by Allen Smith

Created on: November 04, 2008   Last Updated: November 13, 2008

What is the word of the day? Come on, you know it; we have heard it almost everyday since the February 2007. Change, that's right, the word you either adore or have grown so tired of hearing you want to punch the mouth of anyone who dares utter it.

For more than 21 months, we have been smothered with change and hope statements from the left and the Obama campaign. To hear them say it, Obama is the world's only chance for change and hope. If that were true, we would already be lost. Believing that would be equal to believing a second year 7th grade science teacher had the solution to water pollution in Hong Kong harbor, despite the fact that he has never demonstrated an ability to solve even a small environmental problem. Yes, he has experience in science, if you stretch the meaning of the word experience. Ditto for his supposed leadership experience, but to think he has the minerals for a job of that scope is ridiculous.

Now, concerning Mr. Obama, he has skated by on the backs of a media machine purposed and charged with his success, in addition to the naivet and gullibility of a public that has been awash in news of misfortune and dire predictions with no up-shot in sight. There has been no effort to look at who he really is, or what he really believes. His list of accomplishments is short and undistinguished, with his greatest triumph to date being his running "the most successful campaign to date". This is what he claims as his qualification for president. He has captured the imagination of a young generation and has given purpose to an older one. He has done this in the same way as when the circus comes to town: everyone is excited because of the promise of excitement. Yet, that is not enough, not when you consider what is at stake for this countries future.

Obama's appeal to the black community is strong, but I believe misplaced. The weight of generations of desperate hope for equality and fairness, is expected too be carried on shoulders too weak to bear them. When he falls, the community will suffer. More than that, any consequence too the country will be blamed on him first and the black community after that. The election of a black candidate would be historic, that is undeniable, and that is why the black community should be more discerning when it comes to the person who will carry their banner for the first time. The person who would be their guide-on, must be someone who truly understands the community, where it has come from, what it has suffered,

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