Why are people like Sarah Palin, Michelle Bachmann so Critical of policies of President Obama?: Are They afraid of him? Sarah Palin says she fears for the democracy because of President Obama’s agenda, and has further accused President Obama of being a sympathizer of terrorist. Michelle Bachman accused the president of being even worse than President Jimmy Carter (Cesca, 2011). I want to consider the expectations of the president and consider if the accusations are reasonable.
The constitutional expectations of the president include an oath according to the Article II that President Obama swore to on the day he was sworn into office, while swearing to his commitment to execute the office of president. The oath affirms that the president will protect and defend the constitution of the United States. While recalling the day of the inauguration of President Obama, the swearing in seemed botched, and on the next day, Chief Justice Roberts asked of the president to take the oath again without mistakes as they did while speaking carefully, making efforts to speak the oath perfectly. A historical note is that not all presidents have recited the actual oath but instead say “I do” after someone else has recited the oath as questions. The expectations of the people supplement the constitutional text as the practices of the constitution are not always consistent with the constitutional text. An example is when Senator Hillary Clinton took office as secretary of state, and Kirsten Gillibrand who was representing New York’s 20th district in the House of Representatives replaced Mrs. Clinton in the Senate. The problem is that Murphy won an election in 2009 to replace Gillibrand. However, when can Murphy run for re-election- since the Article 1 section 2 says that members of the House of Representatives will be chosen every two years. Murphy ran and won in 2010 or two consecutive years as opposed to every two years, and this is a standard practice while meeting expectations of Americans though not in the constitutional text (Primus, 2010).
Needless to say, the 21st century is proving to be a time of globalization requiring much change in our thinking. Has the president kept his word? How can accusations of Sarah Palin possibly reflect the actions of a president who has sworn to defend the constitution of the United States? Former presidents and leaders have made changes that were necessary as the Supreme Court had to decide on Brown v. the Board of education, hall of famer, Wesley Branch Rickey a baseball executive for the major leagues decided to integrate Major league baseball while signing Jackie Robinson and Black Hispanic Roberto Clemente to Major league. President Harry Truman decided to integrate the American armed forces. The point is that constitutional developments occur and though people may not have immediately embraced the changes, the validity of the changes are not always immediately apparent. Though President Obama has exercised his transformational gifts, we must open our eyes and learn from our history while not judging the worth of the decisions of our leaders based on the color of their skin. President Obama is our first acknowledged Black president and we must continue to daily consider him in prayer to God.
References
Primus, R. (2010). Constitutional expectations. Michigan Law Review, 109(1), 91-110.
I pay as much attention to the words of Sarah Palin,and Michelle Bachmann as I would to the village idiot. Neither appears to be knowledgeable when it comes to history, nor do they have much kinship with the truth. Both appear to have come to fame based on false sensationalism of issues, and a desire to distort the truth in order to strengthen their, out of touch with the masses, positions. Add to these two characters, Newt Gingrich and Donald Trump, and you have the makings of a political circus complete with a blowhard ringleader (Trump), the two-faced man (Gingrich), and a pair of clowns (Palin and Bachmann). None of these characters have any credibility, and in my opinion, even less chance of getting the Republican nomination. But aside from this sideshow, the real issue is the rise of a force whose sole purpose is to destroy the American middle class, and divide the country into a mass of poor, uneducated, desperate have-nots, and a small, greedy, selfish upper class who would do anything to increase their wealth, and destroy any aspirations of a middle class in America. These Teapublicans, have no compassion for the American people, no patriotism for America, nor any understanding of history, economics, or the consequences of their foul philosophies. They would be the kind of people who, once they had all the money and wealth in America, would set out to counterfeit money, because their greed still wasn't sated. The real culprits that must be watched, aren't the Palins or Bachmanns but the traditional Republicans whose main objective is to eliminate social security, destroy medicare and medicaid, destroy unions, and pander to their masters: the health care industry, the pharmaceutical companies, big oil, individuals like the Koch brothers, and the super-rich who would turn America into their own kingdom. So as progressives, we can't we distracted by the sideshow and must keep our eye on the ball.....the so-called conventional Republican, and their evil twin Tea Party.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately,the media has become the fabric of the reality TV forum. No longer the news is reserved for the reporter to insure their sources are credible before presenting the news to the public. In the 21st century, anybody can give their point of view as a pseudo news reporter via social networking and YouTube their reality as they see it. This in my opinion has started a revolution among the likes of a Sarah Palin and have created a new Republican Party of just say no to common sense. As a result, you have people forming groups i.e. TEA BAGS, BIRTHERS, and electing those who represent their interests. The era of 24 hour news i.e. FOX, CNN, MSNBC,Huffington Post, New York Times and the like, are told to cover all sides via Democrats, Independents, and the Republican Party. The only difference out of the three parties, is that The Republican Party has always had grass roots from Christian Rights, Anti-Abortionists, and other organizations to draw like minded people to join their cause. So when it comes election time (2010), they vote and of course their candidate wins. In this case the representatives in office are Republicans. To that end, we have "Stupid Politics" that say no to common sense.
ReplyDeleteHowever, we have to ask ourselves, are intelligent people believing the so call stupidity that Palin, Bachmann, Trump are spewing out? Or are said politicains promoting their reality TV series and/or their Autobiography. Is this a "stupid is as stupid does political posturing" by the Republicans, and they expect to loose their run for the Presidency, and win in the Neilsons? I suspect that the Republicans know when it comes to running for the Presidency in 2012, that President Obama wins hands down. President Obama has a legitimate Reality TV Program which runs daily without interruption, which 99% of the viewing audience will vote to extend his series to another term and win in the Neilsons as well.