Obama Fails Again

July 18, 2013

Obama Fails his People Again

By Lauri B. Regan

In March, 2011 Eric Holder testified before a congressional committee, feigning outrage at the insinuation that dropping voter intimidation charges against the New Black Panthers was racially motivated. After carefully distinguishing NBP voter intimidation in Philadelphia from the civil rights movement of the 1960s during which individuals "risked all for my people (emphasis added)," Holder pronounced:

I just want to assure, again, the American people that the allegations that somehow, someway, the Justice Department does things on the basis of race is simply false. It is simply false. Anybody who makes that contention is not telling the truth, is not familiar with the facts or has a political agenda. It is simply not true.

I will not take the time to delve into the apparent racially-biased determinations of the Holder Justice Department. It would be too easy to parse Holder's accusation that anyone paying attention over the past five years is either lying (like Holder and Obama), ignorant of the facts (again much like Holder and Obama), or motivated by politics (which Holder and Obama would never stoop to.)

But it is unquestionable that Obama and Holder's refusal to enforce some of the laws of the land while injecting themselves irresponsibly into enforcement of others is clearly due in part to a lack of racial neutrality. The Trayvon Martin case epitomized this from the beginning when Obama ignorantly pronounced, "If I had a son, he'd look like Trayvon" to Holder's most recent statement that "We must confront the underlying attitudes, the mistaken beliefs and the unfortunate stereotypes that serve too often as the basis for police action and private judgments." This, coming from the highest law enforcement official in the country (who, after all of the evidence was presented and the FBI concluded that race played no role, still deemed Martin's death as unnecessary), is another inappropriate interjection flaming the fires of rage in his people's bellies.

This is clearly evident in the rhetoric that greeted the verdict in the Trayvon Martin shooting trial. What is most appalling about the administration's role in this fiasco is the way that it is, either through active encouragement or passive silence, fomentng the seeds of hate and violence that are taking root across the country now that Zimmerman has rightfully been exonerated. Not only did Holder's DOJ support and help organize protests in Florida against Zimmerman in the lead up to the trial (your tax dollars at work), but its Community Relations Service's involvement resulted in the resignation of the Sanford police chief. As John Fund reported:

Lee, the former Sanford police chief, told CNN this week that he faced severe pressure from outside forces to conduct his investigation in an unprofessional way so as to placate the public. "It was [relayed] to me that they just wanted an arrest. They didn't care if it got dismissed later," he said. "You don't do that." Lee told CNN that arresting Zimmerman based on the evidence he had collected would have violated Zimmerman's Fourth Amendment rights. But he said political influence "forced a change in the course of the normal criminal-justice process. . . . That investigation was taken away from us. We weren't able to complete it."

Obama did make the obligatory statement about the jury having spoken and calling for calm, but his passivity in the face of rampant rioting is appalling. As Zimmerman's attorney, Mark O'Mara observed:

Having [made the comment about Trayvon looking like his son] and having now sort of used the power of his office for that purpose, [Obama] really had an opportunity when the verdict came down to rebalance things. To say look, the jury heard this case, they decided the case, and he is an innocent man who used self-defense. Let's take this lesson and move forward positively. Instead, he sort of suggests again, gun control needs to be revisited. George Zimmerman used that gun properly after waiting 45 seconds. Why not acknowledge that?

Instead, Holder's DOJ has set up an email "hotline" to garner "tips" that will help in its further investigation of possible federal charges against Zimmerman. And in the face of Obama's passive aggressive stance, the NAACP racks up signatures hoping to force Holder's hand (or providing Holder cover to make more of a fool of himself than he already has by bringing federal charges against Zimmerman). Al Sharpton is planning hundreds of protests across the country, and charges of racism are being made by every washed-up journalist and race-baiter that MSNBC can find.

The president's lack of leadership has been on display since he entered office. But for a guy who pretends to care so much about his people, he has done little to nothing to help them. Expanding welfare to poor, black Americans is no way to help his people, as the black unemployment rate, which is almost twice as high as the national rate, proves. Forcing inner city schools to serve vegetables is no way to help inner city residents succeed in life. Speaking out about gun control while ignoring the crime rate in America's cities like Chicago where blacks are disproportionately killing each other is a joke. Yet Obama keeps doubling down on failed policy while irresponsibly flaming racial dissension at unprecedented and alarming rates despite being elected as America's first black POTUS.

But Obama does not simply have an obligation to help his people. He took an oath of office as President of the United States of America which includes people of a multitude of races, religions, and backgrounds. Recall Obama's 2004 keynote speech at the Democratic National Convention in which he declared, "There is not a black America and a white America and Latino America and Asian America -- there's the United States of America." That speech was just one of the many that were full of beautiful prose and yet cynically (and successfully) used to sell the American people a bill of goods. For if the man that delivered that speech actually meant what he said, he would once again take to the airwaves and attempt to unite a country that years later is so deeply divided.

Obama's own race and upbringing should not play a role in how he governs a country as diverse and free as our own. He should not appoint other race-baiters like Holder to high office if it impairs their ability to do their job. And he should use his position to heal those who are feeling wronged by educating them on the judicial system, the responsibilities of living in a civil society, and respect for every American despite our differences.

And most importantly, Obama should lead. During his first term we could not escape Obama's face on the air waves as he gave speech after speech glorifying himself and his ability to part oceans. Now, we cannot tear him from the golf course or vacation spot to take to the airwaves and talk to his people about civil behavior in a free society. Instead of planting a vegetable garden and proposing "walking school buses," Michelle should be using her bully pulpit to teach respect for human life and property. Instead of expending resources figuring out how to further destroy Zimmerman's life, Holder should threaten criminal prosecution for those destroying property, blocking highways, threatening Zimmerman's life, and beating up journalists.

Rather than calling in liberal journalists for marching orders on praising ObamaCare, Obama should be using the stature of his office to encourage an end to false cries of racism and comparisons of Martin's death to the murder of 3000 Americans on 9/11. He should haul Al Sharpton into the Oval Office and tell him to "Shake it off. Stop complainin'. Stop grumblin'. Stop cryin'." And then he can tell Sharpton to put on his "marching shoes" and get the hell out of his office. And finally, he should forget about inviting sports figures and Hollywood celebrities into the Oval Office and consider inviting in the Zimmerman jurors who are in hiding out of fear of retribution for simply doing their civic duty.

Alas, none of us should hold our breath waiting for Obama to take a stand and call for an end to the violence in the wake of the Zimmerman verdict. Obama has been fomenting racial tension since his community organizing and Jeremiah Wright days -- that is who he is and what he does. But it certainly does his people little good to take to the streets like a bunch of wild animals while the rest of civil society looks on appalled at what they are witnessing. As our streets are looking more and more like Egypt's Tahrir Square (replete with Martin supporters' jihad-like threats to behead Zimmerman), I am starting to feel less and less, to paraphrase Michelle, proud to be an American.

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