Laurence H. Tribe, Professor of constitutional law at Harvard, calls Barack Obama "the most impressive student" he has ever taught (possibly next only to Michelle Obama).
The student exceeds the master, eh? We shall see...Barack Obama's unique ability to explain and to motivate, coupled with his signature ability to listen and to learn, and linked with the calm that marked his nearly flawless campaign, will serve him--and all of us--well as we grapple with as daunting a set of problems as the nation has faced in three-quarters of a century. It is of course true that only time will tell just how successful this brave, brilliant and caring man will be in charting a new course for the country, something that will depend only partly on decisions that Obama will make as president.
Obama's victory was everyone's victory, not a "black thing," opines Elizabeth Wurtzel
Of course, Mr. Obama's election to the highest office in the nation is a particular party for the African-American community -- only a moron would miss that point -- but why leave the rest of us out? Anyone still thinking straight after this heady occasion knows that Mr. Obama is to be our next president in spite of race, not because of it. The winner of this contest may finally be Martin Luther King Jr., whose dream is at last realized: We judged Mr. Obama not by the color of his skin, but by the content of his character. Why minimize the wonder of that by making this into a black thing?If anything, I guess, Obama's victory was the white majority's victory over a collective demon-- a triumph over a mental illness once pandemic in America, now hopefully on the way to extinction, like polio or malaria or some other debilitating disease. Blacks and "people of colour" should note the transformation, but remember and beware the symptoms, racism being truly an equal opportunity affliction.
10 comments:
...only time will tell just how successful this brave, brilliant and caring man will be in charting a new course for the country, something that will depend only partly on decisions that Obama will make as president.
Eh? But Mr Tribe, charting a new course for the country depends *entirely* on decisions Mr. Obama makes as president. That's why he was elected by an overwhelming majority.
let's just say the Obama is the best choice Amweica could have made at a most difficult time in her history. The primaries and then the election was a good weaning process.
"Will we stand for the human rights of others?
For the dissident in Burma,
For persecuted blogger in Iran,
Or the voter in Zimbabwe?
Will we say "never again" in Darfur?
We are a people of improbable hope.
With an eye toward the future,
With resolve in our hearts,
Let’s answer our destiny
Let's remake the world again!"
Barack Obama
I am not certain about President-Elect Obama. However, I am certain about one thing and that is if he lost the election there would be no thought of character but howls of racism and what a racist nation ours is.
We judged Mr. Obama not by the color of his skin, but by the content of his character.
As a non-supporter of Obama, I have accepted his ascendancy and sincerely hopes that he does not fail badly as a president.
But do we have to elevate our regard of him as some kind of hero worship?
Take the above statement regarding his character. Maybe now the MSM should visit that issue, for the first time, to find out if indeed he was elected for his character. Especially because new media tried to make his character, or lack of it, as a campaign issue, but to no avail and without much success.
amadeo,
The point is that this is NOT Barack Obama's accomplishment but that of a people accused of racism showing that they can transcend a barrier, an invisible line in the sand. That barrier is no more. That line has been crossed. There is no hero worship here for Barack Obama.
marcus,
that isn't what happened because he was elected President, so it is entirely hypothetical what people would have said or not said if he had lost.. Ought we not to be happy that what must be said is the opposite: that the American People are NOT racist? Whether we care about it or not, this certainly goes a long way to proving it to those in the world who were skeptical of it, both in and out of America.
It speaks not only to blacks, because this is not a black victory as such, but to all people of color. It is full redemption of an old promise from 1776.
DJB,
I look forward to years in the opposition being accused of racism based solely on racism.
Now, MAYBE that fear is incorrect (highly doubtful), but I am plenty used to those on the left knee-jerkingly calling me racist just because of my political beliefs/affiliations. Now, that a politician who just happens to be black is going to be president that club will be pulled out even more frequently. "Oh, don't support giving the UAE to Iran? You racist!" (btw, that is hyperbole and not something I believe will come to pass).
In my mind what I stated is NOT hypothetical but extension of a routine pattern as natural as rabbit breeding. Come on DJB, you lived over here, you know how there are people who view every ill of the Black community as a direct result of current racism (guess what? that is not going to change). You know how black politicians & officials with an R next to their name are not treated anywhere near as reverentially as Barack Obama in fact, they are dismissed as Uncle Toms.
I am not concerned about what color of skin the president-elect has, yeah huzzah for him, but as the Reverend King said - lets look at the content of his character and when I look at that content, I do not like it, I do not like the policies he and his colleagues bring to the table.
That being said, my side lost, that is the nature of this game. I accept the results and on January 20 he will be my president. I will refrain from coming down with ODS, but I will not roll for him and his policies.
Whoops, munged up the opening paragraph.
It should state:
I look forward to years in the opposition being accused of racism based solely on my opposition.
Dean:
Methinks you stretch the realities a bit.
For this election cycle, it was for the Democrats to lose. The Republicans were counted out long before Nov 4th – maybe even before 2006. Polls showed any generic Democrat could have trounced any of the Republicans’ heavies.
The massive economic meltdown provided the last nail on the coffin. Remember McCain led but once, just once by as much as 5 %, and it was after the Palin nomination. The economic meltdown overhauled all that and it was downhill for McCain all the way.
As for hero-worship elevation, you have to be here to feel that in the air. Many voters did not (and do not) even know why they were voting for him. Definitely not his avowed policies or politics. He ran like a real Republican and not as a Democrat. After his primaries, he moved most of his positions to the center, without any repercussions from MSM, who are now accepting that they were in the tank with and for him.
So we do accept him as our President, but for the right and factual reasons.
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