Right Down the Middle

April 9, 2015

If you are like me, you are probably very tired of people saying that anyone who does not support  or agree with President Obama is a racist. In fact, you know that the one thing that has absolutely nothing to do with it is his race. Here is a very simple way to prove it. Take a piece of paper and list the government policies that are important to you right down the middle of the page. Put Obama's name on the left side of the page (only fitting) and your name to the right of the policies included in the middle. Then fill in where you and Obama stand on each policy. This will help you determine if he is someone who has common interests with you on the policies you believe are most critical. I will take the test myself below based on government policies that are important to me. 

     Obama                                           Government Policies                                           Me

      Yes                                   Favors big government                                                              No

       No                                   Believes in capitalism and the free markets                              Yes 

       Yes                                  Favors socialist policies                                                            No

      Yes                                   Believes that taxes should be raised                                        No

       Yes                                  Believes that the half of the population                                      No

                                               that pays taxes does not pay their fair 

                                               share 

       Yes                                  Believes that raising taxes and                                                  No

                                               continuous government spending 

                                               will help the economy 

       Yes                                  Supports continuous high budget deficits                                  No

                                               and rising national debt 

       Yes                                   Favors the redistribution of wealth                                           No

       Yes                                   Favors an inheritance (or estate) tax                                        No 

       Yes                                   Supports continually increasing social welfare                         No 

                                                programs 

       Yes                                   Believes in continually spending money to solve                     No

                                                problems with our educational system 

        No                                   Supports Second Amendment rights                                       Yes 

                                                allowing Americans to own guns 

        Yes                                   Favors illegal immigration                                                       No 

         Yes                                  Favors bypassing Congress to grant                                      No 

                                                 amnesty to illegal immigrants 

         Yes                                   Believes in providing social security and tax                         No 

                                                  breaks to illegal immigrants 

         No                                     Wants to secure the border                                                  Yes 

          Yes                                   Believes America should lead from behind                           No

          No                                    Believes that America is the greatest                                    Yes

                                                   world superpower and should lead accordingly 

          No                                    Believes in supporting America's allies                                 Yes

                                                 

          Yes                                    Believes in appeasing and placating                                   No 

                                                    America's enemies 

          No                                    Would cut financial aid to countries that hate                        Yes 

                                                   America 

          No                                    Believes America and the rest of the free                             Yes 

                                                   world are at war with radical Islam 

          Yes                                    Wants to close Guantanamo Bay Naval Base                     No

           No                                   Believes in certain strong interrogation                                Yes  

                                                   methods 

           Yes                                   Believes that allowing Iran to obtain nuclear                       No

                                                    weapons is acceptable 

             No                                   Is pro-Israel                                                                         Yes 

            Yes                                   Is pro-abortion even at late stages                                     No                       

            No                                    Believes that America's veterans are its true                      Yes 

                                                     heroes and should be treated and honored 

                                                     accordingly 

             No                                   Supports the Constitution and believes in                           Yes 

                                                     governing accordingly 

   

             No                                   Believes in America's three equal branches                      Yes 

                                                     of government, which do include the UN

              Yes                                 Supports the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare)               No 

              No                                  Advocates for fighting wasteful government                     Yes 

                                                     spending and all forms of fraud 

               No                                  Strong proponent of religious rights                                  Yes 

               No                                  Advocates for a strong military                                         Yes 

               No                                  Wants America to be energy independent                       Yes

                                                      from reliable sources of energy 

                No                                  Supports the Keystone Pipeline                                      Yes

               Yes                                  Believes that America should be held to                        No

                                                        stringent standards and regulations relating to 

                                                        global warming but other countries, like China, 

                                                        should be given flexibility 

             Yes                                  Supports affordable housing for the poor in any            No       

                                                        community 

That's all, my test is finished. Of course, when you take the test, you may believe that different government policies are more of a priority for you. You also may find yourself in agreement with the President on more issues than you expect. Incredibly, in my case, for the policies that I believe are most critical, I do not agree with Obama on a single one. That is stunning. But it hammers home my point that his race is irrelevant. 

The premise that race is the issue holds that because Obama is black and I am white, I will not support him because of the color of his skin. No doubt, prejudice and discrimination exist in this country just as they do in all other countries. That will never change because it is the nature of some bigoted people, but it does not necessarily reflect the attitude and beliefs of the overall population of the country they live in. And in this case, the overwhelming majority of Americans who are opposed to Obama feel the way they do because of his policies and not his skin color. Still not convinced? Let's destroy the argument, once and for all, that if you disagree with Obama, you must be a racist.

I am a white Jewish American male. In my test above, replace Obama with Jon Stewart, who also is a white Jewish American male. I know he is not a politician, but he has no problem sharing his political views on what is supposed to be a comedy show. So let's assume he decided to run for political office. I would take my test again, but only with Jon Stewart filled in instead of Obama. I suspect that, based on what I know of Stewart (I am repulsed by him and cannot stomach watching his show), that many, if not all, of the answers on the left side of the page would stay the same. Now, substitute a black non-Jewish female for me. Again, let's assume that the answers stay the same. I would absolutely vote for the latter candidate. Does that somehow prove that I am prejudice against white Jewish American males? It certainly does not. As another example, my priority of supporting our veterans--men and women, of any race, nationality or religion--with our precious tax dollars over illegal immigrants obviously does not make be a racist. As a caveat, you may end up with a test that has tight or even wide results (like above), but because you give more weight to a particular issue, you could support the candidate that you agree with less of the time. For example, it would be difficult for me to vote for a candidate who, even though I agree with him or her most of the time, has proven to be against Israel. I have chosen this example specifically as again it is based on policy and not on race or religion. 

For the vast majority of Americans, it is our disagreement with Obama on the government policies that we believe form the foundation of this great country that make us oppose him. Despite the allegations from liberals, race has nothing to do with it. Take this test and prove them wrong.