I ran across this editorial in the Evansville Courier-Press this morning. It is a disturbing view into the morbidly sick attitudes of some of my neighbors in Southern Indiana and the great fear of assassination that I know many of us contemplate in the darkest recesses of our minds.
MILLER COLUMN: Nation cannot let dissent disintegrate into murderous hate
If you voted against Barack Obama because you disagree with his policies, and if you accept the result of the election, understanding that democracy has had its way with us, this message is not about you. It is about those among us so fanatic that they wish him dead. It is about neutralizing the poison they spread.
Yes, this is a fear that many of us carry, but the writer explains what prompted this column below.
A week before the election, I attended a social gathering of educated men. A medical doctor there was eager to share his latest Obama "joke." It began with the new president meeting St. Peter at heaven's gate because he had been murdered 10 minutes after the inauguration. There were racial undertones to the story and derogatory remarks questioning Obama's patriotism. The doctor's attempt at levity sickened me, but no more than the comments of others, who patronized him by lamenting that the possibility of Obama's early death was "wishful thinking." And no more than the rancid e-mails of the same nature that continue to circulate.
This experience did happen BEFORE the election when Palin was spouting the hateful pieces of a puzzle that a few, like Michelle Bachmann, put together. My hope is that this tone has eased since.
David Miller gives a short history lesson on the relatively recent addition of Civil Rights and those who have still not accepted that change. He goes on to say:
The problem doesn't end there. The current political poison directed at Obama is not only rooted in racism. It is the product of the intolerant partisanship that has crippled us and our government for years. Race simply makes it easier to sell the current partisan poison. Only people of goodwill can heal these wounds to our national character. We have had enough divisive hatred.
The terrible thought of it all is summed up in the last line of the column
Try to imagine the chaos and anger if some fanatic took him out. We cannot let that happen.
We must watch Obama's back and become "people of goodwill" at the same time. The alternative is too frightening to imagine.