The 'Simpsonization' of Barack Obama

I saw this coming a mile away. Although he managed to capture the attention of a nation starving for new leadership and a way out of the social, economic and political morass America now finds itself in, I knew it would only be a matter of time before the luster would begin to fade from Barack Obama's coat of amor. The round-the-clock scrutiny and vicious attacks launched by the media last week, which is more than likely to continue, has done serious damage to both the candidate and the man. The saddest part is he is being held accountable for the actions of another person that exercised a Constitutional right, whether America likes it or not. Moreover, Obama is feeling the heat because he had the audacity to man-up and not play the role of the prototypical asshole candidate. With his balls of steel firmly on display, he went before the nation to address an issue that has the potential to become a political and social powder keg as the November election draws near. That issue is race.

Polls, which I hate, alleged that an astounding 80 percent of Americans watched the historic March 18 speech. All eyes were glued to television sets at home, places of business and even the large projection screen in New York City's Times Square. The situation was eerily reminiscent and frighteningly similar to another period in America, October 3, 1995, when the issue of race seized the national spotlight: the O.J. Simpson trial. I soon realized that an enormous television audience wasn't the only thing these two incidents had in common. As is the case with Simpson to this day, many feel that Barack Obama is innocent of any wrongdoing. They feel Obama should not be held responsible for acts committed by someone else, as others did, particularly in the black community, once Los Angeles Police Detective Mark Fuhrman became part of the "Trial of the Century".