almost okay

My Dear Lyzako,

As much as I'd like to pretend that things are different, these days I find myself completely tapped out emotionally, my senses cruelly drained and my soul suddenly a black hole of absolute horrible nothingness.

Each day I witness the absurdity of life in modern-day America that is presently magnified by the glaring spotlight of a Presidential election which promises to be even more disappointing than when I stood in line for nearly an hour to vote for John Kerry four long years ago. I remember at the time being so sure that all of America was just as sick to death of that evil idiot George W. Bush as I was and that any clear-thinking individual would make the right decision to help us all move forward towards a brighter future, that I was foolish enough to have had real hope.

You see, despite my ongoing cynicism, I would truly like to feel good about being an American, feel proud of our American ideals and believe in our claim that we are on an ongoing mission to bring freedom and peace to the entire world. Most of all (and with considerable selfish concern, I'm afraid) I'd like to be able to earn a decent living, be left alone and feel positive about the direction in which Old Mother Earth is heading.

But I cannot.

I am no fortune teller, but I don't really need to be one in order to know that our next President will be John McCain. (Ironically, yours truly actually predicted that result two years ago.) In the likely event that the stupid old geezer doesn't survive his first term, that would make the 45th President of these United States none other than Sarah 'The Barracuda' Palin.

It's a difficult pill to swallow, but I've now resigned myself to the fact. And here is the reason why: If Barack Obama were Hillary Clinton, if he were John Edwards or even if he were Al Franken, he'd stand a better chance of being our next President than he does now. But Barack Obama is black. Yes, I know, African-American is the preferred term, but all over the south and in far too much of the north, east AND west, he is simply 'black', which to the vast majority of white America makes him unqualified.

And, to at least one Republican Congressman from Georgia - Rep. Lynn Westmoreland, it also makes him “uppity”. We all know what term follows that word, and it's not "Senator from Illinois".

So I've given up hope. There simply are not enough blue states to get the job done, and here in Michigan, where Kerry and Gore both resoundingly thumped George W., Obama is currently running neck-and-neck with John McCain.

If Barack Obama were white, preaching the same message of change as he is now, if his wife were blond and blue-eyed, his children freckled and rosy-cheeked, I dare say he'd be up fifteen points right now and the Republicans wouldn't even be close enough come November to have a snowball's chance in Hell of stealing this election like they have the past two.

But he's not.

And no matter what he says, no matter how sincere he is, no matter how good his ideas are, how inspirational a leader he may very well be... at the end of the day, he is simply 'black'.

I'm more than a little sad to report that in 2008, in America - in 'The Land of the Fucking FREE' for CRYIN' OUT LOUD!, the color of Barack Obama's skin STILL prevents him from being thought of as being 'qualified' to run for President by most white Americans while at the same time branding him as being 'uppity' for thinking that he is.

Morosely Yours,
Marty Sherman