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Editorial: Anti-Obama hate missive wounds us all

The Brooklyn Paper

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The hateful and violent language that rained on Downtown Brooklyn on Wednesday afternoon was not just an attack on President Obama — it was an affront to every Brooklynite.

As reported on our front page in this edition, someone tossed hundreds of copies of a vicious collection of verses, allegedly from the top of the borough’s tallest building, a 52-story tower that is still under construction on Lawrence Street.

Packer Summer Day Camp

The stanzas decry the president with the usual conservative talk radio accusations: that he hates America, that he’s a Socialist, that he reads, and that he is in league with Satan.

But it went further, trotting out some of the vile tropes of the past, with a reference to the president’s male endowment, and a vague suggestion that the president should bleed his “liberal blood.”

The overall affect is one of thuggery.

At the end of the day, the actual crime committed by the flier-tossing boor is littering. But we believe that a much larger public trust has been violated, especially if the fliers came from the top of the Brooklynite, a tower adjacent to the Metrotech office complex.

That building is still under construction, meaning that the hate-filled writer is either one of the workers on the project, or an acquaintance of a construction worker who assisted in getting the papering poet to the top of the building.

In either case, such a security breach should not be met with a mere shrug.

The Clarett Group, which is developing the building, issued a cursory statement, but elected officials should demand immediate, and heavy, sanctions against the company if the fliers came from its rooftop.

Beyond that, a full investigation of how someone got to the top of one of the tallest buildings in the city — perhaps the tallest one in Brooklyn — demands a full investigation.

The crime this week may have been small, but the potential for a future disaster is enormous.

©2009 Community Newspaper Group

←Downtown: Does anyone know how to run a popcorn machine at the Court Street Cinema?
→Crime: Here they are — your Police Blotters

Reader Feedback

John from PH says:
Would you write the same story if the leaflets depicted George Bush in the same manner. I Doubt it, so you have a double standard, act non professional in your reporting as you have a liberal bias.
Sept. 18, 2009, 1:09 am
Christy says:
We do not hate OBAMA. We hate what he his doing. He can stop the socialist activity that threatens the livelihood of honest working citizens and stop pushing a health care movement that most disagree with and he will be a great president again
Sept. 19, 2009, 1:33 am
John from BH says:
Well, he IS a socialist ("spread the wealth around"), and perhaps he is in league with Satan, it's anyone's guess who he really is and where he's really from since he's spent over a million dollars hiding his records. Congress had a hearing to determine whether McCain was constitutionally eligible to be President, but they relied on a certification to determine Obama's. Try to get a passport with a "Certification of Live Birth" and see how far you get.

Be a little objective, Obama's (or is it really Soetero?) "change" is a massive government takeover of every aspect of our lives, he makes millions while demonizing wealth, his associations with known and avowed communists (Saul Alinsky, Bill Ayers, Van Jones, Valerie Jarrett, among many others), should really give people - and the media - pause. Why not just release the records and shut the critics up?

You have blinders on, but make no mistake, he's not the "Second Coming", he's no messiah and he's certainly not giving most people "hope", unless "hope" is defined as handouts and "free" government services.

If there was only one question deserving of an answer, how exactly would an alleged American citizen travel to Pakistan without benefit of a U.S. passport and required visa?

I don't hate the man, but I detest his Leninist policies, and the Leninist associates he's installed into government positions. I was delighted that America would elect an African-American to the presidency, but we could have done much better, like alan Keyes for instance, the problem with Mr. Keyes, apparently, is that he asks what we can do for our country, rather than pander to those who seem to prefer what the country can do for them. Remember the Obama supporter who gushed "he's going to pay my bills!"

