# Cancelling the Obamas? WTF **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [April 2, 2021, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cancelling-the-obamas-wtf/939193 "2021-04-02T00:16:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![octopus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/octopus/32/3716_2.png) [@octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/octopus)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2021, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cancelling-the-obamas-wtf/939193/41 "2021-04-02T15:44:07Z")
> [@RitterSport](#): > > Finally, I don’t know why you would name a school after him or anyone anyway. All it will do is piss off the right-wingers in 150 years when you decide to remove his name because he ate meat or smoked cigarettes or bombed Libya or whatever. Wouldn’t that be good enough reason? ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2021, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cancelling-the-obamas-wtf/939193/42 "2021-04-02T15:53:22Z")
As to the OP, I guess I’m not sure what I’m supposed to be shocked, outraged, or whatever emotion is desired about. A middle school wants to change their name. One proposal is to name it after Obama. Some Latinx residents of the town, which is mostly Latinx (55%) and has a school population that is majority Latinx (78%), don’t like it and would prefer it to be named differently. Have a community discussion about the proposed name change, and go from there. How is this in any way objectionable? It’s the perfectly sensible thing to do. Personally, as a liberal white, I think it’s stupid naming a high school after any living president or politician, especially in such a politically divisive environment. I wouldn’t want an Obama High School or a Bush high school anywhere in my community. ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2021, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cancelling-the-obamas-wtf/939193/43 "2021-04-02T15:55:47Z")
No, I don’t care about conservative tears. ---
**Author:** ![naita](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naita/32/5862_2.png) [@naita](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/naita)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2021, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cancelling-the-obamas-wtf/939193/44 "2021-04-02T16:02:33Z")
Too high in cholesterol. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2021, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cancelling-the-obamas-wtf/939193/45 "2021-04-02T16:08:06Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Have a community discussion about the proposed name change, and go from there. How is this in any way objectionable? It’s the perfectly sensible thing to do. I suppose that many on the Right are just loving some of the objections that are being quoted as coming from the “Latinx activists” and want them repeated and relayed as much as possible (including of course the identifier “Latinx activists” as itself something to point at - “look at the woke left eating their own!!”). ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2021, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cancelling-the-obamas-wtf/939193/46 "2021-04-02T16:15:25Z")
> [@octopus](#): > > I didn’t write the article. Just sharing the link that is from a hopefully approved source. Nobody is disputing the facts. We just don’t agree with the squealing outrage from the right. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2021, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cancelling-the-obamas-wtf/939193/47 "2021-04-02T16:28:31Z")
> [@octopus](#): > > Wouldn’t that be good enough reason? I know this might be hard to believe, but most left-wingers are not, in fact, motivated by wanting to piss anyone off. That’s only a significant motivator for reprehensible people, of the sort that we care neither to be nor to associate with. ---
**Author:** ![Buck\_Godot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/buck_godot/32/6573_2.png) [@Buck\_Godot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buck_Godot)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2021, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cancelling-the-obamas-wtf/939193/48 "2021-04-02T16:58:05Z")
I think it comes from the fact that to a Republican partisanship is everything, Everything that a Republican does is good and right, and every thing that a Democrat does is bad an evil. The one exception being any Republican who breaks that code and attempts to hold another Republican accountable, ala Liz Chaney, must be destroyed. They assume that Democrats and the left are the same way in reverse. The thought that the Left might hold their own people to the same standards as everyone else is inconceivable to them, and so clearly must indicate that the left has gone insane. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Borgia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/larry_borgia/32/156_2.png) [@Larry\_Borgia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Borgia)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2021, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cancelling-the-obamas-wtf/939193/49 "2021-04-02T17:07:50Z")
I feel for the Obamas. No one has ever named a middle school after me, and it has ruined my life. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2021, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cancelling-the-obamas-wtf/939193/50 "2021-04-02T17:10:05Z")
I think it’s more about two things: 1. To many Republicans, Obama is evil incarnate. So the fact that some liberals would oppose a school being named after Obama, generates a “wow!” gobsmacked response. They think, “If someone like **Obama** isn’t good enough for them, they must be far, _far_ left.” 2. Obama gave liberals 70% or 80% of what they wanted in a president (as does every president for his followers - no president ever gives his followers a hundred percent of what they want, not even Trump.) So when these students basically said, “We don’t want this school named after Obama because of his deportation of illegal immigrants, _ **despite** _ his being pro-choice, pro-LGBT, pro-environmentalist, etc.”, that comes across to some observers as unreasonable perfectionism. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Borgia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/larry_borgia/32/156_2.png) [@Larry\_Borgia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Borgia)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2021, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cancelling-the-obamas-wtf/939193/51 "2021-04-02T17:26:21Z")
