For instance, Michael Tomasky of the Daily Beast and Newsweek had this to say about Romney's use of the term during a speech before the NAACP:
But listen: You don’t go into the NAACP and use the word “Obamacare” and think that you’re not going to hear some boos. It’s a heavily loaded word, and Romney and his people know very well that liberals and the president’s supporters consider it an insult. He and his team had to know those boos were coming....Or this from a newspaper in Billings, Montana (a swing state leaning Democrat) about the use of the word during legislative debate:
Discussion over a bill to require the state of Montana to join a lawsuit opposing federal health care reform sparked a heated debate over using the term "Obamacare" in a House committee Tuesday. Throughout the Legislative session, Democrats have objected to use of the word to describe the federal health care reform act, saying the expression is derogatory and some say racially motivated...
Democrat Rep. Carolyn Pease-Lopez strongly disagreed. She said the term is derived from racism toward the president and Republicans are only using the offensive term because they have such a large majority in the Legislature.So where am I going with all this? It leads me to a simple question: If "Obamacare" is such an offensive and racist term in the eyes of Democrats, why have I now twice seen a bumper sticker - once in the Bay Area, and once in Sacramento - that says "I [Heart] ObamaCare"?
In fact, if you want your own bumper sticker with this seemingly offensive term, you can go to the website for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and get one for free. Here is a screen capture of the order form:
So, much like the dreaded "N-word," "ObamaCare" is not truly a racist term unless you don't like the person who is using it. There's nothing like a little hypocrisy and selective outrage to make your day, huh?
"If a nation expects to be ignorant and free... it expects what never was, and never will be." -Thomas Jefferson
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