FROM THE BARREL OF MY PEN
By Gonzalo “Jun” Policarpio


FIRST WOMAN PRESIDENT, FIRST BLACK PRESIDENT, SO WHAT?

It was the Black vote that spelled Bill Clinton’s victory on both his first presidential election in 1993 and re-election in 1997. But the history of mankind is full of life’s ironies. This time, 2008 presidential election year, the Black vote will again come into play and deny Hillary Clinton, Bill’s wife, the victory the ambitious Clintonites desire to possess.

What is glaringly evident is Hillary’s campaign to depict Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois, her Primary opponent for the Democratic nomination, as another irresponsible and reckless Black man running for President of the United States by painting Obama’s admission of having used drugs during his teens with the intent to sell or disseminate a prohibited substance as declared by a major Clinton campaign adviser who later resigned. Hillary is just lucky to have a somewhat less aggressive rival for the presidency who refused to retaliate by using Bill Clinton’s confession of having smoked marijuana. One of Obama’s advisers could have also said that Monica Lewinsky’s mature lover could have also sold drugs during his teens.

I would like to suggest to all of Hillary Clinton’s male opponents for the presidency not to treat her like a woman because her overly aggressive campaign strategy and tactics originate from a masculine mind. In other words, she definitely is projecting herself not as a female presidential candidate and therefore, given so many weak areas in her background she should not be given the privilege of getting light punches but rather solid punches to knock her out in the early rounds.

In like manner, Barack Obama whose stepfather is a Muslim from Indonesia should not be insulated from fair criticism of his way of thinking because of his familial affinity to Indonesia and the Muslim religion. If indeed he grew up in Indonesia in an Islam environment, he should be under the microscope when talking about the importance of basic American values such as allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and the Christian foundation of America.

Let the voter’s mind be freed of such emotionalisms as having a first woman president or first Black president. Let’s examine these two candidates based on their qualifications and readiness to head the most powerful and richest country in the world, the United States of America, founded on the principle of “right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”

END

junpolicarpio@gmail.com