As Obama’s election to the presidency became inevitable, so did the inevitability that the right-wingers would grasp at any straw – no matter how slim, and regardless of how futile the act – to explain, and hopefully dismiss, the fact that his ascendancy to the nation’s highest office is not a matter of voter preference, but simply a perfect storm of other factors.
It’s the money, they say; it’s white guilt, it’s the black voting block determined to close ranks and stick with their own. It’s the celebrity, the complicity of the media; it’s the baseless adoration, the mindlessness of those whose votes will be charmed by the eloquence, rather than won over by any substance that might linger behind the words.
But yet again, the Republicans and their minions – their smarmy pundits, their hate-mongering devotees – can be congratulated for doing what they do best: missing the point entirely.
For the past eight years, they seem to have existed on another planet, a place where greed and corruption can thrive while escaping notice, a place where our system of justice belongs only to the highest bidders, a place where encouraging the masses to complacently accept what has long been held by decent people to be unacceptable is a way of going along to get along, morality and compassion for others be damned.
Despite all of the current (and downright pitiable) rhetoric, the truth is that on their best day, the Republican Party could not have sired a son like Barrack Obama, no less raised him to manhood.
In the midst of their hatred and bigotry, they could not have nurtured his sense of equality, nor his hunger for true justice – not for the few, but for all. In their desperate need to cling to ignorance, they could not have taught him to become a seeker of the truth, a man whose moral compass is a reality rather than a meaningless talking point to be trotted out when convenient.
In their constant quest for power and money, they could not have instilled a fervent desire for peace and understanding that transcends personal ambition, or the fleeting satisfaction of political gain.
In their tireless efforts to constantly grab at what is best for themselves, they could not have produced a man whose empathy for his fellow citizen and world neighbor could lead to global understanding, and a true sense of all of us being God’s children regardless of faith, race, color or financial means.
In their nightmarish narrowness of mind, they could not have given the world a man of such vision, such powerful dreams, and the sense of purpose that will strive to see those visions come to fruition, and those dreams become reality.
Barrack Hussein Obama will be the next President of the United States. And that is not a fluke – nor is it the result of a more competent campaign strategy, more compelling ads, more money spent, or more people of a certain type being persuaded to come to the aid of one of their own.
It will be the result of decent Americans wanting to feel decent again, wanting to rid themselves and their country of the kinds of people who feast on hate and propagate it, the kinds of people who promote greed as somehow being something to be valued and admired, the kinds of people who make up excuses for the use of torture, for war-for-profit, for watching unmoved while their fellow men are annihilated for political purpose or reduced to living hand-to-mouth for the sake of a few more dollars of profit in someone’s pocket.
Barrack Obama – the next President of our nation – is uniquely American, and uniquely a Democrat. He is not the BEST of us, but the best OF us – and we Democrats will proudly recognize him as our own as he swears to uphold the Constitution and the responsibilities of his office.
And as he does so, remember this: He will have been elected not because he’s the best black man for the job, or even the best man for the job. He will have been elected because he is the best man any of us have seen in a long time – and if you Republicans have ever had a man to offer who even comes close to his abilities, we’ve all yet to see him.
