As amusing and silly as it was to watch this woman nearly have an orgasm over Obama's victory, it is downright distrubing that there are thousands, if not millions, of disadvantaged blacks (and probably poor folks of other races as well) who really DO think that Barack Obama will be taking care of them the next four years with other people's hard earned money. Granted, part of this phenomenon might be due to the fact that they read far too much into Obama's comments about "spreading the wealth," but has it perhaps occurred to them that Barack Obama, throughout the campaign, seemed to be willing to say just about anything and promise just about anything to get elected? Sadly, so many people fell for it and will be in for a big disappointment.
The harsh reality is that "Messiah" or not, Barack Obama is still a politician. He'll realize very quickly (if he hasn't already) that as President, he will not accomplish anything worthwhile without building alliances with others in Washington and procuring support from both sides of the aisle. In order to do this, he'll need to make some compromises and become more moderate in his views, or else risk alienating even members of his own party. This is the exact mistake that President Bush made, and there is no doubt in my mind that Barack Obama realizes this and is determined not to follow suit.
As a result, I would not be surprised if African Americans end up hating Obama with a passion as the ultimate traitor and backstabber, once he fails to deliver what they thought he would, and when people like Peggy Joseph don't get as much wealth "spread" to them as they anticipated. I can just picture Rev. Al Sharpton, sometime within the next few years, going on tirade after tirade before frenzied crowds of angry and jaded blacks, proclaiming something like this:
"Barack Obama isn't even a real black man anyway, he's half white! And we have now learned the hard way that even someone only half white is just as much a part of the conspiracy. This man is no Messiah, but a false prophet, and shame on us for being tricked by this Uncle Tom!"
Now, as much as I hate playing the race card, there is no doubt that race played a part in this election like no other election prior. In fact, even goofy Howard Stern, in one of his broadcasts a few weeks before the election, demonstrated the grim reality of this when he sent one of his sidekicks to Harlem to interview potential black voters about who they supported in the election. Of course, nearly all of them said they liked Obama. They were then asked if they still liked Obama when told that Obama held certain positions on the issues that in fact were held by McCain! Without batting an eye, all of these people said that they were pro-life, anti-stem cell research, and believed that we should keep our troops in Iraq as long as possible until the job is finished, as long as they were led to think that these were Obama's beliefs, which they most certainly were not. Even more outrageous, these folks in Harlem said they would love having Sarah Palin as vice-president, once they were told that Plain was OBAMA'S running mate and actually believed it. Here is the clip so you can listen for yourselves:
As hilarious as this was, in reality it's downright scary that these are people whose votes counted just as much as those of citizens responsible enough to cast their votes based on the issues. I am certainly not trying to appear racist, as I am just as disgusted at all of the white hillbillies in Arkansas who said there was no way they'd vote for Obama because he's a Muslim (which he is not). There are people who voted FOR Obama only because he's black, and there are people who voted AGAINST Obama only because he's black. Equally deplorable in my opinion, especially in an election at such a time as this with all of the crucial issues and problems our nation is facing.
I actually respect people who voted for Obama because they truly believed he was the best choice for our country based on his positions (even though I couldn't disagree more). These people, to give them credit, voted for Obama for reasons other than his race or because they got caught up in the "Obamamania" or because they automatically assumed that John McCain was going to be nothing more than a George W. Bush clone simply because he's a Republican.
The right to vote in this country is a right that we should never take for granted, especially considering that there are millions of others in the world who do not enjoy this right. However, with every right comes responsibilities, and our founding fathers assumed that we would never forget this. Apparently, some people in this country have forgotten, and maybe an intensive crash course in basic civics will avoid another embarrassing charade in future election years.
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