Who is the first African-American president?
(a) Barack Obama
(b) Warren Harding
(c) David Palmer
A curious argument might be made for (c). (OK, I'm goin' out on a limb here -- hang on.) In the odd, finicky American zeitgeist, it seems that occasionally even an impossible idea can be possible … as long as people have time to get used to it. Now, everyone here knows I've been on the Obama bandwagon since about 1 minute into his 2004 convention speech, that I think he's as smart as any public figure of the last 50 years, and has this impeccable knack for political timing, reading the public, etc. His win this year is due mainly to his own brilliance and discipline, along with of course a maturity in the American people, general disgust with Squinty Boy, and the Hindenburg-like trajectory of the GOP. Obama's "post-racial" approach was perfectly timed and presented. His sense of ethics is incredibly attractive, esp. after what we've seen these past 8 years. So I take nothing away from him on any of these points.
It's interesting though, that in a sense the public was already primed for an Obama-like figure to come along. We had Pres. Palmer in front of our faces for several years on "24". And perhaps for some folks, esp. conservatives who use "24" to bolster their aggressive foreign policy ideas, it was a visual confirmation that life could proceed quite normally with a black man in the Oval Office. At least theoretically. David Palmer was rock solid, tough as nails, and so committed to ethical rightness that he was willing to give up his presidency to preserve it. In contrast to our real-life president at the time, Pres. Palmer actually wanted to avoid unnecessary war, and armed conflict really WAS his last option. Of course we've had a lot of TV and movie presidents, including one that might've laid psychological groundwork for a President Hillary. But I posit that Pres. Palmer did that for Obama, in the eyes of those who normally … just couldn't picture it.
Strangely enough, after the Palmer character was off the show, I used to say "hey Mr. President!" to the TV whenever I saw Dennis Haysbert in those Allstate commercials. If only as a brief, pleasant fantasy of having a president I actually respected. Little did I know what was around the corner...
(b) Warren Harding
(c) David Palmer
A curious argument might be made for (c). (OK, I'm goin' out on a limb here -- hang on.) In the odd, finicky American zeitgeist, it seems that occasionally even an impossible idea can be possible … as long as people have time to get used to it. Now, everyone here knows I've been on the Obama bandwagon since about 1 minute into his 2004 convention speech, that I think he's as smart as any public figure of the last 50 years, and has this impeccable knack for political timing, reading the public, etc. His win this year is due mainly to his own brilliance and discipline, along with of course a maturity in the American people, general disgust with Squinty Boy, and the Hindenburg-like trajectory of the GOP. Obama's "post-racial" approach was perfectly timed and presented. His sense of ethics is incredibly attractive, esp. after what we've seen these past 8 years. So I take nothing away from him on any of these points.
It's interesting though, that in a sense the public was already primed for an Obama-like figure to come along. We had Pres. Palmer in front of our faces for several years on "24". And perhaps for some folks, esp. conservatives who use "24" to bolster their aggressive foreign policy ideas, it was a visual confirmation that life could proceed quite normally with a black man in the Oval Office. At least theoretically. David Palmer was rock solid, tough as nails, and so committed to ethical rightness that he was willing to give up his presidency to preserve it. In contrast to our real-life president at the time, Pres. Palmer actually wanted to avoid unnecessary war, and armed conflict really WAS his last option. Of course we've had a lot of TV and movie presidents, including one that might've laid psychological groundwork for a President Hillary. But I posit that Pres. Palmer did that for Obama, in the eyes of those who normally … just couldn't picture it.
Strangely enough, after the Palmer character was off the show, I used to say "hey Mr. President!" to the TV whenever I saw Dennis Haysbert in those Allstate commercials. If only as a brief, pleasant fantasy of having a president I actually respected. Little did I know what was around the corner...