What Shirley Sherrod Was Really Saying

Barack Obama is the right wings worst nightmare. They were going to resort to their usual distortions, misrepresentations and outright lies no matter which Democrat was elected President but the fact that the first African American was elected President caused the right wing to go into panic mode and desperation. They have questioned where he was really born, questioned the allegiance to America of the first lady, called him a socialist, accused him of favoring Black Americans over White Americans, accused him of being a closet Moslem out to destroy America and Israel, and they do whatever they possibly can to turn the American people against him.

They disparage every contribution he has made, and let there be no doubt, whatever your political leanings may be, without the stimulus package the United States economy would have melted down and we would be in a deep Depression and more than twice the millions that are out of work now would be out of work today without the stimulus. Obama had a choice between huge deficits or saving the country from outright collapse and he chose the only wise course any true leader would.

Although the health care bill needs to be revised to enact more cost containment and to include more robust tort reform the fact remains that more than thirty million Americans will have medical insurance that never had it before. That alone is an achievement that has eluded every President for the past sixty years and should be lauded, not denigrated.

The financial reform package isn’t as strong as it should be but it is far better than anything we ever had before and it will help enormously to prevent more Wall Street barons from bankrupting our country while they abscond with the savings of every day workers.

Obama is a Black man and that alone has caused the right wing to go apocalyptic and predict the end of America because this Black man is in the White House. The right wing in America is doing whatever it can to scare the bejusus out of every day men and women in America with their lies about Obama wreaking havoc on our country. He has restored the reputation of America as country that seeks multilateral solutions to the worlds ills rather than acting unilaterally like a bull in a china job the way Bush did.

The right wing in the Tea Party movement and the Republican Party will deny they are racists and that Obama’s race has anything to do with them working day and night to tear him down It’s driving them crazy to have a Black man in the Oval Office. The right wing in the Tea Party movement and the Republican Party's deep seated racial antipathies towards Obama is what is hampering our recovery and our greatness as a nation. Let the truth be told.

Mark Jeffery Koch of NJ 5:15PM July 22, 2010