Politik.....

So the buzz this week so far has been about the cover of the new issue of The New Yorker which has a caricature of the Obama's with Barack dressed in traditional Muslim garb and Michelle dressed in military garb,"pounding it" with her husband while Osama bin Laden looks on from the wall.

Ok, clearly this photo has gotten a lot of flack because Obama supporters are not happy with the way he has been depicted here. They say it is"tasteless and offensive" and maybe they're right. The New Yorker says that they were making a satirical cartoon of the way the "Right" has depicted Obama. Maybe they're right. I dont know.

What I DO is that this is America. A free country. With a constitutionally protected right to free speech. I also know that if Barack is elected that he's going to get jabs 10x worse than this as the President. His life will be dissected into pieces with each one going under the microscope.

Maybe after 8 years everyone is jaded (or maybe it's not the same thing), but i dont remember anyone getting all pissed off when The New Yorker published this caricature (along with about 20 others) of Bush.

Additionally, last week Rev. Jesse Jackson made some, ahem, unusual statements about Barack Obama ( i believe it was something along the lines of "i want to cut his nuts off".........but i'm paraphrasing). Everyone got all up on his shit and he had to apologize immediately. Now while I have my own theories about this (like it was totally planned) I think it's ridiculous that he had to apologize! Now don't misunderstand................do i think he SHOULD have apologized. Oh sure! What he said was mean and...........weird. But do I think that he should have HAD to apologize? Absolutely not! This is AMERICA!!!! Free speech remember?! When did we get so "politically correct" that no one can say what they mean anymore? Public figures have to analyze every single thing they say for fear of getting fired if they say something wrong. That doesn't sound very free to me.

You cant please everyone EVER with anything that you say. It's just impossible. The New Yorker certainly learned that with this cover. But on the other hand....if you can't run with the big dogs, stay on the porch. I really liked Obama, and he totally had my vote, but lately he's been saying some thing and I'm just not so sure anymore. I'm not trying to sway anyone's politcal opinions......not my place nor do i desire it to me. I'm just saying..........

If you're running for President (or if you're going to be in the public eye in any aspect) you have to understand that people are going to say things about you that you dont like/aren't true/dont want people to know, etc. They're going to associate you with people and groups that you dont want to be associated with. They're going to draw cartoons of you that you dont like. You can't take it personally. You HAVE to get over it. Because if you make a big deal about it every time, people are going to start calling you a tittybaby. You also can't pull the race and religion card everytime someone says something you dont like. It's a challenge for you, it truly is. You say your campaign is about change. Then fight for the change instead of complaining about how offensive it is when people fight against it.

I want to love you Barack. It's up to you to make that happen.