About Disparagaing Jokes and Cartoons about Obama

I, for the record, duly respect the freedom of speech, especially when it pertains to politics and religion because there is much falsehood and disrespect of truth and logic in these two arenas. Having said that, I have some comments to the recent disparaging jokes and cartoons about Obama. I realize that any politician is fair game for satire and jokes, especially in America where freedom of speech is revered. However, I think as immigrants, Vietnamese need to be aware of the true nature of the Republican Party and should not let our concern for self-interest color our perception. Republicans, as a rule, are anti-immigrants and prone to be fascists, if given a chance (there are already several articles and books about warnings of potential fascism among Republicans). Republicans are against healthcare reform because they view it as redistribution of income. Even if health care reform is about redistribution of income, what is so bad about that? Too much inequality in a society will lead to chaos. Too much inequality as it exists in America regarding healthcare is not acceptable. Obama happens to be half-black and half-white, but racist whites conveniently think he is just black. To make a joke about Obama's racial identity as seen in the instance of the sign from Texas which says "The zoo has an African lion, but the White House has a lyin African" is quite low. I wonder if the author of the joke truly regards himself superior to the man who rose to prominence by the sweat of his own labor and intellect, unlike the case of Bush the Junior. To show contempt for anybody, one must have incontrovertible evidence that one is superior to the person one is contemptuous. The evidence, of course, has to be based on anything other than race. I myself do have contempt for several individuals. I only do so after careful weighing of many factors. It is an act of idiocy to feel contemptuous because one just feels like it, without supporting evidence. Obama was an editor of the Harvard Law School Review. Upon graduation, he could have taken a high-paying corporate job, but he chose to become a community organizer and followed the path of politics. The man was a first term Junior U.S. Senator from Illinois when he decided to run for President of the U.S. Remarkably, he received a lot of support from his fellow Senators. That fact alone should tell us something about the man. And of course, he won the race to the White House. That victory should give us something to ponder about the merits of the man. So far, he has shown to be an engaging President, unlike his predecessor. His healthcare legislative victory should indicate to us about his tenacity. Vietnamese, a people of color ourselves, should not ape the lower instincts of some racist whites and thus should not enthusiastically post jokes and cartoons that make fun of Obama's African heritage