A Slightly More Serious Post

I made a solemn vow when I first started this blog a few years ago that I would never, ever talk about politics. Well, maybe I didn't make a solemn vow. But I generally try to avoid the subject, both in this blog and in my everyday Facebook posts. The reason(s)?

1. I am not going to change anybody's views. 
2. Similarly, I know myself well enough to know that people who argue with me will probably just irritate me instead of convince me of anything, unless their argument is wonderfully backed up with sources and impeccable logic-- I have not come across many people who argue like that. 
3. There are millions of people out there far more informed than I am. That in itself is not a reason for me to remain quiet, but I would rather participate as a listener than a contributor. I vote, read articles, and make choices, but I don't think I have anything to say that hasn't already been said (and more eloquently, at that). 

So, I want to preface this post by saying that I don't see this as being about politics. You may disagree with me. I will try and abstain from posting a single political opinion on here. What I DID want to post about is a trend I've been seeing on Facebook and some other social media sites. It's not actually a trend so much as a regular pattern that been a trending annoyance for me. 

It seems as though some people's anger towards Obama has presented itself as a form of irrelevant attack. This is not new, I understand that. I am writing this post because I have gotten to the point where I am finally taking people out of my newsfeed for it simply because I don't want to look at their posts, and I want to address it here. It's not a political issue, because it has nothing to do with politics. A political issue would be gun control. If I were to write a political post on the subject, it would involve discussing why or why not I believe American citizens should have access to certain types of guns. But I am not talking about gun control here; I'm talking about personal comments that have nothing to do with how Obama runs the country. 

What do I mean by irrelevant attacks? 

• Racism. Or, 1. comments that refer to Obama as being African or Muslim. There is nothing wrong with being either, but they are not accurate when describing Obama. Moreover, they are almost always used in a derogatory context. It is one thing to make an honest mistake (I make them all the time); it is entirely different to refer to him as an "African" as a lazy and inaccurate racial slur while actually criticizing him for something entirely different. That is insulting to Obama, to Africans, and to your own intelligence level. You can do better than that. 
• a. 2. Comments that refer to Obama as being "black" when talking about him in contexts that have nothing to do with race (so, when arguing gun control, I don't see why the color of his skin is relevant). 
• 3. Comments that use other derogatory words which should be obvious, and which I won't include here. 
• Comments that compare Obama to Hitler. Comparing anybody to Hitler has a multitude of issues for me. Primarily, unless they murdered fourteen million people, they are not Hitler. Secondly, pointing out that someone does something that Hitler did-- and therefore they are bad-- is also a frustrating argument. Mostly because Hitler liked Wagner, he sang in a church choir, he was interested in becoming a customs bureau officer, considered himself patriotic and nationalistic, was a painter for a short while, enjoyed drawing cartoons, and so on. 
• Instead of saying, "So-and-so is like Hitler because...", look at whatever action the person is taking, and explain why you disagree with that action. If you have a basic grasp of the English language, this should be possible without bringing in Hitler.
• Lastly, the argument that people who are slinging these personal attacks should not be blamed, because "the other side" said similar things about Bush while he was in office. First off, many people have been commenting on the extreme polarization of this country. Polarization comes from attitudes like this, on BOTH sides. Just because people criticize Bush for "being an idiot," or a "redneck" doesn't make the parallel criticisms of Obama acceptable. If they are wrong, then take a stand by refusing to play the same game. If you think these kinds of criticisms are acceptable, then go ahead,  but you can't get angry when the same comments are made about political figures you support. 
• Secondly, I want to make it clear that I have not, and will not, comment on anybody's performance in the office based on anything other than specific political decisions or actions. I don't care which party they are from, or the ratings they get while in office. This is not to say that my political views allow me to agree with every decision of every president in office, but I will not criticize the president simply because he's not someone I'd be personal friends with, given the opportunity. So, there is at least ONE person who has managed to abstain from this, and I'm quite certain there are probably others. 

I do hope that this means something to someone. As I said before, I know I won't change people's minds on political issues, but I really don't believe this is a political issue at all, but instead a step towards slightly more civilized discourse and debate with a bit less hatred.