Some of the reactions to the re-election of President Barack Obama have been nothing short of whacky.
Can you believe there is a series of secession petitions in all 50 states? Where do they think they're going?
Even I have caught flack. I was accused of hating all white men after noting the broad policy overreaches of the GOP during the campaign which led to Obama winning just about every other demographic group of voters by significant margins. This reaction came from my fellow panel members on the Georgia Gang.
I was simply responding to their assertion that Obama won due to a divisive, hateful campaign. I noted that the GOP-controlled legislatures in more than 30 states implemented voter ID laws intended to suppress voters – mostly low-income people of color and elderly, who usually lean Democratic. They also voted to shorten the early-voter period which saw large Obama voters turn out in 2008. I n addition, I pointed out their efforts to control women's reproductive rights through legislation to limit or discourage abortions and access to birth control. And finally I noted the statements by Mitt Romney to encourage illegal immigrants to "self-deport."
One Georgia Gang fan wrote me later, "It is unfortunate that the Republican Party seems to miss the message that was sent from Tuesday's election. Women, Latinos, Blacks and Asian Americans count!"
Also following the election, a spate of vile racist tweets hit Twitter. One data company figured out where that hate was coming from – turns out it was mostly Alabama and Mississippi with Georgia not far behind.
There were also excited reports about a "riot" on Ole Miss's campus. But it really was just a handful of young folk burning an Obama/Biden poster and a big crowd of bystanders taking photos with their smartphones.
Then, post-election, Papa John of Pizza fame said he doesn't have enough dough for Obamacare so he had to cut hours and lay off workers. Meanwhile billionaire CEO David Siegel, who threatened to fire employees if President Obama was re-elected, gave them raises instead. "I wanted to help them handle the additional burdens the government will put on them," he said.
Police in Arizona said a Mesa woman injured her husband by running over him with an SUV because he didn't vote in last week's presidential election. Authorities said Holly Solomon opposed Obama and was upset her husband didn't go to the polls.
Police said Solomon chased her husband through a parking lot and pinned him under the vehicle as he tried to flee. She was booked on an aggravated assault count.
This is crazy stuff!
And now a week later, some Republican members of Congress have characterized the Nov. 6 vote as a "status quo" election, citing the re-election of Obama and a still divided Congress -- Democrats in charge of the Senate and Republicans in charge of the House.
This is just a case of denial. Democrats added seats in both the Senate and the House. Voting data also show that the number of votes for Democratic members of the Congress outnumber the votes for Republicans, who were elected from districts in GOP-controlled states.
The not-so-loyal opposition needs to get over itself. Barack Obama is president for four more years. Settle down.
M. Alexis Scott is publisher of Atlanta Daily World.
