"Here’s To Obama"

By Clint Cox

I, along with millions of other Americans, watched the inauguration of our 44th President this past Tuesday. All Presidential inaugurations are history makers, but this one had the added flavor of our nation’s first African America taking the oath of office as President.

I will confess that I did not vote for Obama. My not voting for him had nothing to do with the color of his skin and I am offended when folks hint or outright state that not voting for him had to do with his race. I did not vote for him because I generally do not agree with most of the positions taken by the National Democratic Party, from which he was nominated.

And this opposition to the National Democratic Party platform didn’t start just recently. In fact, in the eight Presidential elections that I have been privileged to vote in, I have voted for the Republican nominee every single time. So the seven previous times I voted for the Republican nominee had nothing to do with race, and this last time did not either.

All that said, I watched the history making inauguration and was proud that our country has advanced to the point that an African American can be elected. It demonstrates that much improvement in equality for all persons has been made. For all the greatness of our country’s early achievements and our founding father’s proclamations of equality, our government’s establishing the institution of slavery and their abominable treatment of the Native Americans are major moral failures of our early forefathers.

I believe the consequences of these major moral failures are still with us today in the form of strained race relations. Race relations are significantly better than they used to be, but let a controversial race relations issue arise and watch how quickly it becomes heated and divisive. But here’s the reality. There are still some white folks who dislike black folks simply because of the color of their skin (they probably didn’t vote for Obama). But there are also some black folks who dislike white folks, simply because of the color of their skin (they probably did vote for Obama). Not voting for him solely because of his race is wrong and voting for him solely because of his race is wrong. Racial prejudices are a two way street and neither are okay. I suspect both sides of that street must displease our God and creator immensely.

I don’t normally venture into politics in my column but I said all the above to say this. Even though I did not vote for Obama he is now "our" President and we should hope he becomes the most successful President in our history. Our nation faces difficult times and we need him to succeed. Hoping he fails is the wrong way to show your American pride. So "Simply Put" here is to Obama, our new President. God Bless him and America.

From the front porch: Uncle Bob said some folks wear their halos much too tight.