Recently, the Mecklenburg County Republican Committee posted several racist photos of President Obama on their Facebook page, including one which depicts the president in African tribal costume, with a bone through his nose.  Despite the fact that the Virginia Republican Party called the photos racist and demanded that they be taken down, there were many defenders who attempted to deny that the photos were, in fact, racist.   One defender claimed that the tribal gear photo was meant to be a "statement of the quality of care we will start receiving once [Obamacare] is implemented". When I pointed out that Mitt Romney had implemented exactly the same type of healthcare mandate in Massachusetts and asked why there are no photos of Romney with bones through HIS nose, he had no answer. 

The same question can be asked regarding Mitt Romney's record on welfare.  As governor of Massachusetts, Romney requested the same waivers from federal work requirements for which he is now attacking President Obama.  In fact, in 2005, he was part of a group of 28 republican governors who signed a letter asking Congress to grant them more authority to grant waivers for work requirements.  Haven't republicans claimed that asking for waivers for welfare dependents is "socialist"?  Doesn't it therefore make Romney and all 28 of those republican governors who requested the waivers "food stamp governors"?  Where, then, are the photos of Mitt Romney and the other 28 governors with their faces on food stamps, with fried chicken and watermelons swirling around their heads?  

The fact that ONLY president Obama has been depicted in this derogatory manner is strong evidence that the intent is, indeed, racist.  Never before has any president or politician been pictured in this manner, whether republican or democrat, despite their support for universal healthcare, work waivers for welfare, or any other social programs.  Denying that racism is at the heart of these photos is disingenuous at best.