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“There are no problems we cannot solve together, and very few we can solve by ourselves.” — Lyndon B. Johnson
(I’m a little surprised this is my first LBJ quote. Very quotable president! I think a lot of us were hoping that President Obama could demonstrate some LBJ qualities in dealing with the Republicans in Congress. But, let’s face it. LBJ was a bit of a Blue Dog Democrat to begin with, which made it easier to reach out to Republicans. And, in the wake of the JFK assassination I think that more Republicans were receptive to cooperating for the greater good. Today, the entire concept of the greater good seems to have been lost on far too many Republicans, and unfortunately they have become the Party of No! And then again, there’s the downplayed – by this administration – issue of race. The Obama camp cannot afford to raise this specter, for very obvious reasons. But, do not fool yourselves, for a minute, into thinking that race is not an issue, when it comes to a substantial segment of the anti-Obama camp/sentiment. You’d think that the United States would be so much past this. But, no. It really does seem that the more things change, the more they stay the same. Sad.) — YUR
Unclerave's Wordy Weblog 
You hit the nail right on the head! I couldn’t have said it better myself, and I don’t think a lot of other people would have been able to either. Thanks so much! Jerri
Jerri,
You’re very kind. Plenty of people think this way, and are saying so, confidentially. There seems to be a concerted effort to downplay the issue of racism, but the (more than a) feeling is palpable. From the claims that he’s (1) only a *Community Activist*, that he’s (2) a Muslim, that he’s (3) not really a U.S. citizen, to HE (4) is responsible for the bailouts and National Debt and government spending being out of control. The first 3 claims are sour grapes type complaints, but the last one has been the biggest catalyst behind the formation and growth of Tea Party. So, essentially the Tea Party is based upon a lie. And not a small lie, but a huge lie.
But, despite all the closeted racism, I have this nagging feeling that we were all sandbagged to begin with. I had my suspicions even before the 2008 election, but by then the die had been cast. It was either the Obama that we all wanted him to be, or the McCain/Palin that we all dreaded might be. The other option, if you want to call it that, was the protest vote. Without a viable third party the protest vote is basically a wasted vote. The powers that be realize this and exploit it. And, we’re all a bunch of saps because of it.
YUR