lot of punditry going on about Mitt Romney and the GOP's loss of the presidential election. It just isn't all that deep. Just ask Dr. Maya Angelou.
Dr. Angelou has been quoted a bazillion times for saying, "When people show you who they are, believe them." Simply put, Mitt Romney and the GOP showed the American electorate who they are. And we believed them.
Mitt Romney showed us he's the kind of man who would strap his family's dog on the roof of the family minivan in a pet carrier. And we believed him, hugging our pets closer to us all the while.
Paul Ryan showed us he was the kind of person who would decry entitlements for everyone else despite the fact that he collected Social Security as a minor after his father died. And we believed him.
The GOP showed us they have hated President Obama since day one of his presidency, when they vowed to make him a "one term president." They showed us over and over again during the primaries, when more than a few of their candidates made making President Obama a one term president their rallying cry, with little to no substance in their campaigns. And we believed them.
Mitt Romney showed us he was willing to tack hard to the right on immigration and abortion during the primaries and then attempt to Etch-a-Sketch his way to the center during the presidential campaign, backing off of his hard right positions. And we believed him.
Mitt Romney showed us, albeit inadvertently, that he had contempt for 47% of the country. And we believed him.
Mitt Romney showed us he was not only willing to outright lie about his position on the auto industry bailout, but to lie and say that the auto industry planned to ship jobs to China, so much so that the CEO of Chrysler had to blast him publicly. And we believed him.
The GOP showed us that they were willing to lie about voter fraud to make the case for making it more difficult for minority communities to vote, even down to the outrageous curtailment of early voting in minority communities and the enactment of voter ID laws. And we believed them, so much so that we flipped the script and voted absentee, since most states don't require an ID for absentee ballots because the GOP STILL thinks that only old, white Republicans vote absentee.
The GOP showed us they were willing to lie about President Obama's record, creating this false narrative of him being a failed president. And we believed them - not the false narrative, but that they were willing to lie to create such a false narrative.
Mitt Romney showed us that he was willing to make a tragedy political, to wit, the raid on the U.S. Embassy in Libya. In a presidential debate, no less. And we believed him.
Mitt Romney showed us that he was willing to back away from his most significant accomplishment in elected office -- health care reform, or "Romneycare," because it was politically expedient. And we believed him.
And even after defeat, Mitt Romney ungraciously stated that President Obama won because of the "gifts" he bestowed on minorities and women.
No, Mitt, you lost because you showed us who you are. Despite the mainstream media's pathetic failure to hold you to account for your flip-flopping, despite the Super PAC money that the titans of industry poured into your campaign, despite having Karl Rove on your team, the voters were not distracted. You showed us who you are. We paid attention. And we believed you.
That's why you and the GOP lost.
Just ask Maya Angelou.
Showing posts with label 2012 Presidential Election. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 2012 Presidential Election. Show all posts
This Time, I'm Voting for Obama Because He's Black
This time, I'm voting for President Obama because he's black. Before you accuse me of "playing the race card," a phrase I find offensive because it is intended to thwart any meaningful and real discussion of race and racism in America, hear me out.
Last time, I voted for President Obama because I believed he was the candidate with the better intellect and temperament to deal with the challenges American would face.
I was not disappointed. I knew that there was no way he was going to be able to reverse the tsunami that would become the Great Recession in only four years. But you could not have told me that the GOP would have, from day one, conspired to make President Obama a "one-term president" before he had even done anything to deserve such animus. To my knowledge, the GOP didn't even conspire to make Roosevelt a "one-term president," and his agenda was decidedly more radical than President Obama's.
You cannot tell me in good conscience that we'd even be saying that a white president who accomplished all of the following and more in four freakin' years was a "failed president":
So I've already voted for Barack Obama because he's black. Since he's not been graded fairly because of his race, I've decided to balance the unspoken racial bias with my racially biased vote. As a fellow African-American Ivy League-educated professional, I totally get it. Been there, got the "unspoken racial bias" t-shirt many times over. Hell, it's not like a whole lot of evangelical white folks aren't holding their noses about Romney's religion and voting for him just because he's white.
As Iyanla Vanzant says, "Call a thing a thing." If Barack Obama were white, we wouldn't even be talking about a close race. Nor would he have been treated with more disrespect than any sitting president I can recall in my 49 years in these united states.
Yep, I said it. And I'm not playing the "race card." I'm playing the "reality card."
Get over it.
Last time, I voted for President Obama because I believed he was the candidate with the better intellect and temperament to deal with the challenges American would face.
I was not disappointed. I knew that there was no way he was going to be able to reverse the tsunami that would become the Great Recession in only four years. But you could not have told me that the GOP would have, from day one, conspired to make President Obama a "one-term president" before he had even done anything to deserve such animus. To my knowledge, the GOP didn't even conspire to make Roosevelt a "one-term president," and his agenda was decidedly more radical than President Obama's.
You cannot tell me in good conscience that we'd even be saying that a white president who accomplished all of the following and more in four freakin' years was a "failed president":
- The Lily Ledbetter Act
- The Consumer Protection Agency
- Appointing two women to the Supreme Court
- Ending the war in Iraq
- Earning a Nobel Peace Prize
- Health care reform
- Taking out Osama bin Laden and most of the top leadership in Al Qaeda
- Saving the U.S. auto industry
- Ending "Don't Ask, Don't Tell"
- Deferring deportation of Dreamers
- Keeping the entire U.S. economy from going off a cliff
So I've already voted for Barack Obama because he's black. Since he's not been graded fairly because of his race, I've decided to balance the unspoken racial bias with my racially biased vote. As a fellow African-American Ivy League-educated professional, I totally get it. Been there, got the "unspoken racial bias" t-shirt many times over. Hell, it's not like a whole lot of evangelical white folks aren't holding their noses about Romney's religion and voting for him just because he's white.
As Iyanla Vanzant says, "Call a thing a thing." If Barack Obama were white, we wouldn't even be talking about a close race. Nor would he have been treated with more disrespect than any sitting president I can recall in my 49 years in these united states.
Yep, I said it. And I'm not playing the "race card." I'm playing the "reality card."
Get over it.
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