Mocking the President in L.A.
Written by Michael Vass
How dare someone mock the President. It is an outrage to decency. It is an insult to Americans across the country.
We have issued a public challenge to the person or group that put up the poster to come forth and publicly tell why they have used this offensive depiction to ridicule President Obama.” Los Angeles Urban Policy Roundtable President Earl Ofari Hutchinson
Such are the comments that come from blogs and organizations across the country. So large is the outcry that now the news media is following this story. As well they should. Because this image is in bad taste.
Oh, I’m sorry. That wasn’t the image that everyone is in an uproar about? It must be this one then.
Funny how things change in just a year. When Vanity Fair published the image of President Bush as the Joker, that was ok. It was just political commentary. It was good natured and barely a word of dissent was made, except by those “crazy right-wing nuts”.
Yet the same image concept, used against the media darling, President Obama is an outrage. The quote above is actually referencing the image of President Obama (the words “and a socialist” following demonic was the only alteration to the quote). But in searching for comments by the same group against President Bush’s depiction I found nothing. Searching for comments denouncing the hundreds of malicious imagery created against the Bush Administration is rare and far between - except again for anyone labeled a “right-wing nut” that thought such imagery defamed the office of the President.
It highlights one thing clearly. The bias of the media, and much of the blogosphere. The freedom of thought and expression Liberals and Democrats try to claim as their domain seems to be exclusive to use only in ideas they approve of. How democratic.
The thing I want readers to question is simple. When major media institutions and political groups are demanding the public believe only a specific view, how can that be a positive for the country?
If one depiction of the President is fair, or mean-spirited for that matter, they both must be. And anyone not noting that has an agenda. In my experience, everyone with a political agenda tends to be looking out for their interests first and those of the public far afterwards.
Keep that in mind as you listen to the near fanatical coverage many news organizations and blogs provide about President Obama.
