Open Text: Exact Phrase:

One of the most baffling statements to come out of Election 2008 is one being echoed on both sides of the political aisle, on the streets of America, and in the mainstream liberal media.

Laura Hollis wrote a column published at TownHall that bore the hopeful and wildly inaccurate title, "The Best Message: Racism is Dead."

"As Republicans and (some) conservatives sift through the rubble of the 2008 campaign to find remnants of hope for the future, there are a few things that stand out loud and clear -- things which can and should form the basis for the Republican's message as they move forward. The absolute most important message is this: RACISM IS DEAD."

Racism is dead? By that statement, are we to infer that Martin Luther King's fondest aspiration, as articulated in his "I Have a Dream" speech, as delivered from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in 1963, has been fulfilled?

"I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character."

Let's take stock of what is known of the content of President-elect Barack Hussein Obama's character -- almost all of it revealed directly by Obama himself.

We know that the president-elect once dumped a white girl he was dating because of her race. He said so in his book, "Dreams of My Father". If I had dumped a friend, male or female, exclusively because of their race, what would that suggest about the content of my character?

For twenty years, Obama's closet spiritual advisor was Reverend Jeremiah Wright, whom Obama had invariably referred to over the years as his 'spiritual mentor' a 'family member' an 'uncle' -- his pastor of twenty years of whom he once said he could "no more disown than he could his grandmother."

Obama made that statement before his supporters two weeks before he repudiated and disowned Jeremiah Wright before his supporters, claiming Wright was neither one of his spiritual advisors nor a campaign advisor and, that in twenty years, he never heard of such comments or he would have gotten up and walked out the door.

What does this reveal about the content of his character? He either lied when he said he didn't agree with Wright and that Wright was not his mentor, or he lied when he said he was.

In either case, when his friendship with Wright hurt his poll numbers, he publicly dumped and disgraced a man he had called his friend, pastor, teacher and benefactor for more than twenty years. What does this reveal about the content of his character?

Obama attended Wright's church for twenty years. It is therefore, his chosen church home, and its philosophy is reflected by that of Reverend Jeremiah Wright. Obama walked away with a look backward rather than stand by his convictions. What does that say about his character?

Barack Obama's real estate deal with Tony Rezko may not have been illegal, but since Rezko is a known money launderer and Obama was smart enough to avoid being linked to him because of it, but didn't mind making a profit with him. What does that say about his character?

One of Obama's political mentors is Bill Ayers, founder of the Weather Underground, etc. etc., blah, blah. Obama wasn't 8 years old with Bill Ayers was pictured wiping his feet on Old Glory in the New York Times article. Obama was forty years old.

Obama dismisses Ayers as 'somebody from his neighborhood' as if he barely knows him. Obama knew who Ayers was, and while Ayers was an asset to Obama's ambitions, he was a friend.

Now that he is a liability, he is someone Obama 'barely' knows. What does that tell us about his character?

According to his own autobiography, "Dreams of My Father" (which experts say was ghost-written by Obama's 'slight acquaintance', Bill Ayers,) Obama sold and used cocaine, marijuana and other illegal drugs.

Here is what these associations reveal about Obama's character. He is both cynical and ruthless. He found these men, and others like them, useful to him. So he used them.

Would you attend a church whose pastor was spreading racial animosity from the pulpit? Would you even shake hands with - let alone serve on two boards with - an unrepentant terrorist, whether he bombed U.S. military installations or abortion clinics?

Obama did. It was either out of expediency or shared conviction. Either suggests some pretty serious character defects.

I've been searching out strength of character issues I could apply to Barack Hussein Obama. Every president has at least one major character strength that the country seizes as exemplary of the kind of man who should lead America.

I went on the internet to see if maybe somebody else may have spotted something that I might have missed.

I Googled "Obama's greatest character asset" and the first hit that came up was "the fact that the Republicans couldn't come up with anyone better than John McCain."

So I Googled a bit deeper. . . "Obama Turned Disadvantages Into Assets" - Lansing Journal; "Clinton Questions Obama's Character" - UPI; "Barack Has Assets and Significant Liabilities" - Delaware Online; "Distractions Reveal Obama's Character" - Krauthammer.

Frankly, I wasn't able to find a SINGLE solitary story that focused on any actual positive character traits exhibited by Barack Obama. Just a whole lot of stories defending existing attacks over existing character issues like the ones already discussed.

In terms of what is KNOWN about Barack Hussein Obama's character, his best known are cynicism, opportunism, dishonesty, disloyalty and ruthlessness.

I did find an Obama blog site bearing the title, "Top Ten Reasons to Vote for Obama".

Surely this would be the place to find some mention of Obama's positive character traits making him voteworthy enough to win the White House.

1. "Barack Obama has personal experience with poverty and the growing income gap, having grown up abroad in Indonesia and working as a community organizer in the south side of Chicago."

(He knows what it is like to be poor and black - and a graduate of Columbia and Yale.)

2. "After graduating Harvard Law, Magna Cum Laude and president of the Harvard Law Review, Obama could have become a wealthy corporate or trial lawyer but returned to Chicago to practice civil rights law."

(How does a poor black guy afford to pay Columbia and Yale's tuition costs AND work for free after he graduated?)

3. "He also taught Constitutional Law at the University of Chicago, so he knows how our government is supposed to work."

(Not much of a reason. McCain not only bled for the Constitution, he served in the Senate for 25 years.)

4. "He has the most experience as an elected official and legislator with over 10 years in state and federal public service." (We're only at point #4 and we've already drifted into Fantasy Land.)

5. "He opposed the Iraq war before it started and has a specific plan for redeploying all combat troops by March 31, 2008." (We'd have surrendered at exactly the point when we were beginning to win).

6. "He has received an A+ score from the Genocide Intervention Network for being a "champion" and taking crucial action to end the genocide in Darfur, co-sponsoring and voting for all significant Darfur legislation." (The genocide at Darfur ended????)

7. "Barack Obama is committed to universal health care by the end of his first term." So was Hillary. Why not vote her?

8. "He is committed to reversing global warming." (So is McCain)

9. "He has the broadest base of supporters, has not accepted PAC money and is the least compromised by big money special interests." (He broke his word about accepting federal financing, raised more money than any candidate in history, and has refused to release information regarding any donation of $200 or less)

10. "Barack Obama has the intellect, natural talent and charisma to communicate effectively to the entire world, bring people together, change the status quo and move our country forward."

So, those are the top ten reasons for voting for Barack Obama. Granted, I picked them at random, but that is what pollsters do. I learned he is black and he has natural talent and charisma. That's reason one.

Everything else is either untrue or applies equally to either Hillary or McCain and is not unique to Obama. Remove his color, and the only reason left is his charisma.

Tom Selleck has charisma. Mel Gibson has charisma. Even Alex Baldwin has charisma. Dr. Martin Luther King's dream was about the end of racism, not its perpetuation in reverse.

Dr. King's dream was "that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character."

Dr. King's four little children instead live in a nation that just elected its next leader based entirely on the color of his skin.

If Obama had run on the content of his character, America would have still made history this election cycle.

Except we'd be discussing President-elect Hillary Clinton this morning.

• Read Forum Comments on this Article