I first voted for an African-American for President 40 years ago yesterday. The man was Eldridge Cleaver, then a well-known author (Soul on Ice) not yet having gone to jail or introduced a line of trousers with codpieces. He was a protest candidate, and a vote for him, running against Nixon and Humphrey, was the only way to vote against the Vietnam War.
That's how far we've come. In 1968, an African-American man represented a throwaway protest vote, yesterday an African-American man won the presidency.
In the long view, there's a karmic irony at work here. After slavery, the American upper class used race to blind poor white folks to the causes of their economic woes. Yesterday, economic woes blinded a lot of folks to the race of the candidate who promised change.
President-Elect Obama is clearly a very smart guy and a very good politician. Unlike the last Dem with those credentials, he's also exceedingly disciplined. Those qualities will come up against a couple of very major problems. First, as daft as the Iraq adventure was, propelling us into a tragicomic repetition of Britain's experience in Iraq in the second and third decade of the last century, Obama has possibly been trapped into another daft adventure. Yes, we should have stayed and finished the job of wiping out al-Qaeda in Afghanistan. But now, seven years later, to propose a large infusion of troops into that country may propel us into a tragicomic repetition of Britain's and Russia's follies in Afghanistan. It's not a place where foreign troops normally come out with anything remotely resembling success.
But even though he might have had political cover from the Rand Corporation study that came out this year reporting that war is not the way to deal successfully with terrorism, Obama knew too well that a Democratic candidate bearing that message would be committing political suicide. Winning the office means now having to figure out how to look strong while backing away from another senseless war. And, by the way, Obama will be in charge when all the pent-up tensions in Iraq, held down by our payoffs to Sunni fighters, Sadr's cease-fire and Maliki's posturing on the Status of Forces Agreement, come roaring back to life.
Domestically, the dog that didn't bark throughout this campaign was the issue represented by the twin failures of the bridge in Minneapolis and the levees in New Orleans -- both the result of design failures. Our bridges, highways, dams and levees are crumbling, and, with an economic crisis facing us, we don't appear to have the money (or the political will) to face up to that challenge. No debate moderator thought that was an interesting subject to bring up, and the candidates, honing their message to poll-tested issues, saw no percentage in mentioning it.
Maybe the networks could figure out a gee-whiz virtual-reality hologramish way to depict issues, as well as election results. Every post-election, after all, journalists sit down at mock-serious forums and pledge that never again will they become so obsessed with the horse-race aspect of campaign coverage. That's a spectacle sadder than a street beggar swearing that the money you give him won't go for booze. This campaign, with interest (and ratings) running sky-high, was like a full-employment program for out-of-work political "strategists," and all we heard for the last year was endless bloviating about tactics, ads, "ground game" and "air war" -- TV talking heads pretending they were campaign managers.
I already have a puppy. I'm going to go play hoops.
There. Problem solved.
This election is so much more meaningful that Clinton's 1992 election. While I was happy at the time Clinton was elected, President Obama's victory is so much meaningful. Mr. Obama has done much more this election cycle with substance, intelligence, and brilliance. Clinton was too often willing to throw aside his intelligent and principles in order to be liked, especially by Republicans, who he constantly courted and who constantly thrwarted him. Clinton is intelligent, but he's all over the map and self indulgent, lacking the discipline (a quality that has been mocked for a long time) to make full use of his intelligence.
Clinton's legacy will be that he was a good old boy who sold out to the Republicans constantly (it was Bill who said John McCain would make a fine president, and Bill appeared on Limbaugh's show during the primary), was incredibly self destructive, couldn't keep it in his pants, and tarnished his legacy by playing the race card (something you thought a modern Democrat would never do). It's nice that we aren't going to be subjected to the Clintonian drama of the 1990's now.
Now, onto Peter Brotzmann's free jazz insanity (The Machine Gun Sessions for those who are interested).
"dude yr buzzkill is harshing my mellow.'
From the suspiciously fast dropping gas price that will soon soar higher than ever, to the now rising unemployment rates on "main Street", the economy falling into more Pieces , to all the conflicts and wars Bushims stirred and is stiring up.
Evidentially, a President Obama will not have the full support of the powerful Economical "Deciders" nor part of the U.S. Military.
But, nevertheless, I am certain with the FULL support of the People, EVERYTHING is possible!!
You can play hoops. You can rest on your past pathetic laurels. Eldridge Cleaver, much like Palin was not qualified to lead anything except perhaps the blind. Obama will succeed at what he does best. Making sense out of senselessness. Pointing the way with reason and knowledge. It may leave you bored or cold, frankly I don't think it matters much. When the funny person ceases to be funny, he quickly becomes irrelevant.
My vote for Obama was real and sincere; it is an honor to be a tiny, tiny part of this new dawn. I wish my father could have seen it, tho it's ok that he missed the GWB (Cheney) years.
To than end... I propose that we propose the "Big Easy Presidential All Stars" for the Inaugural Ball. All the best New Orleans players and singers. Dr. John, Wynton Marsalis, Fats Domino, The Neville Brothers, Harry Connick Jr. They open with Dr. John singing "Such a Night"... the great musical soul of America bringing it all back home... America gets her Mojo back... New Orleans rises and so does everyone...
It would say so much, and be the best music anybody ever heard.
President Obama will get some good things done if he runs his administration as well as he has run his campaign. Sure, there's a difference between campaigning and governing, but there's also considerable overlap. If you can organize a community and organize a campaign, then...
I do NOT expect Obama to behave like the radical socialist that McCain/FauxNews wanted everyone to think he is, but more like the liberal pragmatist that I think he actually is. He's a smart guy who can do some good, especially if we all stay involved and don't just say, "Well, I voted for him. I'm all done."
It's going to take a new Manhattan project to clean energy:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/09/opinion/09gore.html?pagewanted=1&_r=2&em
I am glad he brought up the Rand Report though, and I hope that he's right that Obama is aware of it. I have much higher hopes of curbing terrorism with law rather than war.
Put HALF the war effort money we've been spending into intelligence, lawyers, education, and protecting witnesses and the world would be a safer place in a matter of years.
No More Endless War Please.