The National Delusion -- Race in America

The ideas of race and racism have become a national delusion in America.  I was struck by this today when I read an article about a parade float in a Fourth of July parade over the weekend in which the "Obama Presidential Library" was depicted as an outhouse.  Nearly the entire discussion of the float was about whether or not it was "racist".  But think about it.  Is there anyone out there who doubts that similar things were done when Bush was president or even when Clinton was president?  Remember the people who told us that Clinton had ordered the death of Vince Foster because (1) Foster was having an affair with Hillary; (2) Foster was about to come clean on Whitewater; or (3) Foster was going to go public about Bill's various dalliances with women who were not his wife?  Those stories were not just floats in a small town parade; they were in media that made its way across the country.  And how about the constant posters, pictures and articles equating George Bush with Hitler?  Of course, there were also the other attacks that made Bush out to be an idiot who was completely controlled by Dick Cheney.  The point is that no one would call any of these attack on any of these presidents something done in "good taste".  They were silly and generally mean spirited.  The key, however, is that just because Obama is black, it does not make the same sort of attack into racism.

The big line when Obama was first elected was that America was becoming a post racial society.  But that can only happen if we get to the point where not everything that criticizes Obama is viewed as racist.  After all, the man has worked hard to earn our criticism.  He has managed to mess up both domestically and in foreign affairs.  If they wrote a treatise called "Obama's Successes in Office", it would be instantly recognized as the world's thinnest book.  That's called truth, not racism.