Black Presidents Matter
The latest edition of Charlie Hebdo, the French satirical magazine, has a front cover which speculates on what life may be like for Barack Obama as an ordinary American citizen after he stands down as President of the United States (POTUS).
Now I doubt that Barack Obama will have the same problems with trigger happy cops as have some of his fellow citizens, but the magazine makes a fair point if not one that applies to every incident of this kind.
What is worth commenting upon is that even as President Barack Obama was subject to ugly dog whistle attacks over his country of birth from the likes of Donald Trump and Boris Johnson.
Which just goes to show that the politics of race are alive and well at all levels of civil society - not even black Presidents or First Ladies are immune.
Breitbart Bullies (15/11/16)
Gerald Herbert/AP
In a sign of things to come, perhaps, Donald Trump announced the other day that his chief strategist as the new President of the United States (POTUS) will be a chap called Stephen Bannon - who looks a bit like Robert Redford, albeit after a very hard night out before being dragged through a hedge backwards.
Apparently Stephen Bannon is more in tune with the Mr Hyde side of Donald Trump's character and, as head of the controversial right-wing Breitbart news website, Mr Bannon was responsible for headlines which featured:
A story about President Obama and 'birtherism' - headed-up with a picture Harambe the gorilla which is often used as a racial slur against African Americans (http://www.politicususa.com/2016/09/16/trump-related-brietbart-news-gorilla-homepage-illustrate-trump-birther-story.html)
"Gabby Giffords: The Gun Control Movement's Human Shield" - an ugly take on the attempted murder of a Democratic Senator from Arizona
"There's No Hiring Bias Against Women in Tech, They Just Suck at Interviews" - unsolicited career advice from an ignorant misogynist
"Birth Control Makes Women Crazy and Unattractive" - says some lonely loser who's no 'oil painting' himself
"The Solution to Online Harassment Is Simple: Women Should Just Log Off" - sad internet trolls wanting to have their cake and eat it
"Bill Kristol: Republican Spoiler, Renegade Jew." - an everyday tale of anti-Semitism in America
So we'll see what happens in the days ahead, but given his track record at Breitbart the chances are that Stephen Bannon will continue to use the same ugly tactics that propelled Donald Trump to victory during the presidential election campaign.
Gerald Herbert/AP
In a sign of things to come, perhaps, Donald Trump announced the other day that his chief strategist as the new President of the United States (POTUS) will be a chap called Stephen Bannon - who looks a bit like Robert Redford, albeit after a very hard night out before being dragged through a hedge backwards.
Apparently Stephen Bannon is more in tune with the Mr Hyde side of Donald Trump's character and, as head of the controversial right-wing Breitbart news website, Mr Bannon was responsible for headlines which featured:
A story about President Obama and 'birtherism' - headed-up with a picture Harambe the gorilla which is often used as a racial slur against African Americans (http://www.politicususa.com/2016/09/16/trump-related-brietbart-news-gorilla-homepage-illustrate-trump-birther-story.html)
"Gabby Giffords: The Gun Control Movement's Human Shield" - an ugly take on the attempted murder of a Democratic Senator from Arizona
"There's No Hiring Bias Against Women in Tech, They Just Suck at Interviews" - unsolicited career advice from an ignorant misogynist
"Birth Control Makes Women Crazy and Unattractive" - says some lonely loser who's no 'oil painting' himself
"The Solution to Online Harassment Is Simple: Women Should Just Log Off" - sad internet trolls wanting to have their cake and eat it
"Bill Kristol: Republican Spoiler, Renegade Jew." - an everyday tale of anti-Semitism in America
So we'll see what happens in the days ahead, but given his track record at Breitbart the chances are that Stephen Bannon will continue to use the same ugly tactics that propelled Donald Trump to victory during the presidential election campaign.
