When I heard Pat Buchanan call President Obama “boy”, I, unlike many people who support President Obama, chose to shrug the comment off. Yes, you can interpret it as a racially motivated comment, but I thought it was a comment motivated by disrespect. If we are honest, I’ve heard liberals call President Bush a lot worse.
But when I heard that a congressman used the words “tar baby” to describe Obama’s policies, I had to cringe. Now this was racially motivated, I don’t think many could argue otherwise.
The sad fact is that Congressman Lamborn is unlikely to face any real political consequences because of his comment. America is living through a time where politicians don’t respect the President of the United States and are politically rewarded when they shout him down in front of the country during State of the Union addresses.
Again, let me acknowledge that this disrespect was present during the Bush years, but there can be no doubt that it has been taken to another level under President Obama.
What pains me most is that President Obama cannot do anything about it. The most politically sensible thing for him to do is to let it go. He cannot speak out about situations such as this because of fear of being seen to use the race card, a card, in light of Congressman Lamborn’s remarks, he is entitled to use.
