Hit or Myth

There are still a couple of myths floating around the Amerisphere with regard to a potential Obama presidency. The best thing to do would be to puncture them now, let all that gas escape, and watch things settle down.

First is the stomach-turning notion that Barack Obama will be assassinated. This fear is particularly acute among the African-American community, and is understandable given our recent inability to learn anything from history. Take my word for it, though; ain't gonna happen.

I know the opposition's shelf is stocked with crackers and nuts, but assassinating the Democratic nominee before the election would backfire in the worst way. Who was the second-highest recipient of primary delegates? That'd be Hillary Clinton. They don't want that.

Even if it happened after the election, Vice President Joe Biden would ascend to the Oval Office, and who would he then choose as his VP? Hillary! Then - because he's old, you know - Biden would resign over health issues, or to spend more time with family, whatever, leaving Hillary in charge.

That much is obvious, even to those peering out from under the steepest of sloping brows. And it wouldn't be the usual Hillary, either, but a Hillary with a public mandate to emasculate all things conservative.

They can negotiate with Obama. They'll take their chances against him in 2012.

The other myth, far more laughable, is the idea that the U.S. would be attacked by terrorists under President Obama. Conservatives point to just such a remark made last week by Biden. But you know Biden - he borrowed that line from Joe Lieberman, who used it last June when he was hoping his old friend John McCain would select him to be his running mate.

Why haven't they attacked us again under George W. Bush, by the way? Because he gave the terrorists everything they wanted. Safe haven in Pakistan's tribal areas. A recruiting magnet and training grounds for jihadists in Iraq. A leader who waxes more and more like a theocratic dictator with each passing week.

In response to 9/11, the Bush administration moved us more in the direction of those despotic states that support terrorism. They torture; we torture. They lie to their people; we lie to our people. They rig elections; so does the GOP. We're now a debtor nation, one that remains addicted to oil, and the oil money is their skim.

Going forward, it may well be that we are attacked again, and may even be more likely under Obama; I'll take my chances in the light. It's no myth that al-Qaida would see an Obama victory as a sign that the Americans are moving in the direction of freedom again.

If there's anything Americans still know, it's how much the terrorists hate freedom. Maybe that's what makes Bush do the things he does. Maybe that's why McCain subscribes to the same mythology. They say, "freedom isn't free". And then they ask us to give it away.

pH 1o.25.o8