President Obama Approval Rating at 55 Percent

While so many supporters and detractors of President Obama are locked in mortal warfare with word arrows like liar, socialist, right wing nut, left wing loonie, communist, Hitler, talk show right wing fanatic, and racist, being fired at every turn, some drawing blood, some flying wildly in the ether-net; the President himself continues to demonstrate restraint, calm, intelligent reason and now humor to deflect the arrows aimed at his heart.

Last night on David Letterman, we saw the gentle humor of our President as he deflected the cry of racism aimed by some of his supporters at folks like Glenn Beck and tea party opponents to his healthcare plan by pointing out, "In case, folks hadn't noticed, I was black before the election..". The humorous exchange between he and Letterman on the subject of his blackness, belies some of the intense anger on both sides of this issue, but I think perhaps our President has the right take on this subject.

He recognizes, as many of us who have fought racism all our life do, that anger and finger pointing shouts of racism don't actually help. Americans are trying, we have worked hard to erase and rectify the results of the centuries of racial abuse and racial injustice that prevailed in the land of the free. We know that our country failed to live up to the ideals it said it held and that lives were forever destroyed by our inability to leave our racist fears behind us.

There are people who will not be changed in my lifetime and perhaps not for generations; but we have a strong beginning. I eat lunch with one of my best friends and no one tells us we can't. My children have friends of all races and those children develop friendships that endure beyond racial lines. Yes, there is racism in our country on both sides; and we often don't want to acknowledge it. We hide from it, we deny it, and we cover it up.

But, now we have a black man as our President, a learned, intelligent, loving and kind man who is determined that American children will see his presidency as the amazing gift it is to all of us. For those of you who have ever uttered a racial slur or done any action that causes American children to doubt this man on the basis of his race, shame on you. And for those of you who disagreed completely with his politics, you need to be careful how you frame your arguments.

Recently an ugly picture of our President in African witch doctor garb began to show up on the internet and at health care and tea party protests with ggly statements that were racist and nasty. If you disagree with our President's policies, say so, but when you clothe your protest in racist signs aimed at destroying the legitimacy of our first African American president, you show your ignorance.

I appreciate opposition and defense of political viewpoints, but to paint this President, elected by an overwhelming majority and still holding a majority of support in the general population, as unpopular is dishonest. We know that racist attitudes toward him are not a majority opinion.

But as Joe Scarborough on Morning Joe said this morning about Glenn Beck's outrageous claims that President Obama hates white people; "That's wrong." Mr. Scarborough, a very respected conservative media talking head and former Republican Conservative Congressman looked the camera square on and said we need to step up and label this kind of dangerous rhetoric wrong!

Our President demonstrated his sense of humor on Letterman last night and gave us a glimpse of his charm and care for others. That I appreciate and respect him doesn't make me an Obamite who is delusional. That makes me an American who is proud of our President, not just for the simple fact that he is black, but because he speaks for over 50 percent of Americans who still believe in him and his presidency. According to the latest CNN poll his approval rating is steady at 55 percent of Americans. Might be bad news for those who claim erroneously that he is unpopular and his policies are not welcomed by Americans.

While other voices might be louder and more strident, that 55 percent is still there, supporting him, believing he can bring us back from the brink of disaster that 8 years of the former President gave us. Rome wasn't built in a day and the destruction of our country began 8 years ago and continued to grow under the presidency of a man who failed to take proper action and made terrible mistakes in how he governed. We survived despite that, but just barely.

Now we see and hear that the economic situation is beginning to heal. We have hope that the very practices so many conservatives claim is disaster, even though they were recommended by conservative and liberal economists across the spectrum, are working. We have hope that the health care debate and discussion will result in better health care for our citizens. We have hope that this President in four years will continue to be respected and known for his compassion, his sense of justice, his desire to serve all Americans and it won't hurt that he has a good sense of humor!

Resources

http://www.etonline.com/news/2009/09/78879/

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3036789/

http://news.aol.com/article/cnn-poll-obamas-approval-rating-steady/677992