Originally Posted by eweissenbach

The red-faced, over the top hatred for Obama is worrisome, and flat out disgusting in my opinion. In my lifetime there have been people who disliked Presidents; Johnson, Nixon, Carter, Clinton, and W. Bush, all had their share of strong detractors, but the level of stridency and vitriol was nothing like it is in some quarters for Obama. I have a facebook friend who has posted some scary things, and who may just be unbalanced enough to actually do something stupid if given the opportunity. I have a cousin, who is otherwise a pretty sane guy, who called Obama a fxxxing nxxxxxr. I read posts on this forum that are somewhat more controlled, but indicate a deep level of hatred that seems to go waaaaaay beyond political or philosophical differences. This morning I stopped for breakfast and picked up a copy of the morning paper. On page two was a picture of Obama which had been scribbled out with a pen and the person had written "Got to get rid of him!" On the opinion page a cartoon of Obama appeared and apparently the same person had written under it "He needs to go to hell to save his soul". I mean seriously people, what ever happened to respect and dignity? I know George W. took a lot of ridicule, but it didn't ever rise to the level of pure hatred that this stuff gets to. I think there are numerous reasons for this, many of which have been used by the right wing media to play to peoples fears and emotions, but I think it is close to getting out of hand. I don't love Obama as a president, and in fact will probably vote for Romney, but not because I think he is evil or unqualified. I just hope he makes it through his presidency without some impressionable kook making an attempt on his life. The rhetoric on both sides needs to become less hostile.