But it isn’t “liberals” who are rejecting Obama’s name for the school, it’s the students and teachers of this mostly Latin neighborhood. They may not care so much about pro-choice or pro-LGBT laws, (And what specifically did Obama do for LGBT people and those seeking an abortion?) and I suspect many of the Catholic families there are opposed to them. They do care about deportation, which Obama did a lot of. ---
**Author:** ![octopus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/octopus/32/3716_2.png) [@octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/octopus)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2021, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cancelling-the-obamas-wtf/939193/52 "2021-04-02T18:09:59Z")
I say being easily pissed off is the larger character flaw. It’d be nice if the left demonstrated agency instead of reacting in an instinctive or Pavlovian fashion. ---
**Author:** ![DavidNRockies](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidnrockies/32/6279_2.png) [@DavidNRockies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidNRockies)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2021, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cancelling-the-obamas-wtf/939193/53 "2021-04-02T18:15:19Z")
From the Tribune article: > “That’s many families that were affected and separated, many of whom reside right here in Waukegan,” Arias said. “The fear that many of my friends faced of never seeing their parents again after coming home from school still resonates with me.” > He suggested the board select another of the three nominated names, the John L. Lewis Middle School, to honor the late U.S. Congressman and civil rights activist. “Pissed off ?” Yep. The histrionics are the domain of the whack-job RW. Wow. Just … Wow. ---
**Author:** ![ShadowFacts](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shadowfacts/32/2934_2.png) [@ShadowFacts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShadowFacts)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2021, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cancelling-the-obamas-wtf/939193/54 "2021-04-02T18:31:54Z")
I’m with Octopus on this one. I mean, first they came for the Obamas, and I said nothing…for I am not an Obama. Seriously, who is next, Waffles and Mochi? ---
**Author:** ![DavidNRockies](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidnrockies/32/6279_2.png) [@DavidNRockies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidNRockies)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2021, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cancelling-the-obamas-wtf/939193/55 "2021-04-02T18:33:20Z")
IIRC, one only gets to play the Niemöller card like three times. Is somebody keeping score here ?? ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2021, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cancelling-the-obamas-wtf/939193/56 "2021-04-02T18:40:49Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > I think it’s more about two things: > > 1. To many Republicans, Obama is evil incarnate. So the fact that some liberals would oppose a school being named after Obama, generates a “wow!” gobsmacked response. They think, “If someone like **Obama** isn’t good enough for them, they must be far, _far_ left.” It’s been mentioned before in other threads: as part of the chronic condition of extreme projection that characterizes this branch of the Right, they can’t acknowledge that liberals and minorities _ **do not** _ hold Obama in a position of Messianic Idolatry. Compare the concerted effort after 1988 to find things to name after Ronald Reagan whether or not he had anything to do with them. Or the current refusal to dare say a thing against Trump. ---
**Author:** ![naita](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naita/32/5862_2.png) [@naita](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/naita)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2021, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cancelling-the-obamas-wtf/939193/57 "2021-04-02T19:12:38Z")
“Board members will consider the names of the Obamas, Lewis and both Dolores Huerta & Cesar Chavez together for Jefferson.” How is “We’d prefer Lewis over the Obamas because of Obama’s immigration policy failures” cancelling? What kind of debate rules are the anti-cancel culture people looking for here? You can only make positive comments about your preferred choice, don’t mention the others? ---
**Author:** ![SingleMalt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/singlemalt/32/3961_2.png) [@SingleMalt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SingleMalt)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2021, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cancelling-the-obamas-wtf/939193/58 "2021-04-02T19:23:47Z")
“Matt Gaetz and Name-Withheld-Due-to-Status-as-a-Minor Trade and Vocational School”? Has a nice ring to it… ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2021, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cancelling-the-obamas-wtf/939193/59 "2021-04-02T19:31:50Z")
“Board members will consider the names of the Obamas, Lewis and both Dolores Huerta & Cesar Chavez together for Jefferson.”? How dare they leave out Dr. Seuss and Mr. & Mrs. Potato Head . . . amIright @octopus! ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2021, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cancelling-the-obamas-wtf/939193/60 "2021-04-02T19:38:17Z")
> [@octopus](#): > > I say being easily pissed off is the larger character flaw. This from the guy who’s been going around these boards for weeks all butthurt and doomsquawking\* about stuff like a publisher voluntarily deciding to discontinue further publication of a few books on their own backlist and a toy manufacturer voluntarily modifying the name of a toy in their own product line. Try fixing your own emotional-overreaction problem first before complaining about the extent to which you allegedly perceive it in others. - hey, somebody posted their approval of a previous appearance of this term so I’ll rerun it [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cancelling-the-obamas-wtf/939193.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cancelling-the-obamas-wtf/939193.md?page=4)