Was America really ready for a black president?

Poor, delusional Lydia - the author of this letter. Before you wonder, Lydia is black and still supports Obama (oi, what a surprise!). She questions why everyone is jumping ship on a man who has integrity and compassion (nearly choked on that one)! Lydia, Lydia, where do I start? Ok - off the top of my head: Maybe, the first clue came when he said that he would be "transparent" when he negotiated his health care bill. Instead, he kept behind closed doors and didn't want anyone to find out what was in it until after it was passed. Maybe it's because he's surrounded himself with extreme communist Czar's who run the country for him. Maybe it's because he's bowed to every anti-American nation on earth and trashed your country's reputation abroad. Maybe it's because the unemployment figure has reached over 10% on his watch, after he jumped up and down for congress to pass his gigantic stimulus package so that unemployment wouldn't reach 8% - and now to cap it all, he's printing money like there's no tomorrow. Maybe it's because he's added $3trillion to the deficit in 2 years. Maybe it's because he spends more time playing golf and basketball than he does actually running the country. Maybe it's because he implemented legal proceedings against Arizona who only wanted to implement and uphold the law of the land. Maybe it's because people didn't expect the promised Hope 'n Change to be radical fundamental change. Maybe it's because citizens are now being treated as enemies of the state and get felt-up by the government when they want to fly somewhere. Maybe it's because all he's done for the last 2 years is blame Bush for all his problems. Is that enough for now?

TWENTY-five months ago, I watched in awe as people of all colors stood shoulder to shoulder in solidarity. Some even wept with joy. The moment was Nov. 4, 2008, the night our 44th president, Barack Obama, was elected. Our first black president!


The euphoria I felt was unexplainable. America had spoken - enough of the current administration, enough of the rich getting richer, and no one giving a hoot about the poor. Enough of industries drying up, enough of the war - and enough of George Bush!

I remember sometime in 2007, sitting in the doctor's office waiting for my annual physical, browsing through a magazine. On the cover was the picture of a handsome young man whom I'd never heard of with one of the most interesting names I'd ever heard - Barack Obama, a fresh new face in the politics. But even then I possessed skepticism that the U.S. would actually elect a black president.

Now, post-Nov. 4, everyone appears to have jumped ship. Obama has two more years until the next election, and people have already written him off as a failure because, amazingly, he didn't turn out to be the messiah they'd expected.

So since there seems to be very few voices espousing our president, I've decided to be at least one saying, People, it's not over yet!

I'm such a supporter of Obama because he leads with integrity and compassion. In simple terms, he's a good man, and also a great man. As my dad once said, a special man, and not because he's African-American. He could've been Kermit the Frog-green, and I'd say the same thing.

When I hear the tea party scream about wanting their country back because this man dared to try to help the poor with no health insurance by making it the government's responsibility, I want to puke. But forgive me, I'm a middle-class black woman trying to survive in this Yet to Be United States, as Maya Angelou once poignantly said. I understand how creating a universal-health-care system would certainly cost big business real money, but if it's a choice between their profits or my 87-year-old Nanna getting a much-needed procedure, I think I'm going to go with door No. 2, Monty!

Not one tea, coffee or cookie party complained when we lost our country to war, poverty, unemployment, market crashes and people dying in New Orleans because no government official, including Bush, thought it was his job to tell a National Guard truck to roll a mile to give food, water and supplies to sick, hurt and dying people at the Superdome. So please spare me the We Want Our Country Back mantra.

Yes, there have been some missteps, but I respect and admire a man who takes responsibility for whatever hand he may have had in it. Instead of pointing fingers and preparing for a Republican takeover, why not (for however long he has left) put your money where your political mouths are? Give solutions.

At the end of the day, to some people, Obama is just another black man, not good enough. And no matter what he does, he never will be.

Yes, unemployment is sky-high. Yes, we're still trying to get our economy back. But when I see that our president has expanded loan programs for small business, extended unemployment benefits and created a foreclosure-prevention fund for homeowners, I'd say he's working toward that.

So whether or not America was ready for a black president is a moot point. He's here. The annals of history will record the name Barack Hussein Obama along with Kennedy, Lincoln, Jefferson and Roosevelt, among many others. Now it's time for his supporters to stand up and support the man we cried and cheered for two years ago.

In the meantime, this African-American, middle-class mother of four says - Go, Obama! Yes we still can!

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