Oh my, how low we've sunk.
Sept. 19, 2009, 9:42 am
Andy from South Brooklyn says:
John (two of you) and Christy: Your posts are what happens when people create their own reality and get "reality checks" only from websites, chatboards, and talk-show messiahs with whom they agree.
If you detest "socialism," I suggest that you start by eliminating Social Security and Medicare -- including benefits to retirees, disabled, and spouses and minor children of deceased workers (which often far exceed anything that the workers put in, or could have gained via investing).
Then you can work on Medicaid -- which covers not only the younger poor, but the elderly poor (as well as elderly who "legally" impoverish themselves for their heirs' benefit).
And that's just a start.
And "John from BH": Your stream-of-consciousness non sequiturs and catch-phrases don't even make *cumulative sense.* It's as if you took disconnected cut-and-pastes from nutjob websites, dumped them into a blender, and hit "puree."
Sept. 19, 2009, 3:27 pm
harry from bk heights says:
John from PH says: 'Would you write the same story if the leaflets depicted George Bush in the same manner. I Doubt it, so you have a double standard'
If GWB were still pres., Homeland Security would've found and busted the perp. Suggest you check this paper's other coverage of this incident before you defend it: This thing was a "poem" called "F— YOU OBAMA!!,” it "includes the word 'f—' 29 times in its 42 lines," and some dimwit pitched copies of it from the roof of "a 52-story tower under construction on Lawrence Street."
If you endorse that IQ level and behavior ... well, good luck with that.
Sept. 20, 2009, 2:08 am
John from BH says:
Andy from South Brooklyn: I suppose it wouldn't make any sense to a pseudo-intellectual leftist like yourself.

I'm being objective, as inquiring minds need and derserve to know, you're seemingly enthralled by the enigma, just like your leftist newspapers and editorials.

Didn't see the flyer, don't care to see the flyer, and don't suffer morons easily, you included.
Sept. 21, 2009, 11:25 am
Sam from Bay Ridge says:
an "affront to every Brooklynite"... hahhahaha get over yourself anonymous Brooklyn Paper writer.
Sept. 21, 2009, 4:27 pm
Alan from Cobble Hill says:
John from BH says: "Andy from South Brooklyn: I suppose it wouldn't make any sense to a pseudo-intellectual leftist like yourself.
"I'm being objective,"

ROTFLMAO, squared and cubed.
Sept. 22, 2009, 3:40 pm
Alan from Cobble Hill says:
ALSO
John from BH says: "Didn't see the flyer, don't care to see the flyer, and don't suffer morons easily, you included."

This isn't just about anti-Obama opinion, it's about dumbass-crude obscenity-filled leaflets that some idiot tossed from the top of a building. It pays to find out what's involved, instead of kneejerkily defending any old thing, regardless of how dumb it is or how badly it reflects on one's cause.

If an anti-GOP guy did this, you'd be "objectively" griping about the leaflets' gutter language, general immaturity, security risk and risk to passersby (what if he threw something heavier? maybe "libs" will start dumping bricks! call out the militia!). You'd also be tsk-tsking that this was typical crazy kool-aid drinker behavior.
Sept. 22, 2009, 3:57 pm
fred from brooklyn says:
It only hurts cause its true.
Sept. 23, 2009, 7:25 pm
Joey Bots from Neverland says:
You lefties have two different standards for things you don't agree with and things that 'offend' your world view. All of the viriol that was focused on 'W" - I never heard you folks make a peep. You need to grow up. An adult liberal is not a pretty thing, because it is a belief system based on wishful thinking
Sept. 24, 2009, 11:42 am
Thomas Hilton from Bay Ridge says:
The very biased reporting I saw from The Political Crasher in the Oct. 23 issue also shows the liberal bias of this paper. The Obamunists have spewed hate at all their opponents in the most deceitful and vile manner. This is typical of liberals; Obama and his Marxist minions have made it much worse. But The Brooklyn Paper is outraged over some flyers! LOL

As for The Political Crasher, he/she promoted ObamaCare in a LYING story about Congressman McMahon's Senior Center meeting in Bay Ridge. It was NOT a "Town Hall"; it was by invitation only; it was NOT "crowded", and union jerks were bused in from Staten Island to speak for that outrageous Unconstitutional bill. The story claimed "Bay Ridge is more liberal than McMahon" and wants ObamaCare - a damned lie.
Nov. 13, 2009, 2:42 pm

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