Are you smarter than you were eight years ago?

By guest blogger - Jeff Kizer

I've come to realize that Obama is over-qualified to be president of the United States. We haven't yet earned a leader of his caliber. We just elected George W. Bush, twice. Hillary now makes sense. Obama is the genuine article; the majority of Americans don't recognize this quality when they see it. Though selfishly I want to be witness to Obama turning this country into a united, respected, self-respecting, peace-loving nation once again, perhaps it IS a fairy tale--not because Obama isn't capable of it, but because America isn't.

Hillary can't accomplish this. Although it is what we desperately need, it is not what we want. People don't always want what's good for them. We are an adversarial people. We think we want to end the Iraq war, but we don't. We think we want to end the Blue and Red war at home, but we don't. We think we want to end racism and religious intolerance, but what would be the benefit? As long as we fight--between the left and the right--the money keeps rolling in--to the corporations, who get ratings and then bigger, and to the political candidates, who get votes and then employment. And we all get ringside seats to jeer and lob insults at whatever side we're not on. Look at all the negative, hateful commentary we see on the liberal blogs alone. We're supposed to be on the same side, and yet the petty, self-loathing side of our souls can't resist an opportunity to be bitter and mean...and right. Even if it's against ourselves.

But I can't entertain these negative thoughts for too long lest I get depressed, so I keep hoping. I keep hoping that George W. Bush's legacy is that he did such a horrendous job as president that the country course-corrects by uniting behind the most unlikely, inspiring, un-beholden candidate who can actually poise our nation on a path toward making religious hatred, racism, and homophobia groundless and obsolete. How could he not? If Obama were president, not only would we as a country see ourselves differently, but the world would see us differently too: he's half-black; his grandmother lives in an African village with no running water, he lived for years in the most populous Muslim country in the world, his sister is half-Indonesian, he's the modern-day everyman. And right now, we need his particular skills so badly. America needs to be re-branded, if you will, with a face that's fresh, a voice that’s authentic, and a character that engenders hope and respect, and that, most urgently, inspires us to love ourselves and each other. Because if we don't start to love ourselves, how can we expect the rest of the world to? It's not going to happen overnight, but it has to start somewhere. And when I look at Obama, I think, "Bingo, that's where it is!"

The irony is that the George Bushing of America has led us to a point where we are just a little bit dumber than we were 8 years ago. More people didn't graduate from highschool or college, more people didn't learn English or stay out of prison or off drugs or death row, the opposite unfortunately. The country was so evenly split in '00 and '04, that, even though our nation has been shell shocked and stripped of its parts, democrats will still only take the White House by a slight margin in '08. And it is finally dawning on me that the dumbing-down of America doesn't work in Obama's favor. One thing I will say for Hillary: maybe after 8 years of a Hill-Billy administration, America will be smart enough for Barack Obama.


Jeff K from LA