Well, I guess I should go ahead and get this off my chest. I’ve already alluded to it in my first couple of posts, so I guess now’s the time to let it out.
I’m talking about the recent presidential elections, of course.
First off, let me state that I’m glad to see that America has finally elected a black president. (I absolutely refuse to use any hyphenated title, no matter how popular…see my first post.) This was a long time coming, and I’m glad to see that it happened in my lifetime. I kinda figured it would, but I’m glad to see it happened sooner in my lifetime than later. The election of Barack Obama to the office of President of the United States has given the entire world proof positive that a black man in America stands just as much of a chance of getting ahead and becoming President as a white man. This also proves to all of the black people in America that it’s actually possible to become the man or woman you want to be, no matter what. All you have to do is work for it, apply yourself, have faith in yourself, and don’t give up. Do this, and you can become anything you want, even President of the United States.
Yep, America finally elected a black man President. Only thing is, he was elected for the wrong reason.
He wasn’t elected because of his experience; being a Senator for less than six months hardly qualifies you to be President of the United States.
He wasn’t elected for his proven leadership capabilities, because he’s never been in a position to be a leader of anything that I’m aware of.
He wasn’t elected because he’s done anything substantial aside from getting elected to the Senate. Not that I know of, anyway.
He wasn’t elected because he was head and shoulders better qualified than John McCain, although that may be subject to individual interpretation. My interpretation is that he wasn’t.
He wasn’t elected for any of these reasons. Not a single one.
He was elected because he’s black. Not “despite” being black, but BECAUSE he’s black.
I read a poll online recently that said Obama captured 95% of the black vote. NINETY FIVE PERCENT. Unless I miss my guess, that’s the highest percentage of votes ever captured in one group by any candidate in a Presidential election. It’s certainly higher than any percentage of the white vote ever captured by a white candidate, that’s for sure. And he didn’t capture this high percentage of votes because of his experience, his qualifications, his leadership ability, or anything else. He captured it because he’s black.
And honestly, it’s not his fault. He truly believes he is qualified to be President; if he didn’t, he wouldn’t have run. I’m quite sure he knew damned good and well he’d win BECAUSE he was black, that he’d get a higher percentage of the black vote than any other candidate, but I don’t think he ever thought he’d get that much of it. Just my opinion, by the way; I didn’t read that anywhere.
In the weeks before the election, I heard with my own two ears at least five different black people say that they were voting for Obama simply because he was black. I never heard in any of these conversations any mention about his policies being good for America, about his leadership capabilities, or his passion for making America a better place to live. Nope, none of that was mentioned…what WAS mentioned was that it was “about time we had ONE OF US in the White House,” and “things are gonna be different once ONE OF US is in the White House,” things like that. And on top of that, Howard Stern sent his crew out into Harlem a few weeks before the election where they asked some of the people passing by – black people, of course – who they were voting for. When they inevitably said Barack Obama, the crew then asked them which of his policies made them want to vote for Obama, including his choice of SARAH PALIN as a running mate. The policies they asked about were, of course, John McCain’s policies…and EVERY SINGLE PERSON THEY ASKED all said that they loved the policies, it was why they were going to vote for him, and one of them even said that he thought Sarah Palin was a great woman, a perfect running mate, and would make a great Vice President.
They never had a clue. They had NO IDEA of what Obama’s policies are, or even who his running mate was. They broadcast to the world the fact that they were voting for Obama for one reason and one reason only: because he was black.
And that, friends and neighbors, is called RACISM.
A bumper sticker I read online a few days ago said it perfectly; it said, ‘Voting for someone because they are black is just as racist as voting against someone because they are black.” So lemme ask you this…if 95% of white America had voted for John McCain and Obama had lost the election, how long do you think it would have taken for someone – lots of someones, I would imagine – to jump up and scream “RACISM!”? I think you would have heard it before the election results were even finalized.
I also think that the very people who elected him did so for the wrong reasons, and they’re in for one hell of a big disappointment. If the black people who voted for him think that he’s “one of them” and is going to act that way in the White House, then they have a serious lack of understanding of the limitations of the Presidency, and they’ve totally forgotten about the Congress. They’ve also seriously underestimated Barack Obama as well. I may not agree with 99% of what the man stands for, but I will say that I am well aware that he is NOT “one of them.” He is NOT going to get into office and try to right two hundred plus years of perceived wrongs against the blacks in America. He is NOT going to get into office and start issuing decrees aimed at benefiting the blacks in America and totally ignoring the rest of the nation, specifically the whites. He is NOT going to get into office and become “one of them.”
And THAT is REALLY gonna piss some people off. LOTS of people. And then the same people who turned out in record numbers and voted him into office are going to label him an “Uncle Tom,” and are going to turn their backs on him, paving the way for the next POTUS to be another white guy.
But in the mean time, we’re going to have a new POTUS in another month and a half or so, and that thought scares the living crap outta me. Here’s why.
Just to set the record straight, as I said in my first post I’m a Republican. I voted for John McCain not because he was white, but because I agreed with more of his platform and ideas than I did with Obama. Skin color had nothing to do with it, believe me. If Condoleeza Rice had been running, I’d damn sure have voted for her. (At one time I was all for Colin Powell, but then he endorsed Obama and that soured me on him.) I didn’t vote for Obama for the following reasons:
1) He’s anti-gun. He voted for the Clinton Gun Ban, and if he had his way it would have been much more stringent and restrictive than the one that was passed. He also has plans to introduce a bill to pass this very ban, and if the Congress is controlled by the Democrats, he may just get it done.
2) He has this insane idea he calls the “redistribution of wealth.” In order words, he wants to take the money you and I make by our hard work and dedication, and GIVE it to the shiftless, lazy people among us who do nothing but sit on their asses all day, sucking off of the government tit rather than getting out and finding a job. Well, there’s a name for that, boys and girls – it’s called SOCIALISM.
3) As a part of this grand “redistribution of wealth” scheme, he wants to give rebate checks to PEOPLE WHO DON’T PAY TAXES. Excuse me, but just how stupid is that?
4) He said in one of his campaign speeches that when he won a primary in a state he didn’t expect to win that he was “finally proud of America.” And his bitch wife said the same thing later on. That is THE wrong thing to say to a career military man who also happens to be a war vet, lemme tell ya. That right there soured me on him for the rest of my life. I’ve ALWAYS been proud of my country, no matter what. That his country has to do something FOR him to make him proud makes me wanna puke. And then there’s that picture of him standing on a stage in front of an American flag with the two people behind him holding their hands over their hearts while the National Anthem is being played, and he’s standing there with his hands down in front of him. Like they say, one picture is worth a thousand words.
Personally, I don’t think the man is either qualified or deserving enough to be President, which is why I voted for McCain. But Obama won, even if it was for the wrong reason.
My hope now was most eloquently summed up by someone on the forum I frequent; he said, “I hope now that Obama is half as good as he says he is, and that he’s only half as bad as we think he is.” That just about sums it up.
I also hope that he doesn’t screw the pooch for another reason – if he does, he’ll set race relations back in the United States by about thirty years. It’ll be the last time a black man gets elected POTUS for a very long time (just as former Virginia governor Doug Wilder about that), and it will give the “one of US” crowd something else to complain about until the next black man finally gets elected POTUS.
Either way, it’s gonna be a very long four years.
No comments:
Post a Comment