During vacation with family and friends in July 2012, a good portion of our time was spent watching the first two seasons of Twenty-Four (24). If you are a Twenty-Four or Jack Bauer fan, you may recall that the opening season revealed the first African American President of the United States, David Palmer. During his presidency, Palmer faced a myriad of unprecedented disasters mainly focused on terrorism activities. A major situation that exasperated Palmer’s presidency was an orchestrated attempt by his Vice President, members of his cabinet and Palmer’s Chief of Staff to overthrow his presidency because they did not agree with a policy decision involving an unwarranted war. Consequently, they contrived a series of lies and fabrications to illustrate the fact that President Palmer was unfit to continue to serve as President. The Vice President, Chief of Staff and a majority of the cabinet members were all white men.
For me, an interesting parallel is drawn between what President David Palmer was experiencing in Twenty-Four compared to what President Barack Obama has been experiencing since his inauguration in January 2009 – having his presidency under minded by a radical group of predominately white men who do not believe that he is fit to serve as President of the United States as well as facing a major economic crises. Through the financial resources of the Koch Brothers and other right-wing radical people and organizations, this white, hateful constituency continues to use every lie and propaganda they can formulate to discredit the legitimacy of President Obama as a person as well as his presidency.
In addition to the characterization of President Obama as Boy, a “power hungry arrogant black man,” Barack, the Magic Negro, a Socialist and a Muslim, a component of the Republican Party has continued the debunked birther conspiracy. Orly Taitz was the first to carry this birther nonsense to the courts where she was discredited in every legal venue only to have the issue reactivated by chief narcissist Donald Trump and racist Joe Arpaio, Sheriff of Maricopa County, Arizona, who is currently fighting in Federal court against profiling (racism) charges.
On May 22, 2012, the state of Hawaii verified President Obama‘s birth records to Arizona’s elections chief after a nearly three-month back and forth that Arizona officials said could have ended without Obama’s name on its November ballot. Joshua Wisch, Special Assistant to Hawaii Attorney General David Louie, told the Associated Press in an email that the matter is resolved after Hawaii gave Arizona the verification it was looking for. Unfortunately, because of the consistent barrage of lies by a radical fringe of the Republican Party promulgated by Fox News commentators, polls show that one in four Americans believe the birther garbage.
Willard Mitt Romney continues to levy fabricated and unfounded attacks on President Obama and his policies but has yet to provide a specific plan on how a Romney presidency would be a better alternative. Romney says that he is a “job creator,” but he has influenced the creation of a countless number of jobs in China and Mexico rather than in the United States. His major US job creation achievement was moving Massachusetts from 50th to 47th. Romney also says that he embraces American values yet he has millions upon millions of dollars stashed away in off-shore tax havens like Bermuda and the Cayman Islands. Romney also refuses to release his tax returns. The 2010 Tax Return that Romney did release did not include a copy of the required IRS Form 8938 showing his millions in foreign bank accounts yet he represented that it was a complete return. I don’t suppose his Mormon bible contains 1 Timothy 6:10, which says, “For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.”
Along with members of the Republican Party and their far-reaching allies including the Koch Brothers, Karl Rove, Fox News and Rush Limbaugh, Romney surrogates continue to conjure up ways to bring down the Obama presidency and even deny him the opportunity for a second term. In addition to the recent birther conspiracy orchestrated by Trump and Arpaio as well as Limbaugh’s accusation that Obama “hates America,” the most astonishing remark for me was John Sununu’s comment that he “wish this President would learn how to be an American.” One of Romney’s most recent attack dogs, Sununu was born in Havana, Cuba and became a nationalized citizen of the United States. When does Sununu’s naturalized citizenship give him the right to say that Obama is not an American?
The Twenty-Four series do not disclose President Palmer’s margin of victory but we know that President Obama won by a landslip with well over sixty-nine million votes representing 365 out of a total of 538 electoral votes. Yet, even before Obama had completed his inauguration ceremony, some on the right were plotting his downfall. This right-wing fringe calls this Americanism; I call it “disgusting” and whether we want to admit it or not, it is wrapped up in “blatant racism.”
President Palmer eventually prevails. His policy decisions were proper and his presidency fully restored. The Vice President and members of the cabinet who voted against Palmer did submit resignations. Although he fired his Chief of Staff, Palmer did not accept the resignations. President Palmer continued to prove his leadership and integrity as the first African American President. Twenty-Four first aired on November 6, 2001, and seven years later, an African American President becomes a reality. What an amazing revelation by the Twenty-Four producers!
President Obama does not have conspiracies within his administration but has had to deal with an economy in dire rescission including two unfunded wars that were bequeathed to him by former President Bush. President Obama also has been obstructed by Republican House and Senate leaders influenced by Tea Party radicalism, he has to deal with an array of hate mongers who refuse to acknowledge his legitimacy, and there is a well financed conspiracy to deny his reelection. In spite of all of these challenges, President Obama’s accomplishments have been commendable and he will prevail in November 2012 to serve a second term. During his second term, he will continue to demonstrate strong national and international leadership, integrity, competency and determination to ensure that the United States of America continue its role as world leader.
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