Anyone can have a bad day, a little bad luck, a bad minute, or even just a second they wish could hit the delete button on. Just ask Steve Bartman about that, or Bill Buckner. Dallas Cowboys fans might suggest the names of Leon Lett and Jackie Smith, while Minnesota Vikings fans could offer the name of the NFL's all-time tron man, Jim Marshall. Who knows - perhaps even our former President might want a do-over on the "Mission Accomplished" scene.
But when we learned that Rep. Joe "You Lie" Wilson had said that the Black so-called "love child" of former Senator Strom Thurmond should have kept quiet so as not to diminish Thurmond's reputation, we had no choice but to realize that his outburst was not a "my bad" sort of moment. Wilson and his "birther" and "deather" friends have a problem with Black people, and a major problem with Barack Obama being President of the United States.
Fortunately, times have changed. In the past racists would express themselves by putting on their hoods and grabbing a rope; today, the Joe Wilsons, Glenn Becks, Rush Limbaughs and Sean Hannitys of the world put on a tie and grab a mic...but the basic sentiment remains the same.
Which is why I'm glad President Obama laid down the law the other night. Those folks on the other side - most of whom, at the very least - have determined that they are not going to work with him, and their vocal leader, Rush Limbaugh, has openly stated that he hopes Obama fails. How different that is from the situation during the last administration....where we did not want Mr. Bush to fail, but reacted as we did as he continued to do so. Why, now, does the opposition hope for failure?
We all know why; the hoods are away, but racism yet stays. Mr. President, forget working with people that won't work with you. Do what you gotta do to get done what you want done, and let the chips fall where they may.
