bobbymcgill
Member
- Aug 23, 2008
- 92
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...
While Obama is surely better than the alternative, and a tremendous leap forward from the act of presidency committed on the world for the past eight years, don't be expecting miracles from the man.
As I sit here and conjecture on how this whole "Hope" thing will unfold, I am reminded of a bit of wisdom I picked up back at San Francisco State from my Black Politics professor, Robert C. Smith --who among several other books also compiled the Encyclopedia of African American Politics.
I used to enjoy sitting outside his office shooting the bull and bumming his disgusting menthol cigarettes. And to give you an idea of his persona: He once told me that the publishers of his Encyclopedia were giving him a hard time because he refused to include Rosa Parks.
His reason? "All she did was sit on a damned bus!"
At any rate, Professor Smith once said during a lecture that it doesn't matter who the president is or what color they are, they "must still govern from within the box" and that Blacks shouldn't expect monumental change just because "one of us is in the White House."
I think that applies to all change issued forth from the Oval Office. Quite simply, the American system was not designed for a rapid progress. So, I suggest you don't set your sights too high on the message of hope.
There is no doubt that our drawn out election process was designed for drastic rhetoric, and Obama nailed that every step of the way. But regardless of race or rhetoric, I look for the Obama honeymoon to end fairly quickly, as he gets to the task of governance in what looks to be a difficult road ahead. In other words, I don't expect too much.
As I liked to say back when I was cute and girls were far more interested in me: "I am not a hopeless romantic honey, I am a hopeful romantic."
Not bad advice as we awake to the much heralded, "Dawn of a new day."
Idle Wordship-The World We View - News and Commentary
While Obama is surely better than the alternative, and a tremendous leap forward from the act of presidency committed on the world for the past eight years, don't be expecting miracles from the man.
As I sit here and conjecture on how this whole "Hope" thing will unfold, I am reminded of a bit of wisdom I picked up back at San Francisco State from my Black Politics professor, Robert C. Smith --who among several other books also compiled the Encyclopedia of African American Politics.
I used to enjoy sitting outside his office shooting the bull and bumming his disgusting menthol cigarettes. And to give you an idea of his persona: He once told me that the publishers of his Encyclopedia were giving him a hard time because he refused to include Rosa Parks.
His reason? "All she did was sit on a damned bus!"
At any rate, Professor Smith once said during a lecture that it doesn't matter who the president is or what color they are, they "must still govern from within the box" and that Blacks shouldn't expect monumental change just because "one of us is in the White House."
I think that applies to all change issued forth from the Oval Office. Quite simply, the American system was not designed for a rapid progress. So, I suggest you don't set your sights too high on the message of hope.
There is no doubt that our drawn out election process was designed for drastic rhetoric, and Obama nailed that every step of the way. But regardless of race or rhetoric, I look for the Obama honeymoon to end fairly quickly, as he gets to the task of governance in what looks to be a difficult road ahead. In other words, I don't expect too much.
As I liked to say back when I was cute and girls were far more interested in me: "I am not a hopeless romantic honey, I am a hopeful romantic."
Not bad advice as we awake to the much heralded, "Dawn of a new day."
Idle Wordship-The World We View - News and Commentary
