Recently, I interviewed the administrator for Facebook’s leading anti-Barack Obama group called “Stop Barack Obama,” which has nearly 40,000 members; surprisingly, administrator Aaron Polk is also a University of Oregon student. He told me that the group’s purpose was not to close-mindedly bash the presidential hopeful, but simply to raise awareness about his voting record and policy issues. Because Obama is such a charismatic, well-spoken leader, Polk says too many young voters and Obama supporters only see that aspect of his political persona and literally know nothing about his politics. That is valid, and I figure a lot of Obama supporters fall into this category – myself included. For this, I can applaud Polk – even though he is a Republican.
In Wednesday’s edition of the Daily Emerald, the back page featured an AP article about Obama’s love for basketball. While it is important for politicians to have a relatable American component to their personalities, does Obama’s skill as a baller really have anything to do with his ability to lead a country? And although Obama apparently has an ankle-breaking crossover – my favorite dribble move – I quite frankly don’t give a rat’s ass how good his game is.
But my beef isn’t really with Obama, basketball or The Associated Press. My beef is with the hugely overbearing emphasis our country places on sports as a political component. We know Obama can ball, and we certainly know he can’t bowl, but does that make any difference to anything relating to the world of politics? Does his ability to run the point on the court equate to running the nation? Does a score of 37 on the lanes mean he’s going to gutter ball the nation? No, it just means the fool can’t roll. So why does Fox News and every other media outlet care whether or not a political candidate has athletic prowess when his or her real job is to fix the economy, stop this war and unite the country?
I know I asked the question, but I also have the answer: We as a society place way too much value on professional sports. I’m not saying sports are meaningless – because I genuinely believe they can be inspiring facets to the human soul – but why do athletes get free rides, get-out-of-jail-free-cards and a paycheck big enough to feed a country? Why are athletes at this school getting state-of-the-art technology while the rest of the campus population has to fight over computers in the library, lives in the nation’s crappiest Division I dorms, and pays a lot more just to get an education. Meanwhile, student-athletes like Jonathan Stewart attended the UO for three years, paid nothing, was treated like a God, bailed on his education for a game, and was rewarded with millions upon millions of dollars. I’m almost ready to take a stance against more higher education funding because we all know where that money will go: Masturbatory, 100-foot billboards in New York’s Times Square.
Remember that all athletes are just playing a game, so why does our society value game playing more than the welfare of our country? It’s good for the economy and raises national morale – I get that – but what this country needs is a president, not an athlete and not a spawn of Satan like Bush. I wouldn’t care if Obama could beat Jordan one-on-one – although it’d certainly be impressive – because a president’s job is not to make us smile in awe. A president’s job is to ensure that this country is led with intelligence, morality and with 300 million other people in mind. I love Obama’s character, and his ability to create hope – even false hope – but I think a lot of that love is miscalculated just by the fact that I hate Bush and his neo-con minions so much. That being said, I am encouraged by Polk’s message of awareness. As it stands, I currently support Obama because I actually do agree with his politics, and there’s nothing wrong with supporting him for his public speaking skills, particularly since our country’s been run by a president who checked his English and grammar skills at the door in eighth grade. But when the primary and general elections arrive, remember that you are voting for a leader, not a motivational speaker, not an athlete, and not even a POW survivor.
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