NObama? Whoops, my bad
- |
I have some notoriety on the Internets for various sins, but one of them calls for prompt absolution. Yes, I wrote a column on May 9 of last year titled "President Obama? Not This Time." It is true that I was early to the Jeremiah Wright picnic, meaning that I spotted the potential threat Obama's minister posed to his campaign. And it's also true that the column had some nice lines _ e.g., "The people who've ponied up $4,600 for Obama in this election cycle might as well have piled the money on the kitchen table and set fire to it. Or donated it to the Audubon Society, which has a lot better chance of being in business a year from now than Obama's presidential campaign."
I especially like, "If you listen closely, the silent dog whistle is already blowing for the Obama candidacy, and the tune it is playing is taps."
Of course, the premise was entirely wrong.
Oops.
My unofficial motto is, "I've been wrong before," and I certainly have (see here and here and here and here). Opinion writing isn't brain surgery; if it was . . . well, I won't finish that thought. I suspect I'm not the only one who got hornswaggled by the unexpected Obama ascendancy. Senator Hillary Clinton would be an example of a public figure who bet on the wrong horse. In her case, herself.
Back in May of 2007, I did write: "I wouldn't mind living in a country where Barack Obama is president." Now I have my chance.
Alex Beam is a Globe columnist. His e-dress is beam@globe.com.
