The moment of truth has finally arrived! At 12PM eastern time on the steps of the capital building, Barack Obama will become the 44th President of The United States Of America. As an African-American I am filled with pride at this moment, I couldn’t even sleep in anticipation of this historic once-in-a-lifetime event. This is one of those defining moments in history that shows America as great country it is. Personally, I really thought there would be a woman President before there was an African-American President.
The old guard is rapidly fading into the background and America is evolving. People are starting to realize that judging a person’s character and capabilities by the the color of his or her skin is wrong. The vast economic problems we face today transcend race and the American people voted as such. People are looking for the person who will do the job and help relieve the enormous economic burden that has been placed on all of us. Barack Obama appealed to the masses and he was heard. Now his actions must follow his words. I didn’t vote for Obama because of his color. I voted for him because I thought he could deliver on most of his promises. I voted for him because America needs a change and I voted for him because he is brilliant!
Today, after all the pomp and circumstance is done the fact remains that President Obama has a difficult job to do. For ALL of our sakes he has to successful. Regardless of party affiliation we all face a crisis that has not been seen since our grandparents were youngsters. We have to rally around our leader and help him to do the best job that he can. I’m an ardent Obama supporter and I’m sure at some point I won’t agree with some of his decisions, but as long as he has a clear vision, a sound agenda, and competent plan he’ll have my support. He will have to make hard decisions that will call for sacrifices by all but it will be worthwhile if we can get America back on it’s feet.
Change has come to America and we must embrace it. I’m not just talking about a change in the color of our President I’m talking about a shift in philosophy that will be beneficial to all Americans. I’m talking about reasonable education costs, affordable health care for all, decent paying jobs, less dependency on foreign oil, less outsourcing of jobs, sensible foreign policy that does not position us as the world police etc. I have very realistic expectations. President Obama won’t be able to get all these things done. Invariably, he will encounter resistance because, in general, people are resistant to change. Change make us uncomfortable. Most of us welcome routine. But, at this juncture, America has to change because the world is changing. We must adapt, also, if we want to remain the preeminent super power.
Right now, as I type this post, Ray Charles’ rendition of “America The Beautiful” keeps playing in my head. “Oh beautiful, for spacious skies, for amber waves of grain…” (we all know the rest sing it for me one time). To me this song represents what America is all about. Today let’s welcome President Obama. Let’s savor this historic moment and let’s celebrate the greatness of this country. But after that, let’s all get to work. There’s a job to be done and we each can contribute in our own way.
The New York Post - All The News That’s Not Fit To Print!
Monday, February 23rd, 2009I used to buy the New York Post every now and then, but it was always for the sports section. Over the many my many years residing in New York I found that the Post was the paper most likely to sensationalize stories and just print plain rubbish. I give the National Enquirer and The Star more journalistic props than the Post! Now that they have allowed the clearly racist cartoon showing two white officer gunning down a chimp and the caption saying ”They’ll have to find someone else to write the next stimulus bill,” I will not buy the Post again!
Everyone knows who that President Obama was pushing the stimulus in an attempt to jump start our ailing economy. So obviously this is a thinly veiled reference referring to him. President Obama has probably worked harder in his first month of office than any other President in US history. George Bush has left a 1.3 TRILLION DOLLAR deficit in his wake and yet the Republicans continue to rail at the Obama plan. Put politics aside for a change and try and help OUR President get the job done. If the economy crashes we are ALL going to suffer grave consequences. All the inflammatory rhetoric is just uncalled for. How is knocking the stimulus going to get us anywhere, especially when the previous administration has left us and economic disaster. All I hear from the Republicans is tax cut, tax cut, tax cut, what else can be done?! Tax cuts for the rich certainly aren’t helping me.
The Post generally supports Republicans, which is not a problem, they have a right to represent their constituency, but they should find a more civilized way to vent any displeasure with the stimulus. Intelligent discourse is what will help us figure out this problem, not blatantly racist cartoons disparging the leader of our great country. Some people say the cartoon doesn’t mention President Obama by name, all I have to say to that you don’t have to be a rocket scientist to understand the reference. If you can’t see a problem with the cartoon take off the blinders and look at it objectively.
While the Post has apologized they are still trying to gloss over the issue by saying the cartoon was referring to congress. Oh really?! Why didn’t it say in the caption?! And what is up with the “Beware of Dog” sign on the pole in the cartoon?! Why use a chimp in the first place?! I know there is story about the chimp that was shot dead for attacking a woman and ripping off her face has been all over the news. It is very insensitive to draw a reference from that story where the woman was badly injured and try to link it to the stimulus bill.
Senator Eric Adams burned a copy of the Post as a symbol of the extreme outrage in the community over the cartoon incident. Personally, I would have just kept things simple and enthuse people to do some good for the environment and use the Post to clean up excrament after their animals and then throw it in the garbage where it belongs. After all it’s all the news that’s not fit to print.
Tags: Barack Obama + chimp cartoon, chimp cartoon, Economic stimulus package + chimp cartoon, New York Post chimp cartoon, Senator Eric Adams, stimulus bill
Posted in Barack Obama, New York City News, Social Commentary, US Politics | 3 Comments »