A Black Bushie

A Special Commentary By Cantice:

A Black Bushie: On Why I Still Support the President

All systems of political power are flawed. At best elected officials try to represent the collective of those who voted for them. At worst, you give a man a little power and watch him abuse it; you watch your congresswoman becoming greedy for gain and lose her connectedness to the average American. Perhaps the best and worst are both always the case.

I was asked several months ago whether I still support the President. Without pausing I said yes. Just like now, my statement silenced the room. The room was full of young (under 30) African Americans, but that statement would silence any room that isn’t a Southern Baptist sanctuary. I went on to name Bush’s initiatives that support marriage—before it became an issue to proclaim that marriage was between a man and a woman, I said that I’ve watched him put Social Security’s demise before the public in a serious way, and begin conversations on the immigration issue. Perhaps it was his beginning the conversation that gave Georgia politicians the guts to pass substantive illegal immigration enforcement laws. I have watched as he declared war against a world citizen who had broken the terms of his probation. Today I watch as he stands behind his actions in Iraq in the face of public disdain and inability to cope with the casualties of war. Bush appointed some of the Supreme Court judges who voted that the ban on an abortion procedure that delivers a full-term baby’s head before putting a whole in it and delivering the body of the dead baby (partial-birth abortion) was not unconstitutional.

My problem is not with this President. My problem is that I don’t see in any of the leading presidential candidates the type of leadership that it takes to run a country when the tide of popular opinion turns against you. People say that leading politically is all about the people. If that is true then that is the fatal flaw of politics. Leadership is about the one leading. It is up to constituents to look at the character and track record of the leader in question and determine if they will stand behind his or her decisions. When I’m stripped down to my core, I’m old school. I don’t run from a fight, you don’t talk about my family, and I call it like I see it. I think those are some of the mottos that the President doesn’t say, but deep down he believes. These are some of the mottos that down to earth folk and especially Black people have naturally lived by for years. It's too bad that they're not accepted when the President is the one living by them. I think many of my family and friends missed their chance to identify with him and to declare Bush the first Black President.