The wingnuts have called Pres. Obama a racist, a Marxist, vermin and whatever else they can think of in hopes of making him a one-term president and I have found their speech and writings offensive, this kind of attack is nothing new to America. I've been reading about the Alien & Sedition acts of 1798 (Freedom's Fetters) and was amazed at the low level of popular discourse in the battles between the Federalists (John Adam, Alexander Hamilton, et.al.) and the Democratic-Republicans (James Madison, Thomas Jefferson, et. al.).
Perhaps the worst case of partisanship was the behavior of Samuel Chase, a Federalist supporter who was a associate justice of the Supreme Court. He was also a Founding Father. having signed the Declaration of Independence and served in the Continental Congress. After Thomas Jefferson took office, Chase was impeached by the House for, among other things, his biased actions during the trial of James Callender under the Sedition Act. Although he was acquitted on all charges by the Senate, this case led to greater impartiality in the Federal judiciary.
Wednesday, April 04, 2012
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1 comment:
You didn't mention,and I would guess, the most favored term of opprobrium has been Muslim or secret Muslim.
All the while, Obama's stature in the Islamic world has declined steadily because of his conspicuous general pro-Israel
policies, failure to press for Palestinian concerns,drone bombing in the Afpak theater, hard line on Iran, etc.
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