Back on the Horse

Facing Our Fears

I really hate the need to broach this subject, especially in the context in which it must be done, but I feel strongly about the subject and hope that you, the reader, will too. I am so tired of the race issue -- mainly because I was never part of the problem -- but since I finally see a light at the end of that tunnel, I will be happy to delve into it one last time if that is what it takes to kill it once and for all.

I fully understand that the election of Barack Hussein Obama was an act of opportunity combined with a desperation on the part of our electorate who, wishing to feel good about themselves, seized on the virtually unknown in a fit of self righteousness which blinded the sensibilities of those who voted. We as a people saw a chance and leapt at it, careless of the open space below. Now, as we find ourselves free-falling into that gaping void, we desperately grasp for any hold that will save us.

No family is immune from this affliction; my own daughters voted for Obama, an act for which today they are deeply ashamed and personally angered. They feel betrayed, as well they should. I, on the other hand, feel some form of vindication in that they realized their mistakes on their own without my overbearing criticisms. Yes, they were aware of my disappointment in their choices, but I never beat them over the head with it. I let them come to their own conclusions, trusting in the way my wife and I raised them. We never promised our children that they'd never make mistakes, only that they would eventually use what they had learned to ultimately set things straight.

(Completely irrelevant, but noteworthy...my son never strayed far from the farm).

There is an old saying on the farm -- or ranch, as the case may be -- and that is that if you get thrown from your horse, it is imperative that you remount him as soon as possible, both to confront your own fear, and to let the horse know that you are in control. The "control" aspect of this analogy is what makes me uncomfortable, but the analogy itself is worth the risk.

There is great irony in what I am about to write, as well, and while I am a big fan of irony, this particular brand  has giant question marks, especially since we are still thirteen months from the elections of 2012. Herman Cain is making great strides in the polls, but with over a year to go, anything could happen. Having said that, I must make it clear that the time to get back on the horse is right now, not four or eight years from now.

The irony lies not in the skin color of Barack Obama and Herman Cain, but in their respective "inexperience". Never in my wildest imagination could I have envisioned a nubile such as Barack Hussein Obama winning the Oval Office. Presidents have come directly from the upper chamber of Congress, but not many, and certainly none with so wafer-thin a resume as Obama. But despite his abject ineffectualness, America still stands, albeit a tad wobbly at the knees.

So as we head to the next showdown, we offer as a candidate a man who is also black, but one with infinitely more practical experience than Obama. A man who can speak to his constituents with a clarity that his predecessor never acquainted, a man who has proven to be the problem solver that his opponent could never more than envy. And a man who can assuage the fears of a decidedly milk-toast populace if only the alternative to that which they have already experienced.

To make myself clear, if now is not the time for our next black candidate, it may be decades in the future before we dare try again. Get back on the horse, America, get right back on. If Obama couldn't kill America with a full court press, and with Cain vowing to bring us back to greatness, even if he falls short in his attempts, how much worse -- or better -- will we be?

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