Posted by
Jim Cathcart on Friday, November 14, 2008 5:50:13 PM
by Jim Cathcart
In a few weeks Barack Obama will be the president of the United States. And he will be my president too, despite my voting against him and campaigning for the opposition party. That does NOT mean that I will be embracing his point of view, programs or policies. It simply means that he will be the elected leader of our nation and I am a committed citizen of that nation. I will defend him as I would defend our nation; not to keep him from criticism but to keep him from harm.
Yes, it disturbs me deeply that so many Americans voted for the symbolism of electing a black president instead of voting for the person who would do the best job of leading our country. I say this after observing scores of discussions and writings about who voted and why. Most of them tell you that they felt he'd do the better job with the economy or whatever... and then make a very specific and emphatic point of telling you how important it is that we have elected a black president! What? Do you mean to tell me that (after stating your rationalization for voting for him) the most important element in our collective decision making process was the color of someone's skin? That is outrageous!
As I said in an earlier blog post, it is the black community that is keeping racism alive. When did you see a "white" person make a big deal about someone being white? Rarely if ever. When was the last time you heard a black person making a big deal of someone else being black? Yesterday, this morning? When?
I don't care what skin color someone has, no matter what position they are seeking. We have elected legions of blacks to high positions in our country and our culture. They have led our military, our corporations, our schools, our government, our diplomatic relations with the rest of the world and more. They have risen to spectacular levels of success in entertainment, philosophy, science, religion and sports. There is no category I know of from which they have been withheld. So why should we care that we've elected a black president?
Let's get more interest generated in whether we have elected a good president.
I want Barack Obama to succeed as our leader. Not as a liberal activist nor as a Democrat, nor as a Bush hater, just as a good leader. I think it is vital that he succeed because so many are treating him as the icon of black liberation. It would be a disaster and a shame to have our first black president become our worst leader in memory. He is very wrong about what it will take to save our economy and we must inform him of his errors before they become law. So, let's give him the opportunity to speak his mind, to show us his leadership and then, let's save him from taking disastrous actions that would hurt us all. After all, it is not about him, nor about race, nor about ideology. It is about America and our continuing welfare.
If at the end of his term we have still more government and fewer freedoms then we will have failed in helping our leader(s) to lead. We are not a nation of followers. We are citizens who take action to do what is needed and what is right.
May God bless our president and our country.