These are not the class warfare droids that you are looking for.

[timcsaw]

Well, I dislike him and i would still dislike him even if his name was Biff or Billy Bob and he lived in a mansion in Palm Beach or in a singlewide on some strip mined hilltop outside of Hazard, KY. As for the Jimmy Carter thing, I thnk that he may actually be looking to surpass James Buchanan.

"Biff... Biff Obama..." Heh, heh, heh.....

[jdm61]

Okay, you lost me with "the complete and often thoughtful sentences part." Why do I dislike the guy? Well, aside from the fact that he appears to dislike people like me which riles up the Scotch-Irish hillbilly in me, I think that he is nothing more than a divisive rabble rouser who, like many others, is in love with the sound of his own voice and with having absolute power over other people. I put Michael Blooberg in the same category, except Bloomberg actually had a real job at one point in his life and subsequently discovered that even billions of dollars were not enough to feed his ego. In Obama's case, he took the more direct route to the "power is money" goal.

That's a peculiar comment. Since you harbor such a fierce and pointless personal dislike of the guy, what is it about him that would still be there to cause you to so foam at the mouth if he were somebody else? If he were those other things you mentioned, he would no longer be the same person. In particular, he probably wouldn't be the same well-educated well-spoken somewhat liberal black guy who speaks in complete and often thoughtful sentences, and thus he would not be by definition so maddeningly "arrogant."

Public figures, or people like poor George Zimmerman who become public figures involuntarily, tend to stop being seen or effectively understood as real people but instead turn into cartoonish Rorschach tests, especially for those who conceive such strong dislikes for them. As such, those strong passions often say a lot more about those who feel them than about those who are their target.

[OliverH]

Well, aside from the fact that he appears to dislike people like me which riles up the Scotch-Irish hillbilly in me, I think that he is nothing more than a divisive rabble rouser who, like many others, is in love with the sound of his own voice and with having absolute power over other people. I put Michael Blooberg in the same category, except Bloomberg actually had a real job at one point in his life and subsequently discovered that even billions of dollars were not enough to feed his ego. In Obama's case, he took the more direct route to the "power is money" goal.

So what makes you think he dislikes people "like you," whatever you think that means? And what makes you think he's a divisive rabble rouser? (Especially compared to the foam-at-the-mouth conservatives that currently muscle their way to the microphone on every available stage. Ted Nugent, anyone?) Personally I don't see that anybody who wants to be president of the United States lacks an itch for power and sense that he ought to be the one to wield it. If Mitt Romney, for instance, doesn't want to have the same absolute power as Obama, then why is he running? Seriously, is there anything that makes you feel otherwise about, say, Newt Gingrich or Rick Perry (speaking of divisive rabble-rousers) or the rest of the crew? Your criticisms are IMO without the kind of force or content that would really motivate the antipathy you express, especially if one puts Obama next to any number of other politicians whose sins in those regard are at least as bad as Obama's.

IMO, the antipathy comes first, and generally predigested. People choose sides, create demons in their own heads or subscribe to an interpretation that offers them already constructed, then manufacture reasons after the fact, more or less credible. In the old days, people could disagree with somebody's politics without having to tell stories to themselves about what an evil person the other guy is. Nowadays, and it's especially apparent in the over-the-top rhetoric from the right, excess emotional response to the point of derangement seem to have become a necessary aspect of being a respectable partisan. A lot of conservatives in the US are wandering into Streicher territory these days, and by dint of volume and sheer numbers are making what would once have been considered extreme statements (e.g., "communist", "like Hitler") seem moderate and reasonable.

[OliverH]

"Biff... Biff Obama..." Heh, heh, heh.....

When thought fails....

[quietmike]

When thought fails....

....become a liberal?

[Triton]

The above just goes to show how thought deteriorates along with language.

You mean like when you refer to those who are members of one of the two major political parties as "repugs?"

[timcsaw]

You mean like when you refer to those who are members of one of the two major political parties as "repugs?"

Ooooooooooh, I wish I'd have said that! (Sometimes my ignore list is such an opportunity stifler.) Typical "do as I say not as I do" mindset, the equivalent to "We need to raise YOUR taxes!"

[jdm61]

What makes you think that I like the loudmouth douchebags on the right? As for Romney, I am not sure yet if I see him as someone who actually might have had a desire to do public service like George H.W. Bush, is looking for more power like Bloomberg, or is somewhat schizo about the whole thing like Jack and Bobby Kennedy who I think had some good intentions, but you cannot ignore where they came from and how their father and grandfather viewed political power and how those boys were pushed into that "business.". It us a bit harder to tell these days because, unlike in the days of Washington, Jefferson and Madison, you can't demonstrate your commitment to public service these days by occupying the White House just long enough to personally bankrupt yourself and getting nothing in return, not even a pension.

So what makes you think he dislikes people "like you," whatever you think that means? And what makes you think he's a divisive rabble rouser? (Especially compared to the foam-at-the-mouth conservatives that currently muscle their way to the microphone on every available stage. Ted Nugent, anyone?) Personally I don't see that anybody who wants to be president of the United States lacks an itch for power and sense that he ought to be the one to wield it. If Mitt Romney, for instance, doesn't want to have the same absolute power as Obama, then why is he running? Seriously, is there anything that makes you feel otherwise about, say, Newt Gingrich or Rick Perry (speaking of divisive rabble-rousers) or the rest of the crew? Your criticisms are IMO without the kind of force or content that would really motivate the antipathy you express, especially if one puts Obama next to any number of other politicians whose sins in those regard are at least as bad as Obama's.

IMO, the antipathy comes first, and generally predigested. People choose sides, create demons in their own heads or subscribe to an interpretation that offers them already constructed, then manufacture reasons after the fact, more or less credible. In the old days, people could disagree with somebody's politics without having to tell stories to themselves about what an evil person the other guy is. Nowadays, and it's especially apparent in the over-the-top rhetoric from the right, excess emotional response to the point of derangement seem to have become a necessary aspect of being a respectable partisan. A lot of conservatives in the US are wandering into Streicher territory these days, and by dint of volume and sheer numbers are making what would once have been considered extreme statements (e.g., "communist", "like Hitler") seem moderate and reasonable.

[timcsaw]

....become a liberal?

Ouch. Touché!