Disrespecting The President
I swear this is the last post about the Obamas’ visit to my town….seriously, it really is.
I am of the mind that people should freely question the president. I also think to many people in our country resort to childish behavior when it comes to them questioning the president. I wish we were more adult like in our behavior as a society, the hubs thinks I am dreaming in a fantasy bubble. He is right but I like that fantasy bubble and plan to keep it around.
The Christian Science Monitor wrote an article about the Obamas’ visit here and it makes me sad. It starts off with a conspiracy tone, it really does. All because, as they claim, our local teabaggers welcomed the Obamas’ with open arms. First off, Asheville experiences economic crisis roughly around 2-3 years after the rest of the country. This means we are hurting really bad right now. I would welcome anyone here who is willing to spend some money and give us a boost! Secondly, I don’t know what the hell they are talking about. As far as I heard the teabaggers didn’t do anything while the Obamas’ were here! I know of one peaceful group who did stage a protest. They had signs but didn’t shout any obscenities or even chant negative things. Now let’s clarify that I am not a fan of teabaggers. I equate them to be the PETA of the political world. They got their heart in the right place but some of the things they say and do are what I would consider dam near idiotic. I get the feeling that the Christian Science Monitor felt that they should actively be out throwing eggs at the motorcade and protesting the audacity that the man get some R&R. What? Now they aren’t douchebaggery teabaggery enough?
The article continues on to insult us with their term “hillbilly hippies”. Obviously CSM doesn’t know the makeup of our little city. Alot of us IN the city (not outside city limits) are not even from the mountains. I run into more transplants from the north (like myself) IN the city. We are not to be confused with Buncombe County. Our attitudes and lifestyles are vastly different from county folk. I don’t mean that Buncombe County is bad by any means, they are simply diferent from Asheville. If the Obamas’ see Asheville as a model for the rest of the country……I seriously hope that it means they see the country TRYING to be progressive like Asheville. Don’t get me wrong, I love it here. But we are far from perfect and we are a work in progress.
Unfortunatley the article (in my perception of course) goes on with the usual rant of “conservative fears”. What alot of people forget is that we DO have conservatives and we have quite a few. We have an unusual breed of conservatives. Most are quite happy with themselves and don’t spend 90% of their time angry and protesting. I like our breed of conservatives, they actually don’t interfere with every single move that a liberal makes. That doesn’t mean they sit back and let us do whatever we want either. Oh no, if there is something on the table that they are staunchly against they stand up and make their voices heard. We are currently fighting….you saw that CSM right? FIGHTING……for our homosexual city employees to have benefits for their significant others like their heterosexual counterparts. If we were liberally run we wouldn’t need to fight, it would be in place. It got ugly for awhile but the conservatives and liberals calmed down and actually started talking about it. You see that is how it should be, DISCUSSION.
Look, I don’t think there was anything going on more than a vacation. Current speculation is, they are considering moving here when they retire. Perhaps that was part of their reason for visiting? Regardless they were here for 3 days, that isn’t enough time to plot some dastardly plan to make the US just like Asheville. Hell, you couldn’t do that in 2 presidential terms! Apparently CSM has forgotten about the rest of the world and their ability to say no.
