At first, it sputtered and coughed with a lean mixture of Reverend Wright and Bill Ayers, plus an overdose of racial politics, but now the “hate Obama” people have their machine cranking at a high RPM. If you can believe the blogs, gays hate Obama, old people hate Obama, middle-aged white females hate Obama, along with Pakistanis, Pennsylvanians, a sizable segment of the U. S. Muslim population, terrorists, Neo-Nazis, white supremacists, Christians, Jews and the Middle East…not to mention the Republicans and the “entire nation” according to one blogger. You can buy “I Hate Obama” T-shirts, gifts, art, posters, aprons, bags, bumper stickers, buttons, pins, shoes, calendars, cards, hats, key chains, magnets, mouse pads, mugs and ties, just for starters. Books, magazines, newsletters, ezines and YouTube clips blanket the internet, media and publication industries with their “hate Obama” message. And, many of the 56,899,510 people who voted against Obama make up a rabid market of consumers for the product.
If the “love Obama” side of the question were tepid in their views, then Obama hatred may get some traction. That’s hardly the case. Love for Obama easily exceeds levels ever known for a Presidential candidate or a President-elect, virtually wiping out any effectiveness of their polar opposites. Not only is the same paraphernalia like T-shirts, stickers and buttons sailing off the shelves and out the doors, Obama devotion seems more like the establishment of a new religion. The pre-inaugural Obama fanaticism has federal holidays planned in his honor; streets, roads and schools have already been named after him; “Barack” has become one of the most popular names chosen for baby boys; ABC reported that “’This is the fall of the Berlin Wall times ten,’” Rama Yade, France’s black junior minister for human rights, told French radio. “America is becoming a New World. ‘On this morning, we all want to be American so we can take a bite of this dream unfolding before our eyes,’ she said.” Whether in true belief or in sarcasm, Obama has been dubbed “the Messiah”, “the One” and “the Savior.” Millions of his supporters do expect him to bring about miraculous changes in the world, an expectation that his administrative team has feverishly been trying to quell. Too late. Obamanism is for real.
So, which is it? Should we hate him or love him? Neither. Both viewpoints miss the main point. Hatred is corrosive and love is blinding. Hatred makes one crazy with personal animosity; love fills the atmosphere with a stupefying aphrodisiac. Both render the thought processes incapable of handling information objectively and without bias. Every American would do well to remember that he or she is, above all else, a citizen. We are not subjects, fans, minions or mere taxpayers. We are not laity, union members, political parties or simple votes to be counted. We are not contributors, devotees or crowds. We are citizens who participate in a democratically styled government with all of its attendant responsibilities to each other and to ourselves. When we allow emotions to rule our senses, we prove ourselves unworthy of our freedoms.
I do not hate Obama. I do not love Obama. I fear Obama, as I would any individual elected to the supreme office of the land. The executive powers vested in that office can instigate unprecedented change—overnight—that can send the world into military, economic or social convulsions. My family, my job, my church, my community and my life are eminently threatened by the wielding of that power. One ruling, or a series of rulings, that militate against my belief system and/or my livelihood can destroy me. One executive order inked into law can decimate my freedom, my bill of rights and my constitutional guarantees. One decision, supported by a sympathetic legislative and judicial branch of government, can send my life into a tailspin from which it cannot recover. Hatred for the person with this kind of authority is useless. Love for this person is mindless. Fear will make me cautious and watchful. It is not fear for my soul—that is in the hands of God, out of reach of any President or elected official. No, it is fear of my citizenship. Not only am I right to retain such fear, I am obligated to have it as a citizen of this free land. Otherwise, I forfeit my chance to make a difference.
I fear a President who can unilaterally disarm my country, weaken our military might and put us at the mercy of a foreign invasion.
I fear a President who turns this capitalistic nation into a socialist state where the citizens are seen, not as free people who can determine their own destiny, but as sources of revenue to carry an ever-increasing welfare burden.
I fear a President who can subject the unique American rule of law to the consensus of judicial opinions of judges around the world. I do not want those who lack this country’s heritage of freedom to determine American law.
I fear a President who may allow his popularity to overrule his oath to support and defend the constitution of the United States of America. This country has no monarchy ensconced in a golden throne in a White House turned into a palace.
I fear a President who may open the door to the tyranny of the minority, whereby the rules of political correctness and the attempts at social justice are imposed upon the specified freedoms of the citizens.
I fear a President who may begin the process of reparations, of any type of abortion for any reason, of euthanasia, of stem-cell research, of redistribution of wealth, of oppressive taxation, of the once-defeated Equal Rights Amendment, of hate crime legislation or of ceding global power to the United Nations.
I fear a President who supports the specious claims of the global warming alarmists and initiates changes at their behest which will wreck our economy and bring America to its knees.
I fear a President who may come into my church, mount my pulpit and tell me what I can and cannot preach to my congregation. If my Bible is good enough to act as a foundational document for this nation to be established, it is good enough for me to use as a guide for living and believing.
Yes, I fear a President who has such overreaching powers that he can fundamentally change the nature and profile of the freest nation ever to exist. I will not lower my self to hate him. Neither will I genuflect in front of him as though he were a god. I will watch him, analyze him, warn him, monitor him and critique him. If I hate him, I will react viscerally to his every move, thus suspending my ability to counter him intellectually. If he does something that I think will hurt me as a citizen, I will protest against him and enlist the support of others to do the same. If I suspect he is curtailing my freedom, weakening my nation or threatening my livelihood, I will publish my suspicions to anyone who will listen.
I fear a President who has his hand around the throat of America. Fear calls for vigilance. Eternal vigilance is the price of freedom. At least that’s what I have always heard. All of us may now be called upon to prove it.