are people going to freak out at the last minute because they're going to be voting for a black man?
You mean, like, when you're about 18 and first exploring the joys of underage drinking in clubs and one Friday night you meet a friendly, beautiful, black chick in a club and she dances with you all night, and you fall head-over-heels in lust, and then you start kissing and groping, and then the club closes at 2 o'clock so you have to leave and she lets you drive her fancy new German car to her apartment, even though you're piss drunk, running stopsigns and grinding the gears, and you get to her house and you're all psyched because you never had any black pussy before, and soon you get that first taste of her sweet, brown, perfectly-formed breasts and glimpse her hard, round, magnificiently musculed ass, close enough to touch, and you reach your trembling hand around her to touch it, and your heart is pounding so hard and fast you think it will burst and your manhood is throbbing so hard that you think your underwear is going to rip, and then somehow your excitement gets the better of you and you end up vomiting all over her, yourself, and her leopard-print, suede sofa and she immediately turns cold, and you have to call your friend Doug, with whom you went to the club, to come and pick you up and take you home, because you clearly aren't getting laid tonight, much less getting the chance to fall asleep in her comfortable waterbed? And you learn to be more careful and not drink too much and make an ass of yourself in those situations in the future, but for a few weeks afterwards can't escape that nagging feeling that you just freaked out and sabotaged it? And wondering whether the subconscious sabotage, if indeed such a sabotage really occurred, was because she was black and you worried about performance, or about whether your standard European plough was sufficient to work the fertile fields of her deep African valley? Or whether it was just that she was a fine, slightly older, sophisticated woman with a nice apartment and an even nicer body and you'd be nervous no matter her skin color? Or whether your body just went on strike and decided that it didn't have room for a liter of vodka and a gallon of orange juice? That sort of thing?
I suppose it's possible. That sort of thing has been known to happen. But I think we're past all that, honestly. If anyone freaks out at the last minute and decides not to vote for Obama it'll be because of national security issues. We are a freakish people, at times, but the freakishness doesn't stem from bigotry. It stems, rather, from innocence. Being a relatively new culture compared to other major players, and being protected from Asia and Europe by large oceans, and not really having to deal much with invading armies, we tend to be a tad paranoid nowadays as a result of past and possible future terrorist attacks. If any last-minute freaking occurs, it'll be paranoia about security--not unlike anxiety about sexual performance, I think, or making bad last-minute decisions about whether to have another drink, owing to lack of experience and wisdom--and it probably has less to do with the fact that anyone is black and more to do with a young culture's growing pains.
Hey, here's a great lyric by Rush with a metaphor for the US as a young man coming of age.
Remember
New World Man?
He's a rebel and a runner
He's a signal turning green
He's a restless young romantic
Wants to run the big machine
He's got a problem with his poisons
But you know hell find a cure
He's cleaning up his systems
To keep his nature pure
Learning to match the beat of the old world man
Learning to catch the heat of the third world man
He's got to make his own mistakes
And learn to mend the mess he makes
He's old enough to know whats right
But young enough not to choose it
He's noble enough to win the world
But weak enough to lose it ---
He's a new world man...
He's a radio receiver
Tuned to factories and farms
He's a writer and arranger
And a young boy bearing arms
He's got a problem with his power
With weapons on patrol
He's got to walk a fine line
And keep his self-control
Trying to save the day for the old world man
Trying to pave the way for the third world man
He's not concerned with yesterday
He knows constant change is here today
He's noble enough to know whats right
But weak enough not to choose it
He's wise enough to win the world
But fool enough to lose it ---
He's a new world man.
He's a new world man.
He's a new world man.
