Sheer disrespect

Discussions about politics often become heated. This is to be expected, but normally the conversations are respectful and there are no hard feelings by the end. This year, politics are extremely hot given the major election that has been taking place for the last ten months; even so, people should try their best to keep a cool head on and avoid insulting each other and their respective preferred candidates.

Which is why it appalls me to read hateful comments on Internet articles about President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama. There is a huge difference between disagreement and sheer disrespect/irrational loathing of a political figure. I am an Obama supporter, but I will listen to and sometimes even agree with reasoned argument and criticism; however, I will always dismiss offensive and hateful comments about him.

Over the past week alone I have read comments that contain insulting variations on his name and frequently call him a traitor, un-American, or that he outright "hates America". A number of comments say that Obama should be arrested, imprisoned, and some have even said he should be executed! The fact that Obama has not done anything to justify any of those things notwithstanding, I find the name-calling and potential violence these people spout to be blatantly disrespectful to someone who is the President of the United States and considered the most powerful man in the world. I could not imagine this sort of language ever being allowed to flourish under George W. Bush, and during his presidency I would have disagreed with anyone who suggested that he should have been executed (I haven't changed from this opinion).

It's at the point now where most comment sections I read on articles about American politics have immediately devolved into a thread devoted to hating the president and anyone who supports him - and these include British news sites. When someone writes "liberals are a cancer" or "death to Obama supporters" it makes me angry, but at the same time it upsets me that there are ordinary people who believe that stamping on their political opponents is the way to win elections and "take the country back" - that is what happens in dictatorships, not democracies.

To be fair, I have seen hateful comments directed at Obama's main challenger, Mitt Romney, although they are less vitriolic and I've yet to read anyone say that Romney should be executed or that his supporters are un-American and should be killed. On several occasions I have observed people who do not plan to vote for Obama argue against and scold people using hateful or violent commentary against him.

In the case of the First Lady, I almost always dismiss any criticism of her because I believe that she has not done anything to warrant it, she does not create policy or change any laws, and because she has not commented negatively about her husband's political opponents. I disliked criticism of Laura Bush, too - for the same reasons as Michelle Obama; both are decent women.

I worry that, regardless of who wins, the rhetoric will continue after the election has concluded. People need to stop the insults and pure hatred and go back to getting along and compromising (and by "compromising", I mean that everyone makes the effort to get along/work with others, not one side gives in to the other). As I said earlier, keeping a cool head is the way to go.