Thoughts On Today's Election
I gladly celebrate the fact that it seems at least most Americans have finally figured out a person's skin colour has nothing to do with their fitness to be President - but I do not and will not celebrate the fact that any President has any particular colour of skin, no matter how many or how few of like colour came before him.
That is a minor point, but a very important one: until we have all learned that skin colour matters only for a physical description, we still have a long way to go. It is also a point far too many people, even those in the media who are supposed to know better, seem incapable of appreciating.
I sincerely hope that those most in need of learning that lesson, the idiotic white supremacists who believe just because a man has darker skin they are obligated to hate him, and seek to harm him, will either grow up and realise just how full of crap they really are (I'm not holding my breath waiting for that to happen), or else die of apoplexy when they see the election results, and leave the rest of us alone. They are much worse than the more common idiots who vote on the basis of skin colour, or gender, or any other totally irrelevant issue. They are filled with hate, which is far harder to combat than simple stupidity.
Personally, I didn't really support either candidate, not because of superficial issues, but because I believe the political machinery we have in place is not capable of producing any candidate who will offer real change. They all offer only one side or the other of the tarnished coin we've had all along.
However, despite my lack of personal enthusiasm, President Obama has been elected President. He has as much right to the office as any other man. If you disagree with him, write editorials, campaign for his defeat in the next election on any rational grounds you choose, and I will still respect you. Drag his race into it, and you will lose my respect. So much as suggest it might be reasonable to attack him for such an absurd reason, you prove yourself no better than Hitler, Himmler, Heydrich, Goebbels, Goring, Eichmann, or any other rabid, monstrous Nazi.
I'm sure my regular readers (if any of you are left out there) don't need to be told any of this. I wish there was no reason to write it. But, considering the recent arrest of a couple of young idiots who know nothing better than hatred, I think it is important to stand up publicly for what's important. Even those who don't think President Obama will have the ability to usher in some new Golden Age should still be willing to stand up, speak out, and make one thing plain. He may be no better than the general run of Presidents, but he is no worse, either. He is a man, with all the rights any man has, including the right to live in peace.
That is a minor point, but a very important one: until we have all learned that skin colour matters only for a physical description, we still have a long way to go. It is also a point far too many people, even those in the media who are supposed to know better, seem incapable of appreciating.
I sincerely hope that those most in need of learning that lesson, the idiotic white supremacists who believe just because a man has darker skin they are obligated to hate him, and seek to harm him, will either grow up and realise just how full of crap they really are (I'm not holding my breath waiting for that to happen), or else die of apoplexy when they see the election results, and leave the rest of us alone. They are much worse than the more common idiots who vote on the basis of skin colour, or gender, or any other totally irrelevant issue. They are filled with hate, which is far harder to combat than simple stupidity.
Personally, I didn't really support either candidate, not because of superficial issues, but because I believe the political machinery we have in place is not capable of producing any candidate who will offer real change. They all offer only one side or the other of the tarnished coin we've had all along.
However, despite my lack of personal enthusiasm, President Obama has been elected President. He has as much right to the office as any other man. If you disagree with him, write editorials, campaign for his defeat in the next election on any rational grounds you choose, and I will still respect you. Drag his race into it, and you will lose my respect. So much as suggest it might be reasonable to attack him for such an absurd reason, you prove yourself no better than Hitler, Himmler, Heydrich, Goebbels, Goring, Eichmann, or any other rabid, monstrous Nazi.
I'm sure my regular readers (if any of you are left out there) don't need to be told any of this. I wish there was no reason to write it. But, considering the recent arrest of a couple of young idiots who know nothing better than hatred, I think it is important to stand up publicly for what's important. Even those who don't think President Obama will have the ability to usher in some new Golden Age should still be willing to stand up, speak out, and make one thing plain. He may be no better than the general run of Presidents, but he is no worse, either. He is a man, with all the rights any man has, including the right to live in peace.
posted by The Wandering Author | Permalink: 11:27 PM
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