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This is an observation that's gone viral on the internet, with no attributable original writer that I can determine. I've done some slight editing, correcting, and reorganizing but still consider this a public-domain piece that I'd like to see spread very far and wide. (I found it in Chicago Tribune.) So, with thanks to the anonymous first suggester, I offer the following:
What If?
Obama/Biden vs. McCain/Palin. What if things were switched around? Would the country's collective point of view be different? Could racism be the culprit?
Ponder the following:
What if the Obamas had paraded five children across the stage, including a three-month-old infant and an unwed, pregnant teenage daughter?
What if John McCain was a former president of the Harvard Law Review?
What if Barack Obama finished fifth from the bottom of his graduating class?
What if McCain had only married once, and Obama was a divorced man?
What if Obama was the candidate who left his first wife after she'd suffered a severe disfiguring car accident, when she no longer measured up to his standards?
What if Obama had a long affair while he was still married?
What if Michelle Obama was the wife who not only became addicted to pain killers but also acquired them illegally through her charitable organization?
What if Cindy McCain had graduated from Harvard?
What if Obama had been a member of the Keating Five?
What if McCain was a charismatic, eloquent speaker?
What if Obama couldn't read from a teleprompter?
What if Obama was the one who had military experience that included discipline problems and a record of crashing five planes (including the Hanoi shootdown and three while "clowning around" in training -- LA Times 2008 Oct. 6)?
What if Obama was the one who was known to display publicly, on many occasions, a serious anger management problem?
What if Michelle Obama's family had made their money from beer distribution?
What if the Obamas had adopted a white child?
***
Barack Obama:
Columbia University - B.A. in Political Science with a Specialization in International Relations.
Harvard Law School - Juris Doctor (J.D.) Magna Cum Laude; president of Harvard Law Review
Joe Biden:
University of Delaware - B.A. in History and in Political Science (double major).
Syracuse University College of Law - Juris Doctor (J.D.)
John McCain:
United States Naval Academy - Class rank: 894 of 899 (in the "Century Club" each year, with more than 100 demerits - see about halfway down the linked article)
Sarah Palin:
Hawaii Pacific University - 1 semester
North Idaho College - 2 semesters - general study
University of Idaho - 2 semesters - journalism
Matanuska-Susitna College - 1 semester
University of Idaho - 3 semesters - B.A. in Journalism
Education isn't everything, but this is about the two highest offices in the land as well as our standing in the world.
.***
You could easily add to this list. If these hypotheticals reflected reality, do you really believe the polling numbers would be as close as they are?
This is what racism does. It covers up, rationalizes, and minimizes positive qualities in one candidate and emphasizes negative qualities in another when there is a color difference.
