Team America

Now that this historic election is over, let me express my congratulations to our 43 and 3/5 president Barack Obama. To all of those that thought racism was rooted in the Deep South, may I present to you the Three-fifths compromise.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three-fifths_compromise

This legislation was one of the cornerstones of our great nation. Our founding fathers sat across the table from one another and argued about the value of slaves. The fact that they compromised on three-fifths is incredible because it means that men from the North argued that the value of slaves should be less. (i.e. 1/5 or 0) I can not believe that this compromise is taught in schools all across America and we wonder where this ingrained sense of racism comes from?

In regards to the election, I thought it was remarkable how much the race issue was downplayed throughout and I think Obama deserves a lot of credit for that. African-Americans obviously embraced him, but he did not take on that rah rah black man label. He stayed true to his message for all Americans and it paid off in the end. Of course now that the election is over, I have to hear every black man in the country's thoughts on this landmark occasion. Everyone from Donovan McNabb ('Cuse guy, gotta love him) to Carl Winslow to Michael Irvin have shared their thoughts. Surprisingly Irvin actually made a good point. He said that the election of a black man as the next president of the United States resonated with him because the last time he saw his people (his words, not mine) celebrate like this was after the OJ Simpson verdict. He was bothered by that because he said, "Why are we celebrating? Two people are dead." Dare I say that it was more monumental that a crack fiend like Michael Irvin made a good point than Obama getting elected?

While Obama's race is getting a lot of coverage now, it is the amateur puns involving his first name that are infuriating me. If I had seen one more person's facebook status pre or post election that said something like "Barack the vote" or "This country is headed for the Barack bottom" I was going to snap. People expressing their political views on facebook is laughable. To all those people that said they are moving to Canada. Good. If we want to get out of America, then get the fuck out. Put your money where your mouth is. Don't make an immature comment like that because of who our next president is. Your daily life would not be drastically altered no matter who was in office. Shut up and grow up.

Politics aside, here's why you have to like Obama. When asked the one thing he would change in sports during halftime of the Monday Night Football game he said that it's time for a playoff in college football. A perfect, timely answer that many football fans can relate to. Mccain, on the other hand, talked about getting performance enhancing drugs out of sports. That answer would have been good in 2004 and it was just too politically motivated for me. Also, on election day, Obama was so calm, cool, and composed that he played pickup basketball with some friends (apparently it's an election day tradition). I don't care if you dislike Obama's views and policies, you have to like that. And no matter what, we are still the greatest country in the world.