At the heart of Rep. Wilson’s outburst is racism, pure and simple. When he, and some others, look at Obama, they see a black man, not POTUS. Barack Obama has always acted in a very dignified manner. He is not confrontational as was, say, FDR. He deserves our respect and civility. The attempts to de-legitimize his presidency are based on racism, by people who in days of yore would have wanted to tar and feather him.
One benefit of the fallout from Wilson’s attack is that, in people’s reactions, we get to see who the real racists are, like Rush Limbaugh. (As if we didn’t already know!) This is a very ugly situation we are in. The Republicans would do well to stay clear of this, especially from what have become racist code words. This is not the return of Lee Atwater. Willie Horton was not a stand-in for Michael Dukakis. This is not Nixon’s “Southern Strategy”. This is personal.
George W. Bush was a stalwart supporter of civil rights, and he practiced what he preached. Republicans would do well to follow his good example instead of repudiating it.