Obama wins South Carolina!!!

Score one for those of us who are tired of seeing the same old white guys in the Oval Office. Really, for a diverse nation we are simply popping the head off the same tired suits and replacing it with a slightly-a slightly different head. But Obama's win has revealed something deeper about us as Americans, and about the legacy of racism in this country.

Simply endeavoring to help blacks in America, simply engaging in the conversation of racism does not absolve me or my fellow white citizens of our inherent racism. And just to be clear, I believe that racism is irrespective of race, economic class and ethnicity. But I'm speaking to my community, and to the Clintons in particular. Now do I believe they are racists akin to the KKK, Michael Savage or David Duke? No, but their racism, and mine, and yours betrays the darker truth of racism. It is in our cells, in our DNA, woven deeply and so subtely that we become unaware, like some genetic predisposition to alcoholism from a parent, emerging and destroying us in times of weakness. And that is what I believe happened to the clintons. They do have  a strong record regarding race relations and racial issues, but the seduction of power in reaching the White House again proved a terrible moment of weakness.

The racial issue stunned and sharply divided the Democratic party, and gave ammunition to Republicrook pundits like Rush Limbaugh, Neal Bortz and others. They said it proved the racist dark secret of the party, though it is more a symptom of American society, and an indication that we can never lower our guard, particularly with ourselves.

It was as though the Clintons, flailing blindly against a formidable opponent intended to put the  Negro Boy in his place. Going into the South Carolina primary Hillary still had not backed down the idea that Martin Luther King needed a white President to get civil rights legislation done, an attempt to dismiss Obama's assertion that a great deal of work in reaching King's promised land still remained. She seems to forget that a growing number of Blacks were prepared to do whatever was necessary to attain their rights. Her husband, which seems to have run the campaign in a direction decided by ego and temper bookended that by saying of Obama's win in South Carolina that Jesse Jackson won there too.

The good news is that there is hope, more hope than we might have expected 20 or 40 years ago. Voters soundly rejected the racist slant of the Clinton strategy. 80% of Black voters backed Obama. Even more hopeful, 72% of white male voters sided with Obama. Indeed, a great many volunteers came from around the country to help Obama, outraged over the Clinton tactics.

The fact is, with Edwards slipping farther and farther in the pools, despite that I think he is a strong candidate, we need Obama. The Republicrooks would love to run Hillary against their likely candidate the quaffed and handsomely programmable Romney. I guess Dems can market Romney flipflops like the Rebulicrooks did for Kerrey. They reply that Bill and Hillary's divisive politics and past scandals-and perhaps the new ones will sway the majority of undecided voters, and I believe the past several weeks have proven that strongly.