Americans Against the Tea Party has a facebook page and a cursory review of the comments and postings on their page reveals that there is no shortage of smart alecks in the group. Here's a photo that caught my attention.
The photo received nearly a hundred comments and over 500 'likes.' The vast majority of the comments were about how clever the sign was, like it was the ultimate in witty political commentary, but it seems that their appreciation was not really well thought out - they just liked that it took a shot at people who don't like Obama and Christians. It's the same old "Ha Ha Ha - they're so stupid! We're so smart!" sort of commentary.
A quick comment survey uncovers ...
- the predictable 'Jesus didn't have birth certificate' joke
- the crude 'teabagger' name calling
- the unthinking 'even though I'm an uber-intelligent atheist, I like using Jesus to condemn others' argument
- the lecturing 'Conservative Christians don't really understand Jesus' theme
Do the IQ and spelling comments even need to be mentioned? So utterly predictable. So superficial. So uninformed and bigoted and closed minded. Like always.
Let's deconstruct this sign:
"Obama is not"
This is quite interesting because it requires the reader to assume that the writer knows what Obama is. That is a bold claim. Obama is a Christian, that doesn't attend church. He is an editor, that doesn't write. He is an orator, that depends on a teleprompter. He is an academic, with no grades. He is a politician that spoke out against war, and a commander that escalates it. Given this inconsistency, it is impossible to say what Obama "is" - he apparently can be anything.
"a brown skinned"
Tea Party people don't care about Obama's skin color and this is just a feeble attempt to make race the issue. Nobody really buys this anymore ... 1968 called and they want their protest sign back.
"anti-war"
He was anti-war when it was politically expedient, but things are different now. He's not anti-war. He's not really even anti-killing, though doing it by predator drone is much less messy, politically at least.
"socialist"
A strong, well-researched case can be made that Obama is, in fact, a socialist. What's most telling about this phrase is that Obama supporters openly claim to be progressive and liberal, but don't want the socialist tag applied to him. Why are they so afraid of the label? Because they know it is failed ideology that cannot stand up to the reason they claim to so admire.
"who gives away"
Did I miss the press release where Obama gave something? Last I heard he was vacationing in Martha's Vineyard and Hawaii, playing golf as often as possible and complaining about the difficulties of being President. He seems much more like a 'taker' than a 'giver,' though I could see where he would be on board with a welfare program like California's. Obama cannot give anything to us that he has not already taken from us. He has nothing to give.
"free healthcare"
There is no free healthcare. None. It does not exist, and it certainly can't be given away. There is always a cost and describing it as 'free' only serves to demonstrate the writer's distance from reality.
"You're thinking of Jesus."
If only more people would.
Jesus was Jewish. Does that qualify as brown-skinned these days? If so, someone let the Israeli's know ... they could use some affirmative action-like treatment in the press.
Was Jesus anti-war or pro-peace?
Is willingly sharing your personal excess the same as state mandated socialism?
Finally, Jesus paid a pretty high price for the free healthcare he gave away.
