I Got Sucked In

Despite all my previous assertions to the contrary I got sucked in this morning and actually watched the inauguration proceedings (I think "inauguration" needs more u's and a's in it), or rather I watched the pre-game show. I saw the exciting, thrill-a-minute, limo ride featuring The Great Chosen One and that other guy, whatshisname. I was on the edge of my seat as they flew along at an impressive 8 miles an hour en route to the Capitol. I literally gripped my chair as they slowed to a stop and parked under the Capitol stairs. I almost crapped my pants in joy when Sandra Day O'Connor walked out and down the red carpet. Jimmy and Rosalind Carter got a similar reaction out of me. And when I saw the great wife of our chosen leader, a woman greater than Mother Theresa and the Dalai Lama put together, in all her gold brocade glory, I actually burst into tears and thought, "Now I can die." I watched old lady whatsherface introduce Obama and then I could watch no more.

Really, though, let's talk about Obama and his choice to "model" his self after Abraham Lincoln. Because we were all lied to in elementary school, most Americans live under the mistaken notion that Lincoln was a benevolent abolitionist who believed in equal rights for all. In fact, Lincoln did NOT believe that the black man was equal to the white man. He thought of them almost as helpless and simple folk who were far less intelligent than the average white man. Lincoln's decision to free the slaves was not motivated by an overwhelming sense of humanity, but by the knowledge that freeing the slaves would not only cripple the south's economy, but tear apart their social structures and greatly weaken their armies. It was almost a last resort. Let me also point out that the Emancipation Proclamation only freed the slaves living in the Confederate States. It didn't even free slaves in southern states which were already under Union control. All African-Americans were not officially freed from enslavement until the Thirteenth Amendment was ratified, nearly three years later.

Now, I'm not saying that the Emancipation Proclamation wasn't a great thing. It was a good first step in the long battle for equal rights. I'm not saying Lincoln didn't play a great part in the battle. He did. I'm just saying, that he was no Mahatma Gandhi. His motives were not pure. Therefore, I think it is a bit laughable that Obama is choosing to identify so much with Lincoln. It is almost universally accepted among historians that Lincoln, although a very enlightened man, was a racist.

All that said, at the risk of being totally flamed, I would like to say that I like ONE and only ONE thing about Obama. Actually, it isn't really about Obama, but about what Obama may represent. I hope that having him in office will do something to change the self-esteem of young black kids everywhere. Maybe there will be less of a sense of oppression within the African-American community. Obama himself is still the spawn of Satan and a dirty, lying socialist. If he does something I like I hope that I can put my total and complete hatred for the commie aside and admit it. I'm not holding my breath, though.

That's my two cents.