Regarding the rancor against Obama… What I see directed against Obama seems to be of the same flavor as what was thrown at Bill Clinton– except possibly a bit less shrill. Yes, you read that right– I was *amazed* at the intensity of hatred that was directed at Clinton upon his inauguration. It seemed like he hit the ground running through a mudstorm.

Since the tenor of the attacks feels the same to me, I wonder if it is really racism, or rather a venomous hatred of the idea of a Democratic president and all the Democrats stand for. The racism appears to me to be just another convenient handful of mud to pitch at Obama, not the main event here.

If anything, there even seems to me to be a bit of holding-back on the part of the right wingers here; clearly if they let fly all-out with racist attacks on Obama they would totally discredit themselves. They felt no such compunctions when attacking Clinton for his sexual misadventures, labeling him “Slick Willy” and so on. Or else, they *are* letting fly, but the big-media is not giving it as much coverage as the attacks on Clinton got.

Of course, some wits commented back in those days that Clinton was “our first Black president”. Hmmm.