A Lovely Fairy Tale

by Charles Karel Bouley II

Maybe it’s me. Maybe I’m the racist. Because I’m not excited about the results of the Iowa Caucuses. Yes, Obama beat Hillary; he beat Edwards; Edwards beat Hillary; Obama won a state that is 91.7 percent white, according to their Wikipedia entry. Obviously race won’t be — or isn’t — an issue in the campaign, so he’s electable, right? It’s obvious. Iowa proves it.

Well, I still don’t buy it. And I think Republicans — more than Democrats — want me to.

2004 frightened me. Here we had two intelligent, well-spoken men running against an unpopular idiot running an unpopular war. We had to win, right? Well, we didn’t. Kerry was swiftboated right out of the White House. The Republican war machine is vicious, be that war in Iraq or on the campaign trail. They like to win.

So, call me crazy, but I can only imagine how many Southern Baptist, or good, God-fearing white Americans in the fly-over states are going to get a campaign ad that has “Barack Hussein Obama” written on it every time, perhaps with a quote taken out of context from his church that says he must have a non-negotiable commitment to Africa, or details of his father atheism, his past drug use, his ironic middle name, his black skin or his lack of real foreign policy experience. Maybe it’s just me, but the yet-to-be-discovered Karl Rove of 2008 will have a field day with that kind of material. And even though people know they shouldn’t vote against him because he’s black, or because his middle name is Hussein, or because he lived once in the same city as a Madrassa, or because he was honest about growing up or, or, or … well, Obama gives them too many outs to channel their racism as something else. “Oh, it’s not that he’s black, it’s that we don’t like (insert phrase here).” But under it all, to many, it’s still that he’s black.

Face it: White America’s relationship with black America is tenuous at best. Police do profile blacks, as do many others; often black Americans are paid less for the same jobs. It’s been proven their very names may prevent them from getting jobs. So many more of their youth are put in jail than their white counterparts. Poverty has a darker face in most areas—on and on I could go. We haven’t gotten that quite right yet. And until we do, until equality is commonplace, I’m just not sure that when it comes down to the privacy of a voting booth, a majority of Americans will vote for Barack Hussein Obama. And given the scare of 2004, well, I don’t want to shut my ears and mouth and wake up with the Pastor in Chief, the Mighty Rev. Huckabee—a man who doesn’t believe in evolution, etc. Hillary, on her worst day, is better than that.

So wake up, Democrats, and smell the real America. And don’t give me “Iowa is the real America.” It isn’t. Poke your head out of politically correct America and see your country and its people for who they are. They are not color blind, not yet, not enough, not enough to risk losing the White House in the most important election in decades. Then add the possibility that he might have once read the Quran, or gone to a school that taught it. Black and possibly Muslim? Let the Swiftboaters begin!

Yes, Barack should be able to win or lose based on his record, his qualifications and his morals. But those have little to do with elections. And in a national election, they’ll rip him apart with the easiest of things—the race card. Then the religion card. Then the drug card. Then … well, you get it.

So, if you want a break from the Washington dynasties, support John Edwards (with Obama as VP?) If you want someone that will be able to trample the Republicans with their own artillery, vote for Hillary. If you want to live in a world where the only thing that matters is the quality of a man or woman and not their color, religious beliefs, hell, even their name, then vote for Barack Hussein Obama. You’ll feel better, but your country will be run by Republicans for another four to eight years.

After which point, elections might be irrelevant—or outlawed—altogether in the name of national security. Who can say?