I was heartened Sunday when I read an article, posted on FB by a friend, about the Annual Easter Day Celebrations at the White House. I enjoyed the pictures and videos of the First Family interacting with the guests; playing games, laughing, truly getting into and enjoying the day. For most, if not all of these children, it was their first interaction with our government and I was glad to see them having such a positive experience. In fact I wrote my immediate thoughts in the comment section-
"I love how they are so involved with all the annual events at the white House. They are great role models for our future generations."
Yesterday was a busy day and I was not online much, so I was quite surprised to see that there were several responses to my comments this morning when I got on FB to check messages from family. I should have known better than to go read those comments, but no, I unthinkingly clicked the link to the post and met a political shit storm.
Comments ranged from the inane (these are a random sampling of the over 50 comments I received)-
"You're kidding, right?"
to-
"She must be, no one is that stupid"
to remarks about PO's golf game-
"He is a great roll model for people who would like to skip out of work and play a few rounds of golf!"
to remarks I cannot and will not repost here due to their base, ignorant, foul, and illiterate content.
There were a few people who thought as I did, or responded to some specific comment of someone else, but the majority of comments were negative jabs at me, the subject matter of the article, or purely political ugliness poured out on the page just because they thought they had an opening to spew. It was quite experience into the mind of those on the far right.
Of course I had to respond...
(...bear with me as I expand on my reply to the comments made)-
"Yes, I'm serious. When was the last time you saw a President as actively involved with the people who are invited to the frequent events at the White House, promoted to encourage involvement with government? His positive interaction with today's youth will be seen long after he's gone, when those kids grow up to be our face to the world, showing how our great country is."
How often do you hear people in office say they had an experience meeting a great political official when they were younger and the experience was instrumental in getting them involved in the government process? We hear it frequently from both sides of the aisle, and we're hearing it more and more from the youth in this country as they stand up and make themselves heard on issues affecting them, their education, and their lives. It's encouraging to see the younger generation's open mindedness, intelligence, and humanity.
"Whether you like it or not, history will record Obama as one of our greatest presidents, and I, for one, am glad to be here to witness it. I don't care what your political affiliation is, as a twice elected official, serving as the head representative of the US, of all of us, he is deserving of the respect that his office is entitled to. None but our greatest Presidents have faced even a small amount of the disrespect this man has and he handles it with grace, humor, and a humbleness, that many lack the empathy to understand. "
The lack of respect shown to the office of this sitting President is one of the things that angers me more than most others. The rank hypocrisy of the rights position of, "you agree with the president and his administration or you weren't a patriotic American"during Dubya's two terms in office, to an immediate debasing of the office, let alone the man, rankles me to the core. To see that position be treated as a racist joke, to hear the hatred expressed by a segment of our society against a sitting president primarily due to his skin color, angers me. To see the blatant disrespect of our other branches of government, in not only being part of that segment of society, but also encouraging that segment to further and more aggressive acts on a daily basis is revolting to me and it makes me disgusted. The people who have the audacity to call themselves journalists and news reporters who , instead of reporting the facts of what is happening in this country, shamelessly lie and distort the truth, promoting the hatred, lack of civility, and discrimination, make me want to scream at them (and I do in the privacy of my own home on a regular basis).
Remember the "Me" generation, who came of age in the early and mid 80's? Welcome to the culture of them... all physically grown up (I won't go into the mental aspect, as I could write a book on that). These are the 40-55 yr olds of today, many of the most vocal and juvenile of our politicians and those screaming their immaturity to the world. It is staggering how lacking they are in an understanding of themselves and the world around them. They haven't progressed since they were in high school, if not elementary school.
"To politicize something as innocuous as playing games with children, reading to them, and giving them a wonderful memory of their first interaction with our government is beneath the dignity of the principles our country was founded on. You shame us in the eyes of the world with your pettiness."
How small minded and heartless these people are. No matter their position in life, they are the dregs of our society. Their ignorance of the world and our country, their hatred at their perceived lack of control over their lives and selfishness of their infantile tantrums (which accounts for much of the "Take Back Our Country" rhetoric and fear mongering). They are unable to think beyond their own self-serving desires with anything resembling humanity or compassion. Spoiled, ignorant children playing at being statesmen and orators of a generation and making the rest of us look like fools in the process. My frustration makes me want to knock their heads together and attempt to shake some common sense into them.If it were another country I would pity the citizens and leaders as they worked through the problems these people create so frequently.
As it is, it's my country, and there is no word in the English language, or any other for that matter, to describe the repugnance and abhorrence I feel for the people who are treating our President, our country and our founding principles with such contempt and irresponsible behavior.