1-23-09 Wait a minute. We just elected a BLACK president, didn’t we?

I don’t know why it took me so long to realize this. In fact, it just hit me last night.

We have a black president now, don’t we?

I mean, yes, I know Barack Obama’s black. But it took me until two days after the inauguration for it to sink in.

I mean, less than a decade after the United States essentially declared Eternal War on Evil Terror™ against Islam and the mud peoples of the Earth Island, we up and elected a president with a non-standard epidermal melanin concentration… and with a middle name of Hussein, no less.

Something is happening here. But you don’t know what it is, do you, Mr. Rove?

That got me to thinking about the much-lamented Bloom County. You Bloom County fans are nodding your heads already, because you know exactly where this is going.

Back during Jesse Jackson’s presidential run in 1988, divorced dad Tom Binkley was suffering through his monthly existential crisis. “I’m sorry…” he whimpered, curling into a fetal ball of white liberal guilt. “I… I just don’t see him as the leader of the free world. Please forgive me… please…”

The next two days’ strips are an interesting analysis of American politics. But why am I telling you this? Ken Krayeske at The 40-Year Plan was kind enough to scan them.

Bloom County - Courtesy of the 40-Year Plan

Remember, this was written just a short 20 years ago. And back in the heyday of the Reagan years, what Frank says about the first black president being a conservative makes sense. The question is, does the conventional wisdom of then hold up now? That’s actually a bit hard to say.

Campaign trail Obama voted for telecom immunity and said he’d send troops into Pakistan to hunt for terrorists, despite the fact that Pakistan is, you know, our ally. And his Secretary of State Hillary Clinton certainly has a johnson [1] for invading Iran. People who said that Campaign Trail Obama was a socialist didn’t know what the hell they were talking about. He was sometimes to the right of neoconservative George W. Bush.

Ah, but how an election changes things. In his first three days on the Job, President Barack Obama [2] has ordered the close of the Guantanamo detention center and a 120-day suspension of legal proceedings there and has reversed Bush’s ban on international aid to groups that perform or provide information on abortions. Oh, and he’s going to end the Armed Forces’ “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy, too.

So no, I don’t know if Reagan Era conventional wisdom applies to the Post-Bush II Era. All I know is that it’s a beautiful time to be alive.

[1] That was probably an inappropriate image.

[2] Gee, that still sounds lovely, doesn’t it?