The 44th President of the United States of America

Communist

Socialist

Terrorist

That One

Unpatriotic

Naive

Celebrity

Barack Obama is the President of the United States of America.  It will take some time and reflection to put that sentence into full consciousness.  A Black man… with a middle eastern-sounding name… the product of an interracial union.  A political newcomer.   A neophyte who overcame two of the most powerful names in U.S. political history.  This is the way it had to happen… this is the time it had to happen… this is the person to make it happen.

Two years ago we did not think this outcome was possible.  Twenty years ago we had a Black nominee for President but his candidacy was seen as largely symbolic.  Two hundred years ago this country had just stopped the sanctioned slave trade.  Two months from now we will swear in a Black President.  Two hundred years from now this moment will still be acknowledged.

This election is transitional but the Barack Obama administration has the potential to be transformational.  It’s all there… we are poised to change the fundamental relationship many citizens have with this country.  We have the potential to engage tens of millions of people who have always been here but were “passing through”… disconnected from the country… left out of the dream… unaccounted for in the halls of power… below the threshold of representation.  

And The Winner Is…

If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em – right?  My last post lamented the death of the surprise, well I’m getting in on the fun.  So we here at the Darkest Berry are prepared to call the Presidential Race.  That’s right, we know the winner.  We have the scoop, the get, the low, the deal… we know what’s up, what’s really good.  Wanna know our next President more than 24 hours early??   

“Surprise!” [No, Not Really...]

You know what I miss?  Being surprised… but, see I gave it away with the title… and that’s actually what I’m talking about.  In our gotta-be-first-to-break-the-story world there are an army of folks who make it their business to guarantee you won’t ever be surprised.  Think of the last time you were truly surprised by some development in the news, and not just hard news; the same is true in sports and entertainment. 

Hey Sarah, Thanks!

I’ve been on the road so time has been at a premium but it looks like my favorite chillbilly family has provided all the material I need [again!].  I know what you’re thinking but no, not the picture of adorable little Piper telling some little boy that he’s number 1 [I thought her specialty was redneck hair products a.k.a. spit].  No, it was mom’s time to step up to the plate [again!] and reassure the America people that she is the most fit and qualified member of the GOP to support this nation from the number 2 position.   

Semantics [Or Something Else]

At the risk of turning Darkest Berry into a strictly political blog, I drag my keyboard through the muck and mire of Presidential politics again [I gotta get out of the house more so I'll have something else to talk about.] 

I was struck by John McCalin getting all frothy about how “angry” voters are about everything from “the mess on Wall Street… to “the failure of leadership.”  Now I fancy myself a bit of a wordsmith but I guess someone needs to explain the difference between “angry” and “bitter”.  Six months ago Obama used the word “bitter” to describe how some voters felt about economic disparities and the press and the public reacted like he said the folks in PA were ”cracka ass redneck crackas.”  McCain dropped “angry” at least three times and not so much as a ripple.  Funny things is they are both right… one was demonized, one was ignored.