Have Republicans Morphed From Obama Hate To Hating America?

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Last updated on February 8th, 2013 at 12:17 pm

You hear it every day. Republicans bash Obama. Republicans bash anything they perceive as pro-Obama, and they bash America, so the question is why do Republicans hate their own country?

The discussion over whether or not the right hates America or is just engaging in un-American behavior was at the center of our most recent edition of Politicus Radio.

The hysteria from the right over Clint Eastwood’s Super Bowl ad has renewed focus on the right’s recent behavior towards their country. On the radio show, both Sarah and George expressed their belief that Republicans don’t hate America. When the question was posed as to whether or not the Obama haters were engaged in un-American activity, George said yes, and Sarah said no.

While there is nothing un-American about criticizing the President of the United States or any other elected officials, there is something decidedly unpatriotic about what the right has been doing since Barack Obama won the 2008 election. At various times since Obama became president, Rush Limbaugh has claimed that he wants Obama to fail. Limbaugh has also claimed that the tea party wants Obama to fail, in 2009 he told Sean Hannity that he still wanted the president to fail, and who can forget an absolutely giddy Glenn Beck celebrating when the United States didn’t win the Olympics?

Wanting the president to fail is the same thing as rooting against your own country, and cheering against your own country is at best un-American. As the GOP has continued to drift out of the mainstream, their contempt for the country that allows them the freedom to question the president’s birth certificate has continued to grow.

Do Republicans hate America because they lost the 2008 election? Maybe, or maybe they are terrified of what the presidency of Barack Obama represents. President Obama is the embodiment of the fact that our country is changing. The age of unquestioned rule over our body politics is fading away. As the nation’s demographics move away from an aging white population and more towards younger black and brown people, the coalition that the Republican Party relies on to maintain power is destined to fade away.

The fact is that the Republican version of “their America” is becoming a relic of history makes them angry, so angry that they are easily manipulated by corporate billionaires into protesting against their own interests. In some cases that anger over the changing America that Obama represents has led to hatred. They hate this president, and the country that elected him.

As Clint Eastwood found out on Super Bowl Sunday, you don’t have to be pro-Obama to earn their wrath. All it takes is a positive message about America. Good news and positivity serve to feed their rage, and this anger is what drives many Republicans to hate America.