Saturday, January 24, 2009

“I never thought I’d see the day that a black man would be President of the United States.” - Why the hell not?

Ok, another pause in the pursuit of Justice. Over and over again I heard it this week… “I never thought I’d see the day that a black man would be President of the United States.”

Why the hell not? Sure it’s a milestone, but it is, or should be, little more than a scenic stop, certainly worthy of crowding around and taking a few smiling pictures before continuing on down the road, but seriously questioning that we’d ever get there? Gawking at in astonishment?

I never questioned it. And I haven’t, and don’t, question that a women (or a Jew or a person from Boise Idaho, etc, etc, etc) would or could or will be elected President of the United States. Why would you consider skin color or gender to be of any significance, for or against, being elected President? I unhumbly submit that if you thought or think that those are legitimate issues, then the fear is probably more a reflection of your own failings, than they are of America’s.

Please, please, at this moment, please re-examine the other stupid positions you may hold about the United States of America. You know the ones, Americans are… ‘Unintelligent people’, ‘spoiled brats’, ‘ignorant people’, ‘greedy materialists’, ‘racist, sexist homophobes’, ‘no longer a great power’, ‘imperialists’, ‘warmongers’, etc, etc, etc. The first step is to admit that you were wrong to begin with (and you'll have a very visible reminder of that every day for the next four years). The next step is to shut the hell up and spend some time cleaning your head out, before you spout off again about what America is, or isn't.

While I recognize that electing the first black President is a significant and very cool milestone to be noted and passed, it is so only on the basis of it being the first time, it is of no significance in and of itself, in the sense that the color of ones skin should not have any relevance to electing a president. In fact, the true significance of the occasion is, and can only be made real, through his skin color having no place in the citizenry's decision making process for electing him. A more disturbing thought arises when you look at the shear quantities of "...never thought I'd see the day..." comments, and you begin to wonder just how many people voted for President Obama because of the color of his skin, rather than the content of his character and ideas... with such thoughts, the occasion threatens to lose some of it's legitimacy.

I look forward to the day when a person's color, ancestry, gender, etc, are noted with no more significance than is accorded their favorite meals, sport teams and other pastimes.

The issue for me, is are the policies of this person who is running for, or has been elected to the office of the President of the United States, going to be good for, or bad for, the nation, primarily measured by whether or not his ideas and policies gibe with, or oppose, the UnitedStates Constitution (Btw, I didn't vote for George W. Bush in the 2000 primaries (though I did in the election, due to the Gore being the alternative), because I thought his 'compassionate conservatism' would not gibe with the constitution, and I was proven correct).

Obviously, I think Obama's policies (based upon what little we know of what he has said and thinks, good luck finding them in any substance, or consistency over time), will be bad for the country. But call me not cynical enough if you'd like, but in all of the pictures & clips I've seen of him with his family, such as this one, they lead me to think that on a personal level at least, he's probably a decent guy, husband and father, I don't think we'll have a stained blue dress incident with the current President. And as President, in his ceremonial and generic head of state and leadership positions, I do want him to be respected... not belittled and not reviled, and in that role I want him to be a 'successful' President.

But only that far. As a leader of the democrat party, as a political leader pushing democrat policies, I want him to fail, BIG time. I do hope that he is stopped in his political tracks at every turn in the coming years (though I’m very thankful that Obama is president, and not Joe Biden [shiver])… but there are no grounds for the anti-American “never thought I’d see the day that X would happen in America.” comments; next time you find yourself thinking one of those thoughts, please consider the possibility that the problem you are fretting about is a problem of one of your own failings, not America’s.

I don't hate Obama. I don't need to hate Obama. However I suspect that I will despise and oppose the bulk of his positions and policies, and I will do what I can, little as that may be, to block his every move.

Perhaps those of you leftists out there will now discover a new found appreciation for saying "I support the President, but not his policies".

****
Jonah Goldberg has similar sentiments, and draws some conclusions from them (Hat tip to WitNit):
"...At a more political level, a black president surely undermines the argument that American racism is so endemic that a system of racial quotas must remain a permanent fixture of the political and legal landscape.

... If Obama lives up to the dreams of his supporters in writing a new, post-racial chapter for America, he will have at once done more for America than any Democratic president in generations. But he also will have cut the knot holding much of the left together. As an American and as a conservative, I certainly hope that’s the case. He’s already made a good start of it just by getting elected
. "

13 comments:

julie said...

...never thought I’d see the day that X would happen in America.

To me, that's a statement that would most likely accompany something appalling happening: "Never thought I'd see the day a non-resident non-citizen became President," for instance. Or "never thought I'd see the day people were sent to gulags for disagreeing with the Office."

Like you, it never occurred to me that it wasn't possible to elect someone based on their skin color. I will be surprised, however, if (for instance) a Mormon ever gets elected President; religious objections have a lot more power than racial ones, because they're based on ideology rather than genetics.

As to Goldberg's conclusion, I'd like to agree with him. But I can't. The usual suspects who bang the victimhood drum will continue to cry that whites keep blacks down; they'll write off the Obama Presidency as being achieved by someone who wasn't really, authentically black, that he only won by acting white, or they'll come up with some other means of ignoring the glaring discrepancy. Already, it's clear that racial quotas are still being welcomed if not lauded (by Reich, at the very least).

Honestly, can you picture Obama or his administration advocating a reduction of quotas? If anything, he probably considers himself a demonstration of how effective they are, and how it's vital to increase quotas, not decrease them.

USS Ben USN (Ret) said...

Right on, Van! Excellent post!

"Why the hell not? Sure it’s a milestone, but it is, or should be, little more than a scenic stop, certainly worthy of crowding around and taking a few smiling pictures before continuing on down the road, but seriously questioning that we’d ever get there? Gawking at in astonishment?"

I'm the first Irish/Hispanic/English whatever the hell I am to start a blog called One Cosmos At Sea! I never thought I'd see the day.

Yeah, that's insulting, really.
People that say that have perpetuated the cult of low expectations.
Also, it's unAmerican.

By that, I mean there's too many folks that focus on race, gender, class, or whatever, instead of viewing us all as Americans. Period.

I say let's get rid of the freakin' hyphenated, divisive, PC BS! Live in the now. But Lefties just can't do that.

They ain't happy unless they have grievances (mostly manufactured) and victims...and even then they ain't happy.

USS Ben USN (Ret) said...

BTW, Van, I like the new layout!

USS Ben USN (Ret) said...

Here's an excellent link that complements Van's excellent post-

Deconstructing Barry

Here's an excerpt:
Those few of us left capable of viewing the Obama phenomenon with detachment will recognize its seductive offer of an easy, celebratory catharsis, its encouragement and indulgence of the individual's sense of moral superiority. The effectiveness of this appeal is manifest in the adoring crowds, in the deliberately incurious and uncritical appreciation of the candidate and now president-elect that continues. In the candidate's unspoken collusion with the media to equate his personal ambition with the civil rights movement itself and to subsequently equate any rejection of the candidate's race-based appeal with a rejection of his race, holding criticism of the campaign guilty of bigotry until deemed innocent.

USS Ben USN (Ret) said...

I also cooncur with Julie, that Johah's idea is too logical and it won't materialize.

Because Obama ran on race. It worked so well, he's not going to give it up. He probably can't.

Anyone who opposes Obama will be labled bigots and racists. That has already happened.
Remember, Obama IS the civil rights movement incarnate.

Of course that is absurd, but that's how those on the Left see him. Therefor, if weopoeObama's policies, we oppose the civil rights movement.

The Left truly can't comprehend why any whites wouldn't feel guilty. Perhaps not all but most.

Ironically, the vast majority of racism Obama felt was in Indonesia.
Most of the racism he experienced here in the
US, according to his own books, was PERCEIVED, not real.
Then there's Jeremiah Wight...

I do respect the office of President, but I concur with Van, if President Obama doesn't do his best to protect and defend the Constitution and ou right to Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness then I will oppose his policies.

Joan of Argghh! said...

What's amazing to me is to hear interviews with "blacks on the street" who know even less of Obama than the Media has put forth. Can you imagine how thin that sort of information is?

They believe he's "one of them", knows their struggle, has been where they are. I'M closer to their struggle than the Zero ever has been. No matter. He's black.

Anonymous said...

oh, yeah? well what about about the way bushitler trashed the constituton,and obama wouldn't dothat because global warming thatwas coused by bushes immoral war made all the musloms hateus and cuased 911 and now oyu hate obama cuz evrythings too hot in spite of the freezing winter and
yeh i nevr thoght id see a real cool black guy be prez becuz all wou rssisexishoserphobs are like totlly not with it so get with teh pogram yuo hatr
lol showed you, huh!

robinstarfish said...

I'm still waiting for the day a black person becomes president. He/she will have been robbed of being the first full black CIC.

What percentage qualifies as 'black'? Eisenhower was 25% black, if some historians are to be believed. Four or five other presidents may have had various percentages as well. Is 50% enough?

If Obama had run and won in independent Kenya, he would have been the first white president.

Just having fun here. It's not the percentage that matters, I know; it's the shared perception and selling by the media first, followed by acceptance by the general populace. It's why Bill could get away with being the first black president before Obama came along and bitch slapped the Clinton legacy.

Van Harvey said...

Julie said "...As to Goldberg's conclusion, I'd like to agree with him. But I can't. The usual suspects who bang the victimhood drum will continue to cry that whites keep blacks down; ..."

Oh, I agree the leftists will never willingly let it go, but just because they want to hang on to it, doesn't mean they'll be able to.

I saw a clip of a comic on Leno when it first looked like Obama might have a chance of beating Clinton, and she nailed it on the spot, to LOUD laughter/applause, words to the effect of:"...I'm sure the black leadership is quaking right now... I mean how can the brothers say w'astrait face dat 'Da Man is keeping me DOWN!'... when... da man... iz a brutha?!"

Can't tell you how many similar comedians & commentators I've heard since.

The culture can be led, when they don't have they're lacking info, but when all the cards are on the table like they so blatantly are now?

It won't pass the laugh test for much longer. Doesn't mean those in power won't milk it for all it's worth, and I don't expect it'll vanish in the next year, or even 5 or 10, but the charging cord has been pulled from the wall, and the battery power is dwindling, slowly but surely.

Van Harvey said...

da, you've represented your sides point of view very well.

julie said...

"...the battery power is dwindling, slowly but surely."

I hope so, Van.

Anonymous said...

In Detroit, nonetheless, there was a Pizza place called Buddy's Pizza that never hired blacks. 100% white, unless you came in after the place closed.

The logic is if a black can't get a job at a Pizza joint, how could he win president. That's "why the hell not." It makes no sense...

Van Harvey said...

Aninnymouse said “The logic is if a black can't get a job at a Pizza joint, how could he win president. That's "why the hell not." It makes no sense...”

Not too long before JFK was elected president, you could find signs that said “No dogs or Irish allowed”, people took that as reason enough to believe that no Catholic, and no Irishmen, and damn sure no Irish Catholic would EVER be elected President.

Stupid ideas don’t get any validity from foolish people buying into them. Because some people aren’t able or willing to recognize that idiotic prejudices held by other people as foolish as themselves are no basis for making logical predictions, is no reason to believe that they were making any sense to begin with… or to believe ill of an entire people.

And if you hadn’t noticed, both sets of fools were handily proven wrong.