"Prejudices are what fools use for reason"-Voltaire
God help America if the Republicans win the next elections.The coming elections have seen an interesting mix of characters declaring their interest in being the COO of America and among them are Sarah Palin and Donald Trump.Voltaire may as well have been referring to some of them when he penned his now famous quote.
Sarah Palin who has revealed herself to be as obsessed with her image as she is ignorant about her world geography.She is often parodied and this does not seem to faze her as she solidly marches on in her quest to seek Americas top job.This former Alaskan governor who was John McCain's running mate is also a notable figure of the tea party.This political movement is an American populist political movement that claims to promote an authentic interpretation of the American constitution.
Another front runner is Donald Trump the self made real estate millionaire whose personal fortune is estimated to be worth 2.7 billion dollars according to Forbes as of March 2011.Mr Trump is very familiar to Kenyans as the mean boss on the American edition of the apprentice.
These two individuals are keen supporters of the birther movement that claims President Obama is not a US citizen therefore holds the office of the President illegally.It is interesting that their supporters mostly white Republicans have swallowed this myth hook,line and sinker.
While debating the citizenship of the US president is not the aim of these article,the claims by these two and their supporters have spawned of anti Obama feelings across the country.And this largely stems from the fact that Obama boasts of an African father,a majority of the white population believes he has no businesses holding the position.
What they seem to forget is that he inherited most of these issues he is grappling with from his predecessor who was made infamous for his ignorance on a number of issues.In my view Obama is an idealist trying to create a perfect world when there is no chance of there being one.His detractor should give him a little lee way in trying to right a mess which was not his own doing.
Being a keen follower of international news,i read the Times and Huffington post often and it is sickening to read the comments of some Americans on anything Obama.It is sad that citizens of a country that is touted as being among the most advanced technologically,boasts some of the best learning institutions and generally a standard of life that is the envy of developing countries is also home to some of the most ignorant,hateful and disrespectful people on this earth.
I think it is about time they got off their moral high horse and cleaned up their house.For a fact Africans are more respectful of their elders no matter how much you disagree with their policies or feel about the way they run their country.But reading the comments on a recent Huffington post article on a certain reporter kept interrupting him during an interview you get to learn how crass Americans are.Apparently Obama could not get to complete his answers because the reporter kept interrupting him and the President had to ask the man to let him finish his answers.
It is indeed sad that more than half a century since the inception of the civil rights movement which aimed at outlawing discrimination against African Americans a section of this country that acts as a moral standard bearer for democracy still finds it okay for people to air their bigoted views against a sitting president.Obama seems to be receiving even more flack from some section of Republican and white supremacist than Clinton did when he lied about his affair with Monica Lewinsky.
Racialism is a disease just like tribalism and it seems even for a country that boasts of its Ivy League colleges the prejudices some Americans hold exposes them for the fools they are and no amount of education can remedy that.
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