Another Racist, Crazy Conservative Attack on Obama: Health Reform as Reparations

Posted by Tana Ganeva, AlterNet at 5:15 PM on July 28, 2009.

An article proudly featured in the top spot of Fox Nation today pulls off the impressive feat of combining two seemingly unrelated Conservative pastimes -- battling the creation of a viable health care system and screeching about "reverse-racism" -- into one totally absurd, bizarre and racist attack on Obama.

"Reparations by way of health care reform?" asks the headline accusingly. A large picture of Obama, brow furrowed as he thoughtfully considers more ways to destroy Freedom and oppress white men, accompanies the headline.

Often Fox Nation writes headlines completely unrelated to the pieces they link to, in order to rile up their commenters and get clicks. But in this case, the piece really is as batshit insane as the headline suggests:

Still believe in post-racial politics? Read the health care bill. It's affirmative action on steroids, deciding everything from who becomes a doctor to who gets treatment on the basis of skin color.

President Obama is on the record as being officially opposed to reparations for slavery. But as with other issues, you have to sift through his eloquent rhetoric and go beyond the teleprompter to get at what he really means.

The piece goes on to reveal the shocking information that Obama opposes reperations because they don't go far enough. Gasp! Not, only that, but the First Black President's ploy to sneakily usher in something worse than reparations is to rig the new health care system to privilege African-Americans.

Of course, as has been pointed out 5 trillion times before, there is no such thing as an Obama health care "plan". While the President has aired his preferences, he has not put forth a set policy. And indeed, when the article digs into the legislation, it references (or misrepresents) something that actually exists -- the house bill, which has very little to do with Obama. Yet the piece nevertheless stokes racist fears about Obama personally instituting preferential treatment for blacks by way of health care reform.

This absurdity has already been aired by Glenn Beck. But is it being primed for full-on conservative meme status? Something just racist and fringe enough to pick up steam and be repeated, ad nauseum, by the wingnuts and eventually legitimized by reports in mainstream media? As if the health care debate needed to be degraded further.

Tagged as: obama, conservatives, fox nation, birther, birth certificate