Julius Lester’s piece on President Obama’s interactions with the families at Sandy Hook brought tears and underscored the reasons I continue to admire our president. Both of Professor Lester’s columns mirrored discussions I’ve been having for some time with friends and family.
We are outraged, saddened and disgusted with the way our president has been treated by the media and the Republicans (and yes, some Democrats) during his term of office. We, too, love this good person and agree that he is a man of compassion, integrity, intellect, and prudent action. He has withstood with grace the unrelenting insults and attacks that have been ill-informed at best and vicious, ignorant, and hateful at worst.
Professor Lester is right on the mark: Columnist Jay Fleitman and others are entitled to their own informed opinions but not their own “facts” any more than are the rest of us. The president has been criticized and reviled at every turn and still maintains his dignity and sense of humor while the current crop of Republicans and some media spokespeople have diminished themselves, their professions and their party by their behavior.
Rodgers and Hammerstein’s lyrics from “South Pacific” keep floating in my head: “you have to be taught to hate and fear … you have to be carefully taught ….”
Who is teaching this fear and hatred? Why are we allowing it? Perhaps we’d better look elsewhere for edification than the 24-hour news cycle and start thinking, reading and listening more critically and thoughtfully. Let’s start to talk to rather than past each other and find the common threads that hold us and our country together.
Judith Eiseman
Pelham