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Obama's Hidden Opponent

Obama's Hidden Opponent

To the Editor:

Barack Obama's principal opponent in the presidential campaign will probably not be John McCain; it will be racism. Even with all the progress since the civil rights legislation of the 1960s, America still has many of the residual effects of the "racist disease" that infected our nation since the beginning.

Of course, Obama will be attacked by the overt racists, including the neo-Nazi sites, the KKK, and the various other white supremacy groups whose members are paranoid, cowardly morons who see a black President as proof that the end of their world is near. Some of their racist bile has been reported by civil rights groups such as the Southern Poverty Law Center, on their Web site, "HATEWATCH."

These racial slurs and threats are being made despite the fact that these white nationalists know that their words are being monitored and recorded by law enforcement and civil rights groups. The most outrageous and scary threats are seen on Web sites that allow anonymous e-mailers to say whatever they want without fear of being identified. One such site, JD Underground, is a site ostensibly devoted to lawyers. It has a particularly venomous theme, entitled "Nigger President," that has continued from the beginning of the year.

On some white supremacist and neo-Nazi sites, there are lengthy discussions about what would happen if Obama were elected president. Most of these posts are derogatory and are filled with all kinds of racist slurs. A few posts speculate that an Obama victory would start a race war between whites and blacks. Charles Manson, who claimed he was trying to bring about such a war, must be getting excited. It is not unusual to see e-mailers encouraging readers to do the right thing and put a bullet through Obama's head, bring back lynching, etc. One group, using the screen name "amerikkkan," warns: "The deep south is making plans."

Besides the violent, criminal racists, Obama will face much more subtle forms of racism, some of which will be carefully scripted by the same folks who brought you the "swift boat" attacks on John Kerry. These racist swift-boaters will employ various techniques and strategies in an effort to frighten and anger potential Obama supporters. There will be attempts to further exploit his Rev. Jeremiah Wright connection, as well as any connection Obama or his wife, Michelle, might have had with anyone who has been critical of our nation for violations of civil rights.

The "black elitist" label will be bandied about in an effort to arouse anger for this "uppity black man" who dares to think he is ready and qualified to be the President of the United States. "What arrogance has this Obama man," they will say. He didn't pay his dues! It's just racism masquerading as a righteous demand for Obama to be "humble."

If the racist swift-boaters could find anything as bad on Obama as John McCain's participation with the infamous "Keating Five'' - five Senators who received, for both themselves and for groups they supported, well over $1 million from Keating in the 1980s as favors and political contributions, - it would be a home run for them. McCain and the others accepted money from Keating, and when Keating's criminal financial shenanigans were being investigated by Federal regulators, McCain and the others met twice with these regulators in a clearly improper attempt to end the investigation. It's not an overstatement to say that Keating's crimes threatened to seriously disrupt the American economy. In 1991, McCain and the others were rebuked to various degrees by the Senate Ethics Committee.

The black candidate, Barack Obama, must be perfect or close to it, while the white candidate, John McCain, can have all kinds of skeletons in his closet and still be fit to be president. This double standard is racist.

John McCain is running against Barack Obama. Barack Obama is running against racism in all its ugly forms. America still has a long way to go in the area of civil rights.

MICHAEL J. GORMAN

Editor's note: The writer is a retired NYPD Lieutenant and an attorney.