"What Will the Neighbors Think?"
Trip Start
Jun 05, 2008
1
26
38
Trip End
Sep 28, 2008
Bangkok,
Thailand
Monday, September 15, 2008
Point of View, Newsweek
by Jacob Weisberg
Sept 1, 2008
"Many have discoursed on what an Obama victory would mean for America. We would finally be able to see our legacy of slavery, segregation and racism in the rearview mirror. Our kids would grow up thinking of prejudice as a non-factor in their lives. The rest of the world would embrace a less fearful and more open post-post 9/11 America. But does it not follow that an Obama defeat would signify the opposite. If Obama loses our children will grow up thinking of equal opportunity as a myth. His defear would say that WHEN HANDED A PERFECT OPPORTUNITY TO PUT THE WORST PART OF OUR HISTORY BEHIND US, WE CHOSE NOT TO. In this even, the world's judgement will be severe and inescapable: The United States had its day, but in the end couldn't put its own self-interest ahead of its crazy irrationality over race...To the rest of the world, a rejection of the promise he represents wouldn't just be an odd choice by the United States. It would be taken for what it would be: sign and symptom of a nation's historical decline."
