The Big House

So they finally managed to turn President Obama into just another brother with bad credit, a mortgage he can’t afford and tapped out equity. By consistently blocking the raising of the debt ceiling, the Republicans sought to make him a credit risk in the eyes of voters. In fact the whole debt ceiling crisis was one manufactured by Republicans and if not for them we would not be facing a credit downgrade.A manufactured crisis, because the fact is the debt ceiling has been consistently raised under every presidential administration since Jimmy Carter…and without controversy. Ronald Reagan about tripled the debt limit in 8 years and George W. Bush nearly doubled it.

So why did something as routine as a credit limit increase turn into a national nightmare? Well according to Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell, “the single most important thing we want to achieve is for President Obama to be a one-term President” as if that wasn’t already abundantly clear. At least Mr. McConnell is honest in voicing his intentions. What we ended up with is a plan that doesn’t reduce the federal debt by one cent. What it did instead was instill fear into the minds of voters that President Obama may bankrupt the government and more importantly it gives the Republicans an issue to run on in the next election cycle. Apparently for Mr. McConnell and his fellow Republicans a debt downgrade is an acceptable cost of doing politics…no matter the repercussions.

Of course President Obama’s approval ratings are taking an expected decline, except with African-Americans and not surprisingly. From the beginning the attacks on President Obama by the right have been vicious and savagely racists. In my opinion President Obama has the undying support of most African-Americans because we take those attacks personally as he is one of our own. When he is attacked, we all are. This latest crisis only further validates this in the minds of most. It’s not that we can’t be critical of our President, there are things he and his fellow Democrats could have done differently. The least of which, would have been to push through the debt limit increase when the Democrats controlled the house during the President’s first two years of office. The problem is that we can all relate to these bigoted assaults. The empathy we have for President Obama is understood by us and earned legitimately.

Recently, the President celebrated his 50th birthday at the White House with invited guests and performances featuring Stevie Wonder, Ledisi & Herbie Hancock. Included was a DJ who played Classic Motown and 70’s and 80’s R&B and soul music. The next day FOX News ran a headline on their website which read “Obama’s Hip-Hop Event Didn’t Create Jobs”. Included were photos of Chris Rock, Jay Z and Charles Barkley. Nowhere did it mention the many white celebrities, including Tom Hanks and Barbara Streisand, who attended the party. FOX News has also referred to the White House as Hizzhouse, Hizzy and The Big Crib. This is wrong on so many levels that it’s not even worth discussing. Still, it does explain why we feel the way we do about our President.