Rants Log-in | Search Rants | Account Info

RICK’S CAFÉ AMERICAIN

Tweaking it just a bit, the United States in this political season could be that “…gin mill in all the world...” where the Claude Rains character expresses mock shock that talk of racism is “going on here.”

It does not take much to stimulate that which is deeply imbedded within the DNA of this country. Apart from the ridiculous one-drop theory upon which the Southern miscegenation rules were/are(?) based, there are also dark suggestions in this campaign of the disdain directed toward “half-breeds.”

After the mantle of Hillary’s inevitability was harshly removed in Iowa, the Clinton Machine realized that it had its work cut out for it. Previously, they had tolerated Barak with pats on the head, treating him as an interesting stalking horse along the Queen’s Highway to victