04 Jun 2008 |
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Time has passed, Time is still passing and the day will come when Barak Obama will occupy the Oval office. He has defied History, having survived the racial arrow, the religious venom and the Clinton political machinery. Though Hillary Clinton refused to concede victory, preferring to live in a state of denial, choosing to “wind-down” slowly! Word have it that all this posturing and some of those white, Clinton-loyalist refusing to vote for Obama, are just “a means to an end”. The end is to make it impossible, albeit force Obama to adopt Hillary Clinton, as his Vice President. A better word would have been “arm-twist” him and “impose” herself on him, as Vice President! Time would pass on this…. He has sacrificed a lot to reach this stage, but how much and what else does he still need to sacrifices, to reach the Oval office? As the son of a Kenyan father, lone-parent white mother and inheriting a black skin, Obama has struggled and is still struggling for acceptance among most white Americans who are generally conservative and some feel so irked and bloodied at the effrontery of this black-phenomenon! Obama’s campaign is anchored on change, doing that which others have not done, a complete departure from the ways of the Washington hawks. Change is difficult to embrace and even Einstein’s law of inertia (every “object” will rather remain as it is, unless an external force, compels it to change ) bears witness to this. Its been suggested that he needs to go the extra-mile to “unify the party”, an euphemism that better reads like this: “he needs to placate the white voters” if they are to trust him with their vote. The “white votes” are Clintons bargaining chips to clinch the VeePee, half bread you would say, is better than nothing: if you are desperate for something! How long should he go, in doing this “placating” dance ? Jeremiah Wright, his Pastor, was the first casualty. He spoke the truth, without coating it with sugar, and it hurts so badly. The core of his message, minus the often repeated sound-bite is that “because it aint white, because its different, does not mean its bad”. The timing was also wrong since it gave ammunition to those who were hell-bent on nailing Obama. Rev Wright stated that he speaks not as a politician but as a church shepherd. Then the hawks descended on Obama and he sacrificed his Pastor of twenty years standing, to assuage their feelings. Maybe it’s a political stunt. Then another white Pastor showed-up at the same Trinity Church. As an American who like everyone else has watched the arrogance and flip-flop with which Hillary pursued the campaign, he “dramatized Hillary” in such a way that makes the truth hurt. He dissected the inner feelings of Hillary and Bill, the Democratic colossus! Again, Barack was made the scapegoat and for political expediency, he sacrificed his church!! He, like any other politician, has sacrificed friends which they consider “political liability”. Now, its like as far as his skin remains black and his name remains Barack Obama, the white-skinned folks will continue to use this as a leverage against him, under the pretext that he needs to “prove himself” to them, to get their vote. This is where the danger lies. At the onset, he said he will sit down unconditionally with Americas enemies, including Cuba, Iran and some Latin American ones like Venezuela, thrash out whatever their differences/disagreements are and build a new world order. This is a very lofty idea, used by the Reagans, the Kennedys, Bill Clintons, e.t.c, to great admiration and advantage of the United States, in comparison to the Bush policy of “shoot-first and ask questions later” . Its this uniqueness, his honesty of purpose, naivety at times, openness, his unassuming posture, his readiness to listen, his empathy and his background that attracts him to the millions of people all over America and beyond. That is what got him this far. Sensing his weakness in relation to securing white votes, especially those of the Clinton-clique, every white folk in that profile who feels a temporary “sense of loss and insecurity” thinks this is an opportunity to secure his allegiance to them and in doing so, he has to sacrifice his “core values”. This will be his greatest undoing at the general poll, if he is not careful. Speaking before a “powerful caucus of Isreali lobbyist”, he said things, made promises which “made them happy” and in doing so, once again, has to sacrifice his hearts desires, his belief and core values, viz-a-viz the Palestinian-Isreali impasse. While American government itself and other world powers have refused to “recognize” Jerusalem as the Capital of Isreal, ( fact: Jerusalem was captured and annexed in the 1967 war, from the Arabs. It is home to both Muslim and Christian historical holy sites), most have stuck with Isreal’s official Capital, Tel Aviv and that’s where they all have their embassies, for emphasis To placate his “white” Jewish audience, Obama says emphatically, Jerusalem will be the capital of Isreal (while at the sametime saying he favors a Palestinian state that is economically viable) something even McCain though may favor, will not proclaim in public! . Ofcourse, the Palestinian President responded with dismay and senior members say that “Obama has shut the door to Peace”. Why Israel can have some weapons, including those of Mass destruction and Iran or Syria, a Muslim country is considered unfit by Barak Obama, as he stated today, will be a discussion for another day. For good measure, the only thing that prevented Russia and the U.S from engaging in Nuclear war, is the “balance of terror” coupled with an awareness of “mutual destruction”. Is this “sacrifice” foolishness? An “over-exuberance” to placate white voters? Or does it portend danger by signifying how desperate and how far, Obama will go, to be identified as “white-trusted”? The same scenario played-out in Nigerian politics when the North felt insecure and needed a South Westerner they could trust with the Presidency. In 1979, Obasanjo played that role (the Obama sacrifice) by sacrificing Awolowo for Shagari, during the Presidential election. He got his “white votes” back, in 1999 when they “trusted” him enough to spring him from Prison and impose him on Nigerians. Today, both the Northerners (the white voters) and other parts of the country, especially his own people, the Yorubas, which can be likened to the “black votes”, are regretting that move. What next will Obama sacrifice, to placate this set of voters……to win the American Presidency? A few people have expressed joy and even an unfounded direct attachment, to the import of an “Obama in the Oval office” with respect to Nigeria. I suspect his “Africanness” might not go beyond skin-deep but l may be proved wrong. When the chips are down, and Obama needs to take a stand that seems to be in conflict with the interest of the “white votes”, will he or will he not sacrifice Nigeria, Africa or even the Black American, in return for the “white-trust”? Obama needs to be made aware that the popularity he enjoys all over the world, is because of who he is, what he represents, as displayed in the primaries campaign and the hope of change that he brings to the people. If he has to keep sacrificing these values, to get the “white votes”, he risks loosing not only the black votes but also the “moral vote”. He risks becoming just “another clone” of the same old order of things. Infact, he will no longer be the Barak Obama we all know, the way we know him during the Democratic primaries and that’s where the danger lies, …an “Obama-Clone” in the White House! Kennedys, Marin Luther King and other Afro-American founding fathers are watching. - "Deji Saanu.
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