HATE TRANSCENDS LOGIC
There was a news story I ran across today about how competition between pizza restaurants in Lake City, Fla., had gotten out of hand to the point that two managers of the local Domino's had been arrested for burning down a nearby Papa John's location.
Stories like that tend to get my attention anyway, because they so clearly illustrate that my father has been right all these years about stupidity running rampant. In this case, however, what bothered me even more than the story itself was one of the comments left by another reader on the Internet site where it was posted.
The comment, referring to the alleged arsonists, read as follows: " They probably voted for obumer in 08 now look!!"
Say what?
A couple of idiots burn down a pizza place and they're tagged as Obama supporters? Based on what evidence?
Oh, wait, I forgot. Obama-haters don't need little things like evidence or logic to support their hatred of the man. It's enough that they just don't like him and so they can say any stupid thing they want.
Not in my pool you don't!
What is it with some of these dim-bulb, Fox-swilling lemmings and their constant efforts to drag him down by connecting him to stories which have absolutely nothing to do with the man? I mean, I wasn't (and will never be) the biggest fan of George W. Bush (or his father... or Nixon or Reagan, for that matter) and expressed my share of criticism when he was in office. But I don't recall ever using GWB as a scapegoat for every little thing I felt like bellyaching about.
The anti-Obama crowd seems to love bashing the President just for the sake of bashing him. When it comes to legitimate beefs such as policies and ideals that doesn't bother quite so much; I may not agree with what the naysayers are contending, but I respect their right to express their difference of opinion and hope they would grant me the same courtesy. (Some do, some don't; human nature, I suppose.)
But other expressions of hatred of the current president really gets under my skin. Some - not all, but definitely some - has obviously racist intent, which unfortunately I suppose was to be expected even in these supposedly more "enlightened" times. There are some who insist on continuing to beat the dead-horse "birther" issue even after a number of GOP leaders have (rightfully) dismissed it as so much bantha poodoo.
There's a fellow down in Texas who made headlines recently for an radio ad he put together for a Concealed Handgun License class he was teaching. Towards the end of the ad - which ran for six days on local Mason, Texas, station KHLB - Crockett Keller announces announces that supporters of Obama are not welcome to take the class because "You have already proven that you cannot make a knowledgeable and prudent decision under the law."
As far as I'm concerned that's about as un-American as one can get. But you'd be surprised (well, maybe you wouldn't) at the number of people who have raked me over the coals for saying so. I've gotten an pretty continuous earful about how "Obama is trying to take our guns away" despite the fact that there hasn't been a single gun confiscated from law-abiding citizens during Obama's presidency. I can't help thinking there is a certain twisted irony in making the jump from "Obama wants to take away our guns" to "If you voted for Obama you can't have a gun."
But it gets sillier than that. I've read people blaming Obama for everything from the drought conditions in Oklahoma and Texas to the failure to certain TV shows and movies to the outcome of this year's World Series. Like this president - or any other, for that matter - has much influence over the weather, how many people watch certain TV shows or the final score of a stupid baseball game.
Attention Obama Haters: We get it - you don't like him. That's your right. But for some of you that hatred is bordering on the pathological and you seem to be in serious need of psychiatric help. Please, do yourselves a favor and get that help already. Because you're sick, do you hear me? SICK.
There, I said it and I'm not sorry.
In : Opinion
Tags: politics "current events" news
John A. Small is an award-winning newspaper journalist, columnist and broadcaster whose work has been honored by the Oklahoma Press Association, the Society of Professional Journalists, the Associated Press, the National Newspaper Association, and the Oklahoma Education Association. He and his wife Melissa were married in 1986; they have two sons, Joshua Orrin (born 1991) and William Ian (born 1996).
Mr. Small is the News Editor and columnist for the Johnston County Capital-Democrat, a weekly newspaper headquartered in Tishomingo, OK. He obtained his nickname, "Bard of the Lesser Boulevards," from a journalism colleague - the late Phil Byrum - in recognition of the success of his popular newspaper column, "Small Talk." (In addition to the many awards the column itself has received over the years, a radio version of "Small Talk" earned an award for "Best Small Market Commentary" from the Society of Professional Journalists in 1998.)
John was born in Oklahoma City in 1963; lived in the Bradley-Bourbonnais-Kankakee area of Illinois for most of the next 28 years (with brief sojourns in Texas and Athens, Greece, thrown in to break up the monotony); then returned to his native state in 1991, where he currently resides in the Tishomingo/Ravia area. He graduated from Bradley-Bourbonnais Community High School in 1981, and received his bachelor's degree in journalism from Olivet Nazarene University in Bourbonnais in 1991. The years between high school and college were a period frought with numerous exploits and misadventures, some of which have become the stuff of legend; nobody was hurt along the way, however, which should count for something.
In addition to his professional career as a journalist he has published two short story collections: "Days Gone By: Legends And Tales Of Sipokni West" (2007), a collection of western stories; and "Something In The Air" (2011), a more eclectic collection. He was also a contributor to the 2005 Locus Award-nominated science fiction anthology "Myths For The Modern Age: Philip Jose Farmer's Wold Newton Universe," edited by Win Scott Eckert. In additon he has written a stage play and a self-published cookbook; served as project editor for a book about the JFK assassination entitled "The Men On The Sixth Floor"; and has either published or posted on the Internet a number of essays, stories and poems.
He has also won writing awards from the Veterans of Foreign Wars and the National Library of Poetry. He is a past president of the Johnston County Chamber of Commerce in Tishomingo; was a charter member and past president of the Johnston County Reading Council, the local literacy advocacy and "friends of the library" organization; served as Johnston County's first-ever Americans with Disabilities Act coordinator in 1994-95; served two terms as chairman of the Johnston County (OK) Democratic Party; and has taught journalism classes for local Boy Scout Merit Badge Fairs. He is a member of the New Wold Newton Meteorics Society.
