by Pa Rock
Citizen Journalist
Yesterday I made note of the good old boys - and girls - in and around Oklahoma City who were busy waving Confederate flags and displaying they bigotry and ignorance when President Obama arrived in the Oklahoma capital on Wednesday. It was a sad insight into Oklahoma "culture" in the 21st century, but considering the state's long and complicated history with race, not all that surprising.
There are areas in our country which are less enlightened than others, enclaves of intolerance where people seem to take pride in their ability to maintain irrational hatreds and stupid beliefs across generations. We expect to hear stories like that from parts of the American South, Oklahoma, Texas, some suburbs of St. Louis and Boston, and scattered other places forgotten by time and left to fester along the shores of their shallow and inadequate gene pools.
We don't expect, however, to hear racist crap emanating from areas of the country which are known for their forward thinking, places like the state of Washington - one of the leaders in America's proud march to the future. But this week, there it was.
Patrick Rushing, the mayor of Airway Heights, Washington, a suburb of Spokane, found himself in a bit of political hot water after some derogatory remarks that he he made about President and Mrs. Obama on his Facebook page found their way into the news media. The remarks, in which he compared the President to a monkey and the First Lady to a gorilla, made such a stir locally that the entire city council has gone on record asking the mayor to resign. Rushing, who himself is far from being the best looking cracker in the box, has declined to resign, saying that his remarks were just "playful back and forth banter that friends and I do."
Move along, folks. Nothing racist to see here.
One local paper reported that Rushing has a "long history of posting questionable and outright racist comments on Facebook." The paper said he had at least 75 offensive posts on his Facebook page in the past including an image suggesting that the POTUS and FLOTUS be hung for treason. All of the posts have since been removed or made private.
Mayor Rushing also entertains his friends with posts about Hillary, gays, and immigrants.
It's just another day in America with one more imbecile heaping disrespect and derision on our President - a man who is held in high international regard but suffers insulting affronts here at home primarily because of the color of his skin.
Patrick Rushing needs to resign his public position, and then he needs to spend some time feeling thoroughly ashamed of the man he has become. And if Patrick Rushing doesn't have the ability to feel shame, then we should all be ashamed for him.
Thank you, President Obama - and Michelle - for standing tall and representing the absolute best of America. We are proud of you!
Citizen Journalist
Yesterday I made note of the good old boys - and girls - in and around Oklahoma City who were busy waving Confederate flags and displaying they bigotry and ignorance when President Obama arrived in the Oklahoma capital on Wednesday. It was a sad insight into Oklahoma "culture" in the 21st century, but considering the state's long and complicated history with race, not all that surprising.
There are areas in our country which are less enlightened than others, enclaves of intolerance where people seem to take pride in their ability to maintain irrational hatreds and stupid beliefs across generations. We expect to hear stories like that from parts of the American South, Oklahoma, Texas, some suburbs of St. Louis and Boston, and scattered other places forgotten by time and left to fester along the shores of their shallow and inadequate gene pools.
We don't expect, however, to hear racist crap emanating from areas of the country which are known for their forward thinking, places like the state of Washington - one of the leaders in America's proud march to the future. But this week, there it was.
Patrick Rushing, the mayor of Airway Heights, Washington, a suburb of Spokane, found himself in a bit of political hot water after some derogatory remarks that he he made about President and Mrs. Obama on his Facebook page found their way into the news media. The remarks, in which he compared the President to a monkey and the First Lady to a gorilla, made such a stir locally that the entire city council has gone on record asking the mayor to resign. Rushing, who himself is far from being the best looking cracker in the box, has declined to resign, saying that his remarks were just "playful back and forth banter that friends and I do."
Move along, folks. Nothing racist to see here.
One local paper reported that Rushing has a "long history of posting questionable and outright racist comments on Facebook." The paper said he had at least 75 offensive posts on his Facebook page in the past including an image suggesting that the POTUS and FLOTUS be hung for treason. All of the posts have since been removed or made private.
Mayor Rushing also entertains his friends with posts about Hillary, gays, and immigrants.
It's just another day in America with one more imbecile heaping disrespect and derision on our President - a man who is held in high international regard but suffers insulting affronts here at home primarily because of the color of his skin.
Patrick Rushing needs to resign his public position, and then he needs to spend some time feeling thoroughly ashamed of the man he has become. And if Patrick Rushing doesn't have the ability to feel shame, then we should all be ashamed for him.
Thank you, President Obama - and Michelle - for standing tall and representing the absolute best of America. We are proud of you!
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