This is Just Plain Wrong on So Many Levels

File this under the "oh, come on" category. File this under "what... are you kidding?" File this under "this kind of crap is disturbing."

What am I talking about? See this:

This can be found on Yahoo!: http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/sideshow/racist-don-t-nig-anti-obama-bumper-sticker-162917634.html

How can anyone in the world condone this? Racially-charged hate speech has no place in politics, life, anything, period. 

First, I would not vote for Obama. No way, now how. But I don't have any problem with him as a person. He hasn't done anything intentionally nefarious (I'm sure some would disagree, but realistically, to me, he hasn't), so I don't judge him like that. I strongly disagree with the vast majority of his policies, and because of that, I wouldn't vote for him. No matter how strongly I disagree with him, however, I wouldn't engage in the kind of despicable hate displayed so ignorantly on the back of this vehicle.

The bumper sticker posted above is nothing more than a personal attack. It's a sly way to insert racism into politics. It's wrong; and it adds nothing positive to this constantly widening political divide. If you met the guy or girl who owned this vehicle, what would you ask him/her? I would ask simply, "why?" Or maybe, "have you ever thought about cost versus benefit?" What benefit does this bring to anyone for the cost it is going to bring against you, your party, and your cause? We conservatives oppose Obama's policies; why bring racial hate speech into the mix? Aren't we better than this? Can't we just have our viewpoints without offending people (especially in this way)? Many, many people will be personally offended and hurt by this (justly so), and there is no defending this from "our side." Sure, many on the left do this too, but that is no excuse.

Racism aside, obviously, the press is going to jump on this. And oh lookie... they have! Many on the left like to paint conservatives as racists. I don't find this to be true, but, as there are some bad apples in every group, it does exist. No matter how isolated this is, it's going to be broadcast in the media to paint the picture that we conservatives are indeed racist. This individual bristle will become a wide brush, and the stigma that conservatives are racist will propagate further.

We would like to see a republican in the White House come January, 2013, but bumper stickers and other materials like this aren't going to help. All it does is give the "other side" more fuel. It's going to be exaggerated beyond belief, and it will ultimately hurt us in the end (and trust me, again, as stated above, I'm not insensitive to the many, many people that are and will be directly hurt and offended by this). I think every conservative should speak out against this junk. Let's achieve our goals by showing how we are a great party with great principles and great ideas. Very few people would want to buy a car if the salesman only showed them the grime that collects under the engine... Very few people are going to believe in our cause and our party if they are constantly shown our grime, when instead, they should be shown our greatness.

What do you think of this? What would you say to the owner of this racist bumper sticker? Please share your opinions below.