Reader Submission: I Want a White President

From Frogmouth:

I want a white president.

There. I said it.

Of course, based on the treatment given to Allen West, Herman Cain and Condoleezza Rice et al, a black Republican would be okay, but better safe than sorry. And while it's setting the bar awfully low, I have no doubt any of them could do as good a job as Obama is doing.

It's no secret to anyone who knows me that I am not an Obama fan. Being from Chicago, I know what Chicago politicians are like. What Chicago politics are like. On top of all the other issues I have with Chicago Democrat Machine politicians in general, Obama is a White Sox fan. It's a Chicago thing. Jews and Muslims? Pffft! Hatfields and McCoys? Big Deal. Cubs fans/White Sox fans? Now THAT'S animosity.

I didn't like Mr. Obama as my representative in the Illinois Senate, even though (or maybe because) he didn't really do much besides vote "present". I didn't like him as a US Senator. For all his speechifying against Bush's policies while in the Illinois Senate, once he got into the US Senate he voted WITH the President an overwhelming majority of the time. Once he was given the nomination as the Democrat Party's candidate, I began trying to warn people about putting a Chicago politician in the highest office in the land. So I don't like him as President, either. Because, you know...racism.

I also didn't like Governor Rod Blagojevich...and he's a Cubs fan. I would speculate on the intricacies of Blago's attempted "I need to get paid" brokerage of the President-Elect's Senate seat, but I'd rather not get sued for libel, so you'll need to draw your own conclusions on who may have been co-conspirators in that little bit of Chicago quid pro quo.

So, here we have two different men whose politics I don't care for and yet if I criticize one of them it's racism. I don't get it. How is someone who treats everyone the same, based on their words and deeds acting out of racism? Bill Clinton, GHW Bush, Reagan, Carter, Ford, Nixon...I spoke negatively about them all. I even voted for a few of them. What's the one thing that they have in common? They all suffered the barbs of comedians, cartoonists and news media with no measurable outcry from that president's supporters. It comes with the job. Apparently only if you're white, though. If it's okay to speak negatively about a white President (even if you, yourself, aren't white), but not okay to posit the exact same criticisms of a black President, that's racism. Why is it acceptable to criticize persons only of the same ethnic makeup as oneself? The definition of racism is giving preference to one race over another. Telling a white man he can't criticize the President of the United States because he is a black man...is racism. I'm not even talking about using racial epithets such as were used extensively on Rice, Cain and others..."Uncle Tom" and "House Ni**a" being about the only ones I can mention in a family-friendly format. No, I'm talking about making fun of the 57 States remark. Or his mispronunciation of corpsman. Or his "Special Olympics" gaffe. And on and on and on.

Does anyone recall the glorious years between 2000 and 2008 when it was not only acceptable, it was de rigeur to criticize the man in the White House? Dissent, we were told, is patriotic. Or at least it WAS patriotic until some time in 2009. Around about the third week in January, as I recall. Never mind that you had disagreed with Bush's policies, if you complained about presidential policies after mid-January 2009 you were being not only UNpatriotic, you were a racist. And not only were his policies and actions as President subject to criticism and ridicule, but hateful things like calling him BusHitler or Chimpy or Shrubya were quite common and even acceptable. There was an animated cartoon series featuring unflattering characters based on the President and his Cabinet. Any slip of the tongue was fair game. Comedians and talk show hosts told Bush jokes with regularity. Some of them were even funny.

Anybody seen anything like that with our current President as its subject? Of course not. How many months were we into the Obama administration before you heard Leno or Letterman toss out a zinger? Because...racism! Regardless of their personal opinions of the President, it is their bread and butter to make fun of the man in the Oval Office. They held off as long as they could, indeed longer than they SHOULD HAVE done for fear of being branded racist.

Which is why I want to see a white guy back in the job. For the record, I dislike Romney only slightly less than I dislike Obama. He's not a Chicago machine hack or, as far as I know, a White Sox fan, so he gets a slight edge for that...but mostly I want him to win because if he gets the job, I'll be able to say "the President is an idiot" without it being labeled as hate speech. You just know the "Magic Underwear" meme is going to be a comedic gold mine.