No He Can't

No He Can't - by Anne Wortham

Fellow Americans,

Please know: I am black; I grew up in the segregated South. Most importantly, I am not race conscious. I do not require a black president to know that I am a person of worth, and that life is worth living. I do not require a black president to love the ideal of America.

I cannot join you in your celebration. I feel no elation. There is no smile on my face. I am not jumping with joy. There are no tears of triumph in my eyes. For such emotions and behavior to come from me, I would have to deny all that I know about the requirements of human survival – all that I know about the history of the United States of America , all that I know about American race relations, and all that I know about Barack Obama as a politician.
I would have to deny the nature of the "change" that Obama asserts has come to America .

I would have to pretend that individual liberty has no value for the success of a human life. I would have to evade your rejection of the slender reed of capitalism on which your success and mine depend. I would have to think it somehow rational that 94 percent of the 12 million blacks in this country voted for a man because he looks like them (that blacks are permitted to play the race card), and that they were joined by self-declared "progressive" whites who voted for him because he doesn't look like them.

I would have to wipe my mind clean of all that I know about the kind of people who have advised and taught Barack Obama and will fill posts in his administration – political intellectuals like my former colleagues at the Harvard University 's Kennedy School of Government.

I would have to believe that "fairness" is the equivalent of justice. I would have to believe that man who asks me to "go forward in a new spirit of service, in a new service of sacrifice" is speaking in my interest. I would have to accept the premise of a man that economic prosperity comes from the "bottom up," and who arrogantly believes that he can will it into existence by the use of government force. I would have to admire a man who thinks the standard of living of the masses can be improved by destroying the most productive and the generators of wealth.

Finally, Americans, I would have to erase from my consciousness the scene of 125,000 screaming, crying, cheering people in Grant Park, Chicago irrationally chanting "Yes We Can!" Finally, I would have to wipe all memory of all the times I have heard politicians, pundits, journalists, editorialists, bloggers and intellectuals declare that capitalism is dead – and no one, including especially Alan Greenspan, objected to their assumption that the particular version of the anti-capitalistic mentality that they want to replace with their own version of anti-capitalism is anything remotely equivalent to capitalism.

So you have made history, Americans. You and your children have elected a black man to the office of the president of the United States , the wounded giant of the world. The battle between John Wayne and Jane Fonda is over – and that Fonda won. Eugene McCarthy and George McGovern must be very happy men. Jimmie Carter, too. And the Kennedys have at last gotten their Kennedy look-a-like.

The self-righteous welfare statists in the suburbs can feel warm moments of satisfaction for having elected a black person. So, toast yourselves: 60s countercultural radicals, 80s yuppies and 90s bourgeois bohemians. Toast yourselves, Black America. Shout your glee Harvard, Princeton , Yale, Duke, Stanford, and Berkeley. You have elected not an individual who is qualified to be president, but a black man who, like the pragmatist Franklin Roosevelt, promises to –Do Something! You now have someone who has picked up the baton of Lyndon Johnson's Great Society.

But you have also foolishly traded your freedom and mine – what little there is left – for the chance to feel good. There is nothing in me that can share your happy obliviousness.


*Anne Wortham is Associate Professor of Sociology at Illinois State University and continuing Visiting Scholar at Stanford University 's Hoover Institution. She is a member of the American Sociological Association and the American Philosophical Association. She has been a John M. Olin Foundation Faculty Fellow, and honored as a Distinguished Alumni of the Year by the National Association for Equal Opportunity in Higher Education.

She has published numerous articles on the implications of individual rights for civil rights policy, and is currently writing a book on theories of social and cultural marginality. Recently, she has published articles on the significance of multiculturalism and Afrocentricism in education, the politics of victimization and the social and political impact of political correctness.

CIVICS 101 3rd GRADE

We are worried about "the cow" when it is all about the "Ice Cream".
The most eye-opening civics lesson I ever had was while teaching third grade this year. The Presidential election was heating up, and some of the children showed an interest.

I decided we would have an election for a class president. We would choose our nominees. They would make a campaign speech and the class would vote. To simplify the process, candidates were nominated by other class members. We discussed what kinds of characteristics these students should have. We got many nominations and from those, Jamie and Olivia were picked to run for the top spot. The class had done a great job in their selectio ns. Both candidates were good kids. I thought Jamie might have an advantage because he got lots of parental support. I had never seen Olivia's mother. The day a rrived when they were to make their speeches. Jamie went first. He had specific ideas about how to make our class a better place. He ended by promising to do his very best. Everyone applauded. He sat down and Olivia came to the podium. Her speech was concise. She said, "If you will vote for me, I will give you ice cream." She sat down. The class went wild. "Yes! Yes! We want ice cream."She surely would say more... She did not have to. A discussion followed. How did she plan to pay for the ice cream? She wasn't sure. Would her parents buy it or would the class pay for it. She didn't know. The class really didn't care. All they were thinking about was ice cream. Jamie was forgotten. Olivia won by a landslide.

Every time Barack Obama opens his mouth, he offers ice cream, Fifty two percent of the people react like nine year olds. They want ice cream. The other forty eight percent know they're going to have to feed the cow AND clean up the mess.

(From a teacher in the Nashville area; shared with me by a friend.)

"More boos than balls"

http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=86743

The following is my response to the article found at the link above:

Amen and Amen! I praise Ann for the steadfastness to stand for what she knows is right and for the courage to share the truth with others. I pray the Obama Presidency will usher in a new leader in just four years as Carter's Presidency ushered in the Reagan era. This country needs a leader that will not embrace or condone behaviors exhibited at this week's Inauguration. Behaviors such as blatant racism, disrespect for both the exiting President and his family, disrespect for Pastor Warren, and disrespect for our country. Not only does Obama embrace and condone such behaviors, he participates and contributes the same damaging attitude. All the while, he preaches unity and tolerance. The atmosphere at the 2009 US Presidential Inauguration was that of division and hatred. Until we are able to open the eyes of the next generation, until we are able to open the eyes of the left wing liberals, until we are able to unite as conservatives and make our presence known and heard, we will continue on this current path and our foundation as a nation will continue to crumble. May the Lord be with us and help us through the next four years and the many years to follow. My only peace of mind comes from my faith and for that I am grateful beyond words. I pray God works in President Obama's heart as well as in the hearts of others that so obviously hate God and anyone who aligns themselves with God.

Breath Turns Into Vapor

Though another year has come and gone
And all are older still
I thank God for His many blessings
Yet still long to know His will.

Each grain of sand falls just as before
Though the space is narrow
Honestly, I feel a great deal less
Than the ever-eyed sparrow.

As age envelopes my mind and body
Life's memories begin to taper
Strivings and plans matter not
As breath turns into vapor.

~ L. Bell (2009)

Auld Lang Syne

Should auld acquaintance be forgot,and never brought to mind? Should auld acquaintance be forgot and days of auld lang syne?
For auld lang syne, my dear, For auld lang syne, We'll take a cup o' kindness yet For auld lang syne
We twa hae run aboot the braesAnd pou'd the gowans fine; we've wander'd mony a weary footSin' auld lang syne
We two hae paidled i' the burn,Frae mornin' sun till dine; But seas between us braid hae roar'd Sin' auld lang syne
And here's a hand, my trusty friend, And gie's a hand o' thine; We'll take a cup o' kindness yet For auld lang syne
Should auld acquaintance be forgot,and never brought to mind? Should auld acquaintance be forgot and days of auld lang syne?
For auld lang syne, my dear, For auld lang syne, We'll take a cup o' kindness yet For auld lang syne.

~ Robert Burns (c. 1700's)