Immediately after the election in November 2008, I wrote the following piece asking what have we done by electing this unknown man to the Presidency?



11-05-08

So, what has just happened? Explain to me how this happened.



...Imagine if back in 1948, just seven years after Pearl Harbor, America elected as president not Harry Truman but instead chose an American Japanese. What if in 1948 Americans elected someone of German or Russian decent? Would that have been possible? I know people today that still will not buy Japanese products because of the war with Japan. My Grandfather never forgave the Japanese. I have customers who ask specifically if the motorcycles we sell are made in America and not Japan because they still have strong feelings handed down to them from a parent or Grandparent.

Just seven years ago Arab Muslims perpetrated and carried out a viscous attack on our country killing 3000 American citizens and subsequently another 3000 plus have died fighting Muslim extremists in the war in Iraq and more in Afghanistan. Now we have elected to the highest office and to the most powerful leadership position in the world a man of African descent with an Arabic name with Muslim influences as a child.



Despite all of his potentially questionable relationships with his preacher, William Ayers and Chicago politics and being endorsed by someone like Louis Farrakhan there remain many questions. Clearly, without laying any blame whatsoever on Barak Obama for the actions of the terrorists on 911, the significance of our electing this man to the presidency on the rest of the world cannot be overlooked.



Barak Obama is no ordinary black American. He does not share the same "Black Experience" African Americans have other than deciding to say he does. Barak Obama's father was a Kenyan. I grew up in Kenya. I went to school with Kenyan's. Kenyan's do not have any of the Black American experience. They do not have any of our history of slavery and civil rights and prejudice common to black Americans. They have their own struggles to be sure but their frame of reference is not the same.



Barak Obama is an American African. By that I mean that he is an American citizen with an African father. That may not mean much to people in this country but in Africa, in Kenya, that is a big deal. They never ask who your mother was but who was your father. A man can have several wives but the children all have one father and his name is most important. So in Kenya, this morning Barak Obama being elected is a very big deal. In today's East African Standard, the daily newspaper, they are celebrating the election as if he is one of their own, which in a way he is. We may not understand for a while just how big of an issue this is but Africa now has a connection to US politics they have not enjoyed before.

The significance of the name Barak Hussein Obama in the Arab and Muslim world is huge. They must be praising Allah today for America has chosen the one man that puts an Arab name on the Presidency of the United States of America. I am in shock because I never dreamed this would be possible in just seven years from the worst terrorist attack in our history. To have given our enemies this kind of inspirational victory is astounding and dreadful while our solders are still in combat. Just go to the Al Jazeera web site to see their reactions.

As for what this election means here at home consider the many reasons that Barak Obama's promise of Change appealed to the voters. It is always exciting when promises of new and better and bigger things to come are proposed. Americans love to Supersize and to have the latest greatest everything. We are so used to hearing this we expect it to work whether it is a play-station game or an new clean and free source of energy. 　　

But what kind of change will we get? Mostly I heard things that worry me. We can be assured that we will not be doing any drilling off our shores for oil nor will we be drilling in Alaska. There won't be any new nuclear power plants, no new refineries, and no new coal powered facilities. He said that he would make the cost of new coal powered plants so expensive that to build one would bankrupt the builder. He also said that the cost of energy will necessarily have to become expensive in order to get the people to cut down on consumption. They will have to learn to turn off the lights and turn down the thermostats and of course business will have to pass their increased costs on to their customers.


This is definitely going to be change but I think we will not find it to our liking. Mostly this will discourage our productivity and our zest and enthusiasm for doing things we like to do. This may be a tactic that the Liberal Left feels will bring about cleaner air or less reliance on fossil fuels and I know they desire this but a wind powered NASCAR race is likely to reduce attendance at the events. The same thing happens when you tax something into oblivion like ammunition. Who wants to go shooting if you can't afford the bullets. It happens when we make an activity so difficult, loaded down with regulations, fees and conditions that it is easier to do something else. Snowmobiling comes to mind where a sport and an industry suffer because of government interference. Try regulating the kids on a playground at recess. See if they continue to have fun and still want to play. Grown ups are not very different.

America works best with the least government intervention and our productivity is its highest when we do things ourselves. We are very good at self regulation and at solving problems when it is time to do so. Which I suppose means we should be able to solve this one too. This may require throwing a few of our own incumbents (read dead wood) out and replacing them with our own rock stars. Too many of the members of congress have become entrenched in the way of Washington and have forgotten what life in the rest of the country is really like. When was the last time any of them, including John McCain, held real jobs like Joe the Plumber or you and I. That is why we liked Sarah Palin so much, she was one of us and despite her flaws she was not one of them. Ask yourself, if you were a young person would you be inspired by any of the boring talking heads of either party in Washington? The young people that turned out for Barak Obama responded to his youth, his looks, his exuberant style and his techno savvy approach to the campaign. I assure you they were not voting for Joe Bidenhistime. In fact the best thing in our favor is that Barak Obama is restrained not by the Republicans but by the 'Ball and Chains' of his running mate a dinosaur of a politician, Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reed, Ted Kennedy, John Kerry, Chris Dodd, Barney Franks, Chuck Schumer, and both of the Clintons.

We have but a little time to locate and prepare our next candidate. I'm suggesting this year. That person will need to be on top of his or her game. No Ron Pauls, no Ross Perot's and they better have the appeal and charisma necessary to compete in an American Idol atmosphere. We have to have a smarter battle plan this time, the message is simple. The conservative ideals of Ronald Reagan are still relevant, we just need to revive them and apply them again.

　

Tim Woodsome

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