We Don’t Have to Call President Obama Names to Oppose Him

Opinion   |   Josh Brahm   |   Oct 28, 2012   |   7:41PM   |   Washington, DC

On Tuesday, I sent a tweet that received more angry responses than any tweet I’ve ever sent before. What did I say that was so controversial? The day after the final presidential debate, reacting to dozens of annoying comments on Facebook and Twitter, I had the gall to say this:

I received 16 responses, and I have a few thoughts about them. I’m going to do those tweeters a favor and not post their screen names. I’m not even going to post every response because a lot of them overlapped. Here are a few highlights though:

He may be your president but he sure as hell isn’t mine. I haven’t a president or VP since 2008. That will change Nov. 6th!

First of all…no…if you’re a citizen of the United States, then trust me, you actually do have a President. Read Article 2, Section 1 of the Constitution you and I love so much. You might not like President Obama, but just as George W. Bush was still the President of liberals who believe he lead our country into an unconstitutional war with Iraq, Barrack Obama is my president, even though I personally disagree with most of his policies.

Frankly, this should be so obvious that it’s depressing that I received several other replies asserting that President Obama is not that particular person’s President. It’s almost as delusional as thinking that you can legally force Facebook to reject it’s Terms of Use conditions by posting a statement on your wall about what they can’t do with your pictures. And it’s way more petty.

nope cause he doesn’t deserve any respect and has been an epic failure in all aspects of his Presidency.

A distinction is in order here. I’m not saying you need to respect every decision that President Obama has made. I’m saying that his office is due a certain amount of respect, and civil, clear-thinking people whose ideas are taken seriously by both sides of the political aisle recognize that.

is he? never has there been a president more bent on murdering his citizens, his name is abhorrent to many.

Really? Do you actually think President Obama wants American citizens to be killed? This statement actually is worse than that. This guy is implying that President Obama himself is murdering citizens. This charge is worse than ridiculous.

Sadly, some people simply responded with more name-calling:

When he’s cured of #Obamarreah

Consider this, you’re not only calling the President of the United States a derogatory name, you’re calling a human being a derogatory name. We shouldn’t treat anybody like that, much less, the President.

Agreed. I’ll just call him Hussein then.

Yup, President Obama’s middle name proves…what again? That he’s a secret Muslim, a secret Kenyan, or both? *facepalm*

can ‘our president and vp’ stop saying Mitt has Romnesia? Who is heading up the name calling?

WHO CARES WHO IS DOING MORE NAME CALLING?! Are we seriously reducing ourselves to the same argument little boys use when scolded for messing around during a car ride? “But he started it!” Grow up.

I saved the worst for last:

Yours maybe. I’ll never accept him, or his administration. He’d not get a splatter of spit from me even if he were on fire.

By now you’re probably thinking, “but, Josh, that’s not everybody. That’s just the vocal minority.” You’re probably right. But that minority is more than just a couple of crackpots. There are many of them, and they’re a part of the reason some liberal bloggers hate us so much. They’re not just reading from the careful conservative thinkers. They’re watching and laughing at this nonsense.

This is what happened with the Tea Party. The vast majority of people at Tea Party rallies are smart, decent folk. But pictures get taken of people holding signs like this, this and this, and suddenly the rest of the political spectrum hears the term “Tea Party” and thinks “redneck racist.” It’s not fair, but it’s the common perception. And it’s a shame.

You may be thinking, “forget civility! President Obama just called Romney a bull******* in an interview with a national magazine!” Yes, he did. And that’s not helping his campaign right now. Why? Because we expect more from people that hold the office of the President. Instead of stooping down to that level, let’s rise above that, and make our arguments in a way that is characteristic of a good ambassador for Christ, and in a way that isn’t so easily brushed aside by the other side.

What’s my response to the 16 angry people who rejected my claim that President Obama IS our president and we shouldn’t call him names? The same message that Dr. Phil Plait had for a large group of his fellow skeptics and atheists at The Amazing Meeting #8, after watching the way many skeptics treat Christians online:

It’s a great speech, by the way. Pro-Life Action League’s Eric Scheidler and I are going to tape an episode of Life Report soon, discussing the lessons that pro-life advocates can take away from this speech.

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Next time you type out an angry Facebook post, YouTube comment or tweet, reread it first. Then ask yourself whether you would say the same thing to the people who will read it if you were discussing the issue at Starbucks. If you’d be too embarrassed to say it out loud to someone in public, then you should be too embarrassed to say it in a public tweet.

Let us agree that if we want to make a great impact in our society, we must do so passionately, and with some level of civility and class. Those things are not mutually exclusive. Combine them the way William Wilberforce did, and you can change the world.

LifeNews.com Note: Josh Brahm is the educational director for Right to Life of Central California and the host of Life Report, also a LifeNews pro-life video feature. Find more episodes of Life Report at ProLifePodcast.net.