COMMENTARY | Sunday was the big event in NASCAR in which fans packed Homestead-Miami Speedway to watch their favorite drivers race for the championship. First lady Michelle Obama and Jill Biden, Vice President Joe Biden's wife, were there for an organization that promotes the hiring and training of veterans.
One would think there were at least a few veterans who could be helped by their efforts, and I wonder how they felt when they heard some of the fans booing when the names of the women were announced. According to CBS News , those who cheered were drowned out by the sounds of the objectors.
The booing was the ultimate in bad manners, showing just how low some of the actions by those who oppose our current administration will go, but it certainly wasn't the first time this year some have shown no class.
At September's GOP debate, the mostly Republican audience booed an Iraqi soldier. Stephen Hill asked the candidates if they would reinstate the ban on gays serving openly in the military. He said, "I had to lie about who I was because I'm a gay soldier and I didn't want to lose my job." Thanks to the new "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy signed by President Barack Obama, Hill could make such a statement without being fired.
A member of the audience responded by booing the soldier, and was soon followed by others. Former Sen. Rick Santorum answered by saying he would "reinstitute the ban on open service by gay troops because "any type of sexual activity has absolutely no place in the military." The audience cheered.
The reaction was disheartening, reflecting the narrow-minded views of some of America's citizens and is, at best, very low class. Since when is booing those who serve our country okay, and when has it ever been acceptable to jeer the first lady?
It seems to have started with people like Rush Limbaugh, who apparently believes that attacking and making fun of Michelle Obama is entertainment. In his last insult, insinuating that she is overweight, he told listeners on his radio show, "Obama's limousine weighs 8 tons without Michelle in it."
Those who listen to his program and others like it get the idea that it's OK to show disrespect, and the actions by some fans at the NASCAR event prove the low depths that some conservatives have sunk to. It creates an even bigger division in our country, one that has become more than just a hairline crack. It will take a nationwide effort if it's ever to be repaired, and the chances of that seem less likely every day.
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