Barack Obama will be the next President of the United States.  I wish him well.  I predicted his election nearly two years ago (See “My Crystal Ball” from December 2006) in this blog, so I’m not surprised that he won.  I didn’t vote for Obama because his rhetoric was decidedly socialist, nor did I vote for John McCain.  If the republicans actually stood for freedom and free markets, McCain might have had a chance of getting my vote, but Republicans stand for nothing anymore.  I voted for candidates seeking many political offices on November 4th, but didn’t make any checkmarks where it said “President of the United States”.

I wish Obama the best during his Presidency.  My hope is that his socialist rhetoric during the campaign was a disguise to get traditional democrats to the polls, and that his policies will be economically rational.  Of course, that would mean lower, not higher taxes.  It would mean market wages, not union protectionism.  It would mean educational vouchers, not more money for public schools run by teachers unions.  Why am I trying to fool myself?  Barack’s a socialist!

This is not to suggest that the Bush administration has done any favors for free market capitalism.  On the contrary, the Bush republican Marxists have commenced their selective “bailout” of the banking and insurance industries.  The auto companies have already started their quest for $50 billion of taxpayer money.  Next will be the homebuilders, the textile manufacturers, and a litany of other industries.  Government has got to say no and say it quickly before we become a banana republic.  I hope Obama knows this, but he probably doesn’t have a clue.

I can think of two immediate benefits of an Obama presidency, regardless of how much or little he achieves while in office.  First, the image of the United States, as viewed by citizens of other countries, is greatly enhanced.  Second, there is a good chance that Obama’s election will reverse a sad, self inflicted, moral and economic erosion of black culture in the United States.

Regarding the first benefit, I’ve never lost any sleep worrying about the fact that some guy in France, or Somalia, or Venezuela hates the United States.  People all over the world hate us; mostly out of envy.  However, the Bush administration’s Iraq War and the “detaining” of hundreds of prisoners at Guantanamo without trial have done nothing to enhance our reputation as a just and fair nation.  Obama’s election will buy us a temporary “honeymoon” with foreign governments, both friendly and hostile.  That’s not a bad thing if it leads to more foreign cooperation, including more help in Afghanistan.

Regarding the second benefit, during the huge election night celebration in Chicago’s Grant Park, cameras focused on the tearful face of Jessie Jackson.  I don’t know if Jackson was crying because he wasn’t elected, or because he was happy for Obama.  I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt and assume that it was the latter.  While the election of Obama ushered in an historic event for our nation and for black people, it will also usher out an entire generation of “black victim” propaganda con artists, orchestrated by people like Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton.

Obama didn’t get to the highest office in this land by talking trash and complaining that he had been held back by white men.  He got there by taking his studies seriously and by moving beyond the “I’m a victim, do something for me” mentality.

Martin Luther King and other civil rights leaders fought for the opportunity of black citizens to achieve success through education.  The generation after King, the Jesse Jackson generation, squandered King’s legacy by (1) making excuses for the breakdown of the black family, (2) fostering an environment where black children criticize their peers who do well in public schools, and (3) otherwise teaching black people that slavery has made them victims, forever entitled to government pity and handouts.   When prominent blacks like Bill Cosby and National Public Radio’s Juan Williams exposed the real reasons for the breakdown of black culture in the United States, they were criticized by Jackson, Sharpton, and others who have made their living spreading the gospel of black victimization.

Both Bill Cosby and Barack Obama know that education, along with acceptance of personal responsibility, are the keys to black prosperity in the United States.  I’m not going to say that the last bigot in the USA is dead, but with the election of Barak Obama, once and for all, no black man will be able to drag out the slavery and discrimination card as an excuse for his lack of personal success.  To such protests will come the inevitable reply; “Barack Obama, a black man, is President of the United States.  What’s your excuse?”

I conclude this blog pleasantly with a story about my recent visit to the Winona, Minnesota Amtrak station.  There were a couple of elderly black ladies in there, waiting for the train to Chicago.  Because almost no black people live in Winona, I assumed they lived in Chicago.  I asked them what they thought about the presidential election.  One of them beamed from ear to ear as she said, “Barack Obama; he’s MY President!”  I smiled, looked her right in the eye and said to her, “Hon…he’s my President too!”