Should Anti-Obama People Be Allowed To 'Blow Off Steam'?

A recent article in my favorite magazine, a British newsweekly we all know as The Economist, noted something I myself had not yet noticed in America. Apparently, there are some voters who do not pay the proper respect to their newly elected ruler, President Barack Obama.

Is it simply racial predjudice? No, of course not. Nothing is quite so simple. Yet perhaps racial intolerance is but one of many "factors," as Bill O'Reilly might say, within the small yet noisy anti-Obama movement. It is certainly not for me to judge.

There are two parts to this fringe culture, according to The Economist: Some U.S. social conservatives of lesser means are simply frustrated by the rapidly widening gap between a very small group of extremely wealthy elitists and the vast unhappy 80% of the country which cannot afford our finer restaurants and country clubs, while another group hopes to bring the quaint and pleasant English tradition of "afternoon tea" back to a nation which has, in large part, become barbaric.


During the Reagan administration, our rulers at the White House decided we needed to renew the "special relationship" with the United Kingdom. As a result, both London and Washington embarked on a bold crusade to push back against modern social security and government largess -- and the "middle class" of the nostalgic old American Dream era of post-war prosperity was rather quickly put back in the pages of history.

Since then, over those long three decades, we have watched as the bottom classes found one devil or another to complain about, even as so many of our less well-off fellow citizens turned ever more to traditional pursuits of the unskilled labor pool, such as watching stock-car races or the collecting of Confederate Flags or Beanie Babies or the viewing the "reality telly" shows in which attractive people pretend to exist and struggle within the "reality" of the tragic masses. In important ways, this mirrors Mother England, where the lower classes are not much involved in the business of politics.

But, about these "Obama Haters." They are apparently led by the CNN star Glenn Beck. I have not heard of him, but my tastes run more toward the BBC. His gimmick, they say, is to imitate the character from the classic 1970s comedy Network. If so, good for him and kudos on his success. But does he base his "shtick" on unsavory recollections of our shameful national past?

One can say, "Oh let them blow off steam however they like, it's better than having them organize a union and demand a higher wage or beg for medical benefits!" And while I certainly see that point, something in the back of my mind makes me wonder: Is this the best we can do? Could we not find another, less ugly diversion for those who simply need a minor distraction as salve for the endless disappointment of the workaday life?

I have encountered other suggestions, perhaps not so forgiving as my own. At pleasant dinner parties in Georgetown, I've heard people speak of "turning off the Internet." Would that we could! But the barriers seem insurmountable, as the Internet is where so many people now get their television programs and the pornography to help them through lonely times and wilted prospects. Take away their windows to a fantasy life, and what is left? I am not enthused about hearing them gathered outside my townhouse.

Let's try another method: Let these people burn away their anger in the most impotent way. Let them mail gift boxes of fine teas to their rulers, as "hints" that perhaps even our worse off deserve a second glance. Let them type as best they can type, on the Internet, about their discomfort with the current administration and this handsome intellectual president with the exotic international pedigree. Jealousy is a cruel mistress.

And yet, when we look back at this moment, eight or twelve years from now, I believe we'll smile, and perhaps hum a bit of When I'm Sixty-Four.

Ken Layne is the syndicated columnist from Wonkette.com, the Washington website of ideas.