A President With A Sense of Humour...

There has been much made of whether race is a factor in politics no matter where you live in the world. The election of Barack Obama to the presidency of the United States of America was historic, perhaps for many reasons, but none more so than the fact he is a black man. The USA's first African-American president.

The current health care debate has had some commentators foaming at the mouth about whether or not the race card is being played in the sense that some people are anti-health bill for no other reason than the president is black. Obama has addressed these concerns in two ways, one a little more serious than the other.

The more serious version has Obama talking about the fact that the election showed that lots of folks voted for him irrespective of the colour of his skin, these folks were not only African-Americans, but Caucasians, Hispanics, Asians, and a whole lot of others as well. He acknowledges that maybe some people voted for him because he is black and some others voted for the other fella, John McCain, because Obama is black.

The less serious version popped up on the David Letterman Late Show where Obama said, "First of all, I think it's important to realize that I was actually black before the election."

However, it is worth noting that Obama himself has rejected the racism claims as they relate to health care reform and the passage of a health care bill. It is interesting that race is now re-appearing and raising its ugly head after so much talk and discussion of the USA entering into a post-racial phase. Post-racial being used to indicate a period where issues no longer had to be defined on race as there was a common or shared challenge in facing the future. To many this was the hope that the "Yes, we can!" campaign envisaged.

Health care reform is not about race, but rather it is about selling public policy and selling reforms. Simply, it is not going to ultimately matter what the colour of your skin is if you do not have health insurance.

In any event, the irreverent humor displayed by a sitting president appearing on a late night comedy show says much about the man.

A Tribute to Edward Kennedy...

May those that remain carry Edward Kennedy's dreams and vision forward.

Barack Obama and His Nazi Policies...

I really do not get the connection between the Obama Health Care plan and the Nazi policy of eugenics, or any other Nazi policy for that matter. I can understand that some people might not agree with the policy or the plan, but comparing it to anything that Adolf Hitler or the Nazis did in Germany through the 1930s and 1940s is just plain stupid and way out there in terms of exaggeration.

So, it was with a good deal of laughter that I watched Barney Frank's reply at a recent town hall meeting in Dartmouth, Massachusetts, when one of the attendees asked him, "Why are you supporting this Nazi policy?"

Frank's reply, "On what planet do you spend most of your time?" He then gets a little more serious and talks about the beauty of the first amendment allowing for such "vile, contemptible nonsense" to be propagated.

Rush Limbaugh, Barack Obama, and Adolf Hitler...

I have taught a lot of advocacy classes in my time. One of the things that I teach students in those classes is to be careful using exaggerated analogies. Simply, the exaggeration ends up making the analogy sound hollow and untrue. An exaggerated analogy then serves to do nothing more than detract and undermine what may in fact be a legitimate concern.

One of the examples that I use is: "the conditions of the jail where my client is incarcerated are as bad as Auschwitz!" The reason that this is an exaggerated analogy is abundantly clear to anyone who has read anything about the concentration camps that Nazi Germany used as part of the Final Solution. It is highly unlikely, for example, that a modern day prison in Australia, the US, the UK, or even Abu Ghraib, resemble the abhorrent conditions of Auschwitz.

So, as I was reading about Rush Limbaugh comparing Barack Obama to Adolf Hitler and Obama's health care policies to the policies of the Third Reich and Nazi Germany, I could not help but think that any real points that Limbaugh may have been making would be lost in the brouhaha that was going to come with the analogy equating Obama to Hitler.

Rabbi Abraham Cooper wrote a short and interesting piece on the injection of Nazi into the debate and the dangers that this poses to American democracy.

For me, the points that Limbaugh is trying to make have been lost. I am sure that there are legitimate arguments to be made for and against the Obama health plan. However, labeling Obama a Nazi and trying to equate the health care symbol as one previously favoured by the Third Reich, the Reichsadler, is absurd.

The whole idea of equating Obama to Hitler and the Obama health policy to a policy of Nazi Germany and the Third Reich reminds me of my favourite Forrest Gump quote, "stupid is as stupid does!"

Obama, The Joker, Hope, and Socialism...

Is this picture racist? Or, is it acceptable under the definition of freedom of speech and freedom of expression provisions? Or, is it acceptable political parody?

The image has been finding itself posted in and around Los Angeles and has caused quite a stir. The racial overtones relate to the fact that it is Obama and the image is supposedly intended to be a take on the black and white minstrel theme in reverse. Or, it could simply be a comment on the current debates surrounding the development of a health care bill.

For those who are fans of Batman, then they will recognize that the picture picks up on the image made famous by Heath Ledger in The Dark Knight.

Interestingly, no one has claimed responsibility or ownership of the image.