Seek confirmation bias and ye shall find…

 
A friend of mine (a very liberal, far-left, race-fixated friend of mine) linked to the following, which contends “In case people forgot how peacefully people protested Obama’s election in 2008”, and reminds its base by dishonestly posting a series of photos from after President Obama’s 2009 inauguration, which saw very little in the way of protesters (unlike the 2000 and 2004 election results).  Protesters at Obama’s inaugural were there to protest Bush & Cheney:

WASHINGTON — Protesters, a fixture of every inauguration since President Nixon’s in 1973, were few and scattered on Tuesday as Barack Obama assumed the presidency. It appeared there were far more vendors looking to make a buck selling Inaugural Chocolate Bars and Obama Incense than protesters seeking to make a statement.

Those who raised their voices were more likely to be expressing gratitude that former President George W. Bush was leaving office than displeasure that Mr. Obama was replacing him.

Some boos could be heard in the crowd gathered on the mall when Vice President Dick Cheney and Mr. Bush were introduced for Mr. Obama’s swearing-in.

And when it was over, a chant of “na na na na, hey hey, goodbye” arose from some among the throng on the Mall as Mr. Bush’s helicopter flew by carrying him to Andrews Air Force Base and on to his retirement in Texas.

In the streets surrounding the parade route, an occasional anti-Bush sign could be seen, protesting his treatment of the Kurds in Iraq or just urging him to get out of town. Some along the parade route held signs demanding that Mr. Bush be indicted.

Here’s my ugly, disrespectful protest to the peaceful transition of power in January 20, 2009.  What a wretched, hate-filled partisan right-wing conservative Republican I am.

Here is my response to my progressive friend on her FB post:

Good grief! And this is how we continue to inflame and divide the country. Confirmation bias, much?

These photos were not from President Obama’s 2008 election which saw a substantial demographic shift from so many aching to see the first non-white president elected.

In my opinion, Obama’s skin color counted in his favor.

Pew Center:

“While Obama’s supporters expressed concern about the impact of his race on the election, the exit poll suggests that, if anything, the race factor favored Obama. Only a small share of white voters (7%) said that race was important to their vote, and they voted overwhelmingly for McCain (66% to 33%). But their impact was overshadowed by the much larger proportion of whites who said race was not important (92%).

At the same time, there is little doubt that Obama’s race was a factor in bringing out large numbers of new African American voters to the polls. Blacks made up a larger share of the electorate in 2008 (13%) than they did in 2004 (11%) or 2000 (10%), and they supported Obama at higher rates than they did either Kerry or Gore.

Looking forward, most voters are upbeat about an Obama presidency. A majority of voters (54%) described themselves as either “excited” or “optimistic” about the possibility of Obama serving as president.”

Many Americans crave to get beyond race. Yet some people are fixated on melanin count and ethnicity (and I’m not talking about just one side). Kerry got 41% of the white vote in 2004 while Obama garnered 43%. Many voters vote on the merits of the candidate’s personality and position on the issues (look back at how at one point Herman Cain was a front runner for the GOP candidate; look at how many Republicans have long wanted Condoleeza Rice to run. Most importantly though than the ethnicity of the candidate is finding the right charismatic politician who can lead and unite the country).

I don’t recall riots over the 2008 election results. Private property damaged. Cars overturned and set on fire.

Unlike what happened to Bush, I don’t remember an egg or orange thrown at his limousine. It was mainstream to walk into Borders bookstore and find memorabilia celebrating Bushisms.

Yes, there were birthers and racists and other ugliness that reared its head during President Obama’s 2 terms. The vocal fringe and useful idiots for political partisans to turn mole hills into mountains.

The hatred for George Bush from the political left and Hollywood learjet liberals was off the charts looney. Bushitler. Chimp-in-chief.

There were also Obama sycophants singing songs about Obama, wearing his Hope and Change likeness on T-shirts, ala Fairey’s socialist realism art- it was a cult of personality following much like many Trumpeteer sycophants today who think he’s been sent by God to save America. Good Lord, Almighty!

Jokers to the left of me…..clowns on the right.

As far as the pictures go the first picture is from 2013 by Pastor Jones- the loon known for calling on Koran burning. The second photo is from May 25, 2010. The third is from 2009 or 2010. The Obama as witch doctor pic is also from 2009 and was about protesting the affordable care act (in a tasteless way, as so many protest signs are tasteless and vulgar). The final photo is disgusting (remember the hung effigy of Sarah Palin here in Los Angeles?) and is from Oct 2012.

And isn’t what you think upon first viewing. It’s from an Obama supporter.

But leave it to the partisan political site to “stir the base” and sow discord and spread “fake news”.

And then of course, there were the violent protesters over Trump’s election win which did result in some bit of rioting and property damage:

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Black-clad activists among hundreds of demonstrators protesting Donald Trump’s swearing-in on Friday clashed with police a few blocks from the White House, in an outburst of violence rare for an inauguration.

At least 217 people were arrested in the melees, police said.

The burst of civil disorder followed a fierce presidential campaign that ended in a stunning victory for Republican Trump over Democrat Hillary Clinton on Nov. 8 and left the country divided.

Many of Trump’s supporters traveled to Washington to cheer their new president on Inauguration Day. Tens of thousands of detractors are expected to march peacefully on Saturday.

In the violence, knots of activists in black clothes and masks threw rocks and bottles at officers wearing riot gear, who responded with volleys of tear gas and stun grenades as a helicopter hovered low overhead.

At one flash point, a protester hurled an object through the passenger window of a police van, which sped away in reverse as demonstrators cheered. Earlier, activists used chunks of pavement and baseball bats to shatter the windows of a Bank of America branch and a McDonald’s outlet, all symbols of American capitalism.

Multiple vehicles were set on fire, including a black limousine. A knot of people dragged garbage cans into a street a few blocks from the White House and set them ablaze, later throwing a red cap bearing Trump’s “Make America Great Again” campaign slogan into the flames.

Police said six officers were injured in scuffles with protesters. The people arrested would be held overnight before making court appearances on Saturday, Peter Newsham, interim chief of the Metropolitan Police Department, told a news conference. Newsham added that police would continue to monitor security around the night’s celebrations.

The more things change, the more things stay the same.  It’s all partisan politics as usual…just like in the era of President Trump where a business has the freedom to make a toilet bowl scrubbing brush in the likeness of Donald Trump- and not be sent to the gas chambers for it.