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2008 Presidential Elections

Turbans and a magical formula for veep

By: Santosh :+: Under: 2008 Presidential Elections, Opinion, Politics
On: ⋅ February 26, 2008 ⋅  Email this post ⋅  Print this post ⋅ Post a comment
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By now you’ve probably seen pictures of Barack Obama in a turban circulating the Internet. [link]

The target audience of the pictures of Obama in a turban is the bigoted section of the American population that views anyone in a turban in an unfavorable light. The Obama campaign alleges the pictures were sent by Hillary Clinton’s supporters in a desperate attempt to revive her fast fading hopes. Irrespective of whether Clinton’s supporters did this or not, and they’re certainly capable of pulling off some lowly stunt like this, this is one thing about Obama that makes me cringe. Why does Obama feel the need to construe pictures of him in a turban as something negative? If anything it shows him as a world leader someone who’s willing to mingle with people from other cultures and nationalities. But no, Obama for some reason, feels the need to potray himself as a victim of circumstances that … gasp … forced him to adorn the turban.

This is not the first instance Barack Obama has reacted in a defensive way when linked to a foreign culture. Earlier Obama “denied allegations” of him being a Muslim. As if being Muslim is the worst thing that could happen to him. When he gets defensive about his past, Barack Obama reminds me of this one another politician who (pardon the pun) religiously disowns his former religious links.

By issuing defensive statements like the ones above, Barack Obama is essentially sending a message (albeit indirect) to the American people that amounts to “I had nothing to do with this religion that you people think is evil” or “I know you guys think all turban wearing people are evil but I’m not one of them. I had to grin and put up with it because of circumstances“.

Speaking of the other politician I mentioned earlier, we’re starting to see Bobby Jindal’s name mentioned in more and more political circles now that John McCain has all but clinched the Republican nomination for Presidential nominee. Barack Obama has also inched ahead of Hillary Clinton and superdelegates notwithstanding he could be the first colored man to feature in a November 2nd Presidential contest. So the time is ripe for speculating on who will be Vice Presidential running mates a.k.a the candidates for veep.

Conservatives loudmouths on radio have mentioned Jindal as a likely candidate for McCain’s veep. On the other end of the spectrum, democrats are falling over themselves to anoint Jim Webb, the biggest benefactor of the Macaca fallout, as Obama’s veep.

The magical formula seems to be thus:

Take 2 humans - 1 white and 1 colored
Take 3 political standings - conservative, moderate or liberal
Mix and match.

Possible combinations:
Combo 1: The Elephant Dung burger = moderate white + conservative colored
Combo 2: The Donkey Ass burger = liberal colored + (slightly) conservative white

Right now either combo has the potential to make you rush for the nearest bottle of pepto bismol, with Combo 2 potentially being the less lethal one to digest from where I stand. For those who cannot pick up on the obvious, the idea here seems to match a white President with a colored veep or vice versa, as if that will be the magic bullet to solve all of America’s current problems. What are Jindal’s views on the looming recession or Webb’s take on the mortgage crisis? Who knows? But yeah baby, each one, if chosen, is of a different skin shade than his running mate and that gives me certified goose bumps and that is all that matter, correct?

More issues to think about for each veep candidate, considering that the Vice President is next in line. How will these two gentlemen (Webb and Jindal) run the nation if they ever had to assume the top post? Take the Iraq war for instance. Will Jindal forcibly paint the terrorists’ fingers purple into submission? Will Jim Webb bomb any country which utters the “Macaca” slur considering that his ascension to presidency at that stage would’ve almost been as a direct result of that word? Stay tuned.

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