Obama

Am I the only one who receives e-mails from the haters of Sen. Barack Obama, or are you getting them too? I like the man and think he’d be a good President, but that’s not the point. If somebody disagrees with my assessment of the senator, that’s fine; it’s his or her right to do so. My problem is that the e-mail bombardment has nothing to do with Sen. Obama’s positions on issues; it’s all personal and probably untrue. Furthermore, even if most of what’s contained in the e-mails were true, it wouldn’t negatively affect his fitness to be President. Let’s analyze some of the things being said about him.

First, Sen. Obama is a Muslim. No, he’s a Christian, a member of Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago. But, if he were a Muslim, so what? The U.S. Constitution, in Article VI, prohibits religious tests for office.

Second, if elected, Sen. Obama would take the oath of office on the Qur’an instead of the Bible. Have any of these nitwits bothered to research on which holy book the senator placed his hand when he was sworn in to the U.S. Senate in 2005? Besides, what difference does it make? There’s no constitutional or statutory requirement that officeholders must swear on the Bible (or on any book at all).

Third, Sen. Obama, living in Indonesia from age 6 to age 10 with his mother and her second husband, attended a Muslim school. Now there’s a shocker! The population of Indonesia is almost 90 percent Muslim, so what kind of school would one expect to find there? Baptist?

Fourth, his full name is Barack Hussein Obama. So? Is the hate-mongers’ point that he shares a name with Saddam Hussein? He also shares a name with King Hussein of Jordan (1935-1999), who was as much a good guy as Saddam Hussein was a bad guy. “Hussein” is a common name in the Middle East and Africa--the senator’s father was a Kenyan--and it translates into English as “beautiful” or “handsome.” It certainly was sinister of the senator’s parents to think he was good-looking enough to give him that middle name! By the way, “Barack” translates into English as “blessed.” Don’t we want a President who is both blessed and handsome?

Fifth, the church that Sen. Obama attends is anti-white. Trinity United Church of Christ describes itself as “Africentric,” expressing its pride in the ethnicity of its parishioners, but that doesn’t mean it’s anti-white. I’m proud of my dual British Isles/Italian ancestry, but that doesn’t make me anti-every other ethnic group! The senator’s mother was Ann Dunham, a white woman from Wichita, Kansas. When Barack was two years old, his parents separated, and they later divorced. He grew up surrounded by his mother’s middle-class white family. I seriously doubt that his life experiences have made him a hater of white folks.

Sixth (and finally), there’s that photo of the senator, taken in Iowa last summer, standing while the National Anthem is being played, but without his right hand on his heart. OK, let’s assume that the photo isn’t a fake. All that would prove is that the senator doesn’t know proper etiquette any better than the 40th, 41st, 42nd and 43rd Presidents. President Reagan began a tradition of returning salutes from uniformed military personnel, despite his not being in uniform himself. Presidents Bush I, Clinton and Bush II have continued that inappropriate behavior. I haven’t received a single e-mail critical of any of them.

Parva leves capiunt animas. (Small minds concern themselves with trifles.) In determining whom we would vote for, can we please focus on the problems facing America and evaluate how each of the candidates proposes to deal with them?