For years before the epochal year of 2008 pompous MSMers would wonder out loud: "Is America ready for a black president?"
Still, it took me aback when a faculty-wife friend expressed her satisfaction at electing the first black president. Really? Aren't we educated people supposed to be above all that?
Of course, I voted for Obama too. I voted for him to shut the Democrats up on the Bush-the-warmonger front. Anyone can flatter their base with nonsense about warmongering and Bush lied and "the wrong war" and Guantanamo. The proof of the pudding is in the eating, and most of the Bush-era protocols have survived the anti-war Obama's first four years.
So now we have the ultimate question: Is America ready to fire its first black president for cause? It's a big issue, bigger than you might think.
My old pal, the Greek philosopher George Maroutsos, used to opine about Greek politics after the Greek colonels like this. It's important, he would say, for the conservative party in Greece to get voted out and surrender power to the liberal party. But what comes next is just as important. It is important for the liberal party to get voted out and surrender power to the conservative party. Only then will both parties begin to trust that the other party will not surrender to temptation and stage a coup to stay in power.
So the same principle must apply to America's first black president. It's a wonderful thing to elect America's first black president. But it is even more wonderful to evaluate the performance of America's first black president and come to the decision, without any consideration of his race, that his performance is below par, and that it is regretfully necessary to terminate his service to the nation.
Actually, the question of President Obama has nothing to do with his race, except that a white guy with his experience could never have been elected president. No, the question about President Obama is his ideas. And also the deep questions about his leadership qualities.
Today, in 2012, the great question is different. It is this: Is America ready for a Mormon president? Somehow I can't find any breathless articles from MSMers wondering about that.
I wonder why? After all, back in the day, Mormons were on the receiving end of some pretty nasty discrimination and political violence. And even today, nice liberal women wonder if it is "ethical" for them to visit Utah.
Still, it took me aback when a faculty-wife friend expressed her satisfaction at electing the first black president. Really? Aren't we educated people supposed to be above all that?
Of course, I voted for Obama too. I voted for him to shut the Democrats up on the Bush-the-warmonger front. Anyone can flatter their base with nonsense about warmongering and Bush lied and "the wrong war" and Guantanamo. The proof of the pudding is in the eating, and most of the Bush-era protocols have survived the anti-war Obama's first four years.
So now we have the ultimate question: Is America ready to fire its first black president for cause? It's a big issue, bigger than you might think.
My old pal, the Greek philosopher George Maroutsos, used to opine about Greek politics after the Greek colonels like this. It's important, he would say, for the conservative party in Greece to get voted out and surrender power to the liberal party. But what comes next is just as important. It is important for the liberal party to get voted out and surrender power to the conservative party. Only then will both parties begin to trust that the other party will not surrender to temptation and stage a coup to stay in power.
So the same principle must apply to America's first black president. It's a wonderful thing to elect America's first black president. But it is even more wonderful to evaluate the performance of America's first black president and come to the decision, without any consideration of his race, that his performance is below par, and that it is regretfully necessary to terminate his service to the nation.
Actually, the question of President Obama has nothing to do with his race, except that a white guy with his experience could never have been elected president. No, the question about President Obama is his ideas. And also the deep questions about his leadership qualities.
Today, in 2012, the great question is different. It is this: Is America ready for a Mormon president? Somehow I can't find any breathless articles from MSMers wondering about that.
I wonder why? After all, back in the day, Mormons were on the receiving end of some pretty nasty discrimination and political violence. And even today, nice liberal women wonder if it is "ethical" for them to visit Utah.
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