Will America Ever Grow Up?

I'm normally deliberate in what I post, and rarely do I allow anger or frustration to prompt my writing.  Yet there's a pot of water that's boiling, and it is about to pour over and cause some serious harm.

I noticed that as soon as we voted in our new President, rarely did you hear opposition call him President Obama.  They simply relegated to just calling him Obama.  Now that's not a horrible thing, because I have called him and other presidents by their last name only.  Yet as time has progressed it has become evident that this is a link to total disrespect to him as Commander-in-Chief and the leader of the "Free World".

Things moved up a notch on the disrespect meter when Rep Joe Wilson disrespectfully yelled out a childish "YOU LIE" during a live Presidential address.  Of course he went on to apologize a few weeks later, and said his emotion got the best of him.  I was willing to be on the "let's get past it" team, but I wondered if he ever heard of professionalism.  I also begin to wonder if this was just a repeat of the America of old, where no matter what I accomplish as a black man, in some people's eyes, I will never deserve the respect.  Nevertheless I let that go.

Then there came this "tar baby" reference by the rep from Colorado.  Before I jumped to say anything I wanted to get the facts of the case.  I did, but they didn't matter because as a "Professional" there's a thing called sensitivity training.  This is where I learn that there are different cultures, ethnicity, etc that work with me, and when I say/do something I must be aware of how that can be taken.  For example, if I was to make a general comment about the word Faggot in my workplace I'm sure I would suffer some form of discipline due to the sexual preference of some of my co-workers.  If you don't believe me then ask Kobe Bryant, Tim Hardaway, and a few others how the misuse of a word cost them a lot.  But this rep can use the term "tar baby" in reference to the nations first Black President, and can simply apologize later.  Now I was willing to almost let this past.

Then this morning I wake up, enjoying my Toronto and American Bar Association experience, and I go to one of my favorite websites.  One of the headlines reads Fox News affiliate article "Obama's Hip Hop BBQ Didn't Create Jobs".  This was in reference to the President's 50th bday party.  A party where there were People like Tom Hanks, Rahm Emmanuel, and some other racial identities along with some African Americans.  Of course the coward that wrote the article didn't care to attach his name to the ignorance he wrote.  I'm all for criticizing the President when it is due, but where do we draw the line when it comes to the disrespect?

This has me pissed off this morning .  Yes I'm a supporter of this President, but that isn't my sole reason for anger.  I get angry because if people can freely say these racist and offensive things about the President of the United States, then what can a racist prick say or do to me or my 2-year old son?  It is time that we stop shielding these hatemongering fools, and call them out for the idiots and racists that they are.  There's a big difference between being critical of a person's policies, and being disrespectful because of his race.  Will America ever grow up?

Just me