President Obama was in Illinois yesterday and was met with tea party protesters which turned into a near riot according to local news. 

A Facebook group praying for the death of Obama reached 1 million. 

Limbaugh and Beck continue to refer to Obama as a racist, a socialist, a Marxist, and a variety of other unflattering and inaccurate "ists". 

The Southern Poverty Law Center reports that hate groups have increased dramatically since Obama took office.

Using a clever trick of perception, Tim Wise asked reader of his blog to imagine the public reaction if the "Tea Party" antics and those of political representatives and celebrities were played out by a predominately black demographic rather than the almost exclusively white make-up the individuals in question.  It is a powerful perspective.

When President GW Bush was in office, he received a lot of criticism - some deserved and some not.  Even though the rhetoric was critical and at times overly harsh, I don't believe it ever reached the degree of vitriol that we are seeing today.  Most importantly, the anger that was being directed at Bush was based on behavior while in office (signing statements, gutting of regulations, secrecy, handling of "detainees", hard line foreign policy, deferral to neo-cons to define direction, etc.).  Although he belongs to a very powerful and wealthy family of elites, criticism of this position did not receive the degree of hatred and fear that a black man appears to represent to these people.

I am not pleased with many of the positions the Obama administration has taken, but for the most part I feel that there is a degree of integrity that exists with this president that has been absent from the presidency for several decades.  My approval or disapproval of this president is based on the policies that come about and the manner in which they (as an administration) and he (as the leader) handle the policy making, the communication with the public, and the honesty in which they do it.  It depends upon whose interests are being catered to and how much accountability is being expected from themselves and others.

Everything I have read with regard to the attitudes of the those that hate Obama so vociferously comes down to Obama the man and nothing to do with Obama the president.  There is a fear that has been created for these individuals either through the media or their own socialization that prevents them from viewing this president through anything other than a distorted lens. 

Someone asked me today, how did we get here?  Her comment was in reference to what she believes is the degradation in quality of programming, but included the acceptance of such behavior from those in positions of leadership.  It is a question far more complicated than I could answer completely, but I am sure the collapse of the media into infotainment empires plays a large role. 

The expectation of accountability appears to have fallen by the wayside.  There will always be people whose world view is driven by ignorance and fear as I judge the individuals so unjustly critical of this president.  But as long as the media are aloud to fan such sentiment and congressional members refuse to denounce (and in some cases partake in it themselves), such mindset will (and has) become acceptable. 

So image if the protesters, the congressmen, the talking heads, and the hate groups were black.  Would this country continue to view the abhorrent behavior with idle curiosity?  I doubt it.