For better or for worse, I guess that anyone really can become president

[Cyrano]

Who could have believed that a Yale graduate without one accomplishment to his name, a clueless, unthinking man who glided through life on his family's connections, could ever get elected president? Well, as most DUers know, he never was elected president. He was appointed by five supreme court justices who had no right to do so. And then, to add insult to industry, his henchmen stole another four years for him by screwing the voters of Ohio (along with all the rest of us.)

So, yeah, if you're playing with a rigged deck, "anyone can become president."

Then some unknown young guy came along: black father, white mother, no connections and no wealth. All he had going for him was intelligence and a family who loved and cherished him.

He got himself all the way to Columbia University and then Harvard Law School (where he met another law student who was as smart as he was, and whom he was smart enough to marry).

After getting a post-graduate degree about life and politics in Illinois, he decided to run for the U.S. senate and got elected. Then he decided to run for president of the United States.

Yeah, "anyone can grow up to be president." But some half black/half white kid from Hawaii/Chicago??? Nah, couldn't happen. (And almost every black and white Dem politician told him to get in line and wait his turn.)

But to the amazement of the entire world, it did happen. We humans are not usually aware of history unfolding before our eyes. However, yesterday, there was no aware/awake human being who didn't grasp that one of the most wonderful, incredible moments in history was taking place. (And yes, for a small minority of soul-less people in this country, it was a moment of horror.)

For better or for worse, we now know that anyone really can grow up to be president. The worst "anyone" left Washington yesterday. And a man who will, hopefully, be among the best "someones", is today, the president of the United States. None of us can foresee what is to come. But at least, let's relish this incredibly marvelous moment of hope.

[Vanje]

1. Heres what Chris Rock sez:

"Excellent black people have always been compensated for excellence. Always," Rock said. "The real equality is when we can have a black president as dumb as George Bush. That's when we're really equal. That's when the dream has come true."

[Poll_Blind]

4. Ha! Ok, I find some major truth in that!

PB

[Ganja Ninja]

11. nailed it.

[Captain Hilts]

2. IF you go to a private, Ivy League university.

Ford
GHWB
Bill Clinton
Hillary Clinton
GWB
Barack Obama
Michelle Obama

Carter gets an asterix.

[Cyrano]

3. Bill Clinton and the Obamas had zero family credentials or other

connections to get them into those universities. They made it due to their far-above-average intelligence.

Wingnuts like to talk about "pulling yourself up by your own boot straps." These are three outstanding people who didn't have any boot straps, but managed to somehow overcome the odds against them.

And while we're on the topic, can you name two or three Republicans who pulled this off?

[Captain Hilts]

6. Obama came from a family that valued education. It was VERY unusual...

to have a mother that had a college education, let alone working on a graduate degree in those days.

Yes, hats of to Michelle and Bubba for scratchin' their way in on their own.

[BeFree]

8. Heh

Nixon was a VP, Reagan a famous movie actor, Bush 1 was a VP and bush 2 was the son of a President.
That was what got them into office: coattails.

What got democrats into office was hard work and talent.

And they say there's no difference.....

[Winterblues]

5. Are you somehow suggesting the the very best schools should not produce our leaders?

[Captain Hilts]

9. Not at all....

I'm just sayin' it's tough to get into a private school.

My high school senior class had 700 kids in it. About 200 went to college and ONE to a private university. It can be tough.

I'm about to finish a phd at a fancy university, so I've seen the demographics up close.

[KittyWampus]

7. Eisenhower also grew up dirt poor, went to public school and joined the military to get ahead

[Captain Hilts]

10. No, his father was a college-educated engineer. It was rare to have a college-educated parent.

My mother knew Eisenhower very well.