Earlier today, I posted a song to my facebook. It was "Harder than you think" by Public Enemy. A friend of mine; an educated american man with no shortage of political opinion, posted in response "Chuck D for president".
At first glance, you might think that this is the run-of-the-mill "-insert some silly thing- for president" proclamation thats only meant to express vague dissatisfaction and a sense of humor. That might be the case, if it wasn't totally possible.
My dad used to sometimes refer to Frank Zappa's consideration of running for presidency in order to reinforce that fact. It's important to remember. The president doesn't have to have been a politician previously. That's why many entertainers, already being in the public eye, seized that opportunity, like this guy, this guy, and this guy.
Which is what irritates me about those who celebrate Barack Obamas presidency as a major shift in american politics. This guy isn't a revolutionary. He's He's not even a free thinker, compared to Frank Zappa or Chuck D. He's rather drab; more similar to this guy, or especially this guy. Whatever the implications of that are, it's certainly not that a new era of change and hope has commenced.
Though americans are slowly realizing that's the case, they haven't taken it to it's logical conclusion: that a politician is a politician no matter how he looks or how charismatic he may be, and further; we don't have to elect a politician. Imagine how things would be if Chuck D were elected president instead of Barrack Obama. Would our circumstances be worse than they are now? Not only that... isn't it possible they'd be better?
The acceptance speech always sets the tone for the entire presidency. So compare this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wnA7OVIgLkE
To this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pCx5Std7mCo
I'd pick the latter. Believe me, I was there.
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