From Nicholas Kristof’s op-ed on Obama:
The other day I had a conversation with a Beijing friend and I mentioned that Barack Obama was leading in the presidential race:
She: Obama? But he’s the black man, isn’t he?
Me: Yes, exactly.
She: But surely a black man couldn’t become president of the United States?
Me: It looks as if he’ll be elected.
She: But president? That’s such an important job! In America, I thought blacks were janitors and laborers.
Me: No, blacks have all kinds of jobs.
She: What do white people think about that, about getting a black president? Are they upset? Are they angry?
Me: No, of course not! If Obama is elected, it’ll be because white people voted for him.
[Long pause.]
She: Really? Unbelievable! What an amazing country!
That’s some interesting company Kristof keeps. It’s probably best he break the whole drinking fountain-lunch counter thing to her in person–maybe with some Valium on hand. And he must have searched all Beijing to find her, considering the Chinese media has been captivated by Obama’s run ever since he beat Hillary, and that a full 75 percent of Chinese citizens polled support Obama’s presidency.
Kristof writes:
We’re beginning to get a sense of how Barack Obama’s political success could change global perceptions of the United States, redefining the American “brand” to be less about Guantánamo and more about equality.
That’s it? Those are our choices? What happens to the “brand” if John McCain wins? He’s been in favor of closing Guantánamo, but I guess he’s stuck with it, since equality is off the table.
Kristof goes on:
Europe is particularly intoxicated by the possibility of restoring amity with America in an Obama presidency. As The Economist put it: “Across the Continent, Bush hatred has been replaced by Obama-mania.”
Which one of those pathologies is supposed to fix Europe’s demographic death spiral, creeping sharia reality, and welfare nightmare?
Then there’s the Muslim world:
Steven Kull, director of the Program on International Policy Attitudes, which conducted the BBC poll, said that at a recent international conference he attended in Malaysia, many Muslims voiced astonishment at Mr. Obama’s rise because it was so much at odds with their assumptions about the United States. Remember that the one thing countless millions of people around the world “know” about the United States is that it is controlled by a cabal of white bankers and Jews who use police with fire hoses to repress blacks. To them, Mr. Obama’s rise triggers severe cognitive dissonance.
Since when is cognitive dissonance a curative for anti-Americanism? America has long been despised for its incuriosity and nosiness, Puritanism and decadence, racism and inclusiveness. As for anti-Semitism–what better way to alleviate that cognitive dissonance than to label any contrary evidence a Jewish plot? Arab newspapers are already running cartoons showing Obama as a dog being walked by various Israeli politicians.
Here’s Kristof on Africa:
As for Africa, Mr. Obama’s Kenyan father was of the Luo tribe, a minority that has long suffered brutal discrimination in both Kenya and in Uganda (where it is known as the Acholi). The bitter joke in East Africa is that a Luo has more of a chance of becoming president in the United States than in Kenya.
No, the joke (and it’s not a bitter one) is that George W. Bush saved so many African lives with his unprecedented aid initiatives that there’s little room for the next president to make improvements.
As Kristof winds down, he offers the obligatory–
Look, Mr. Obama’s skin color is a bad reason to vote for him or against him. Substance should always trump symbolism.
–after making a case for the very opposite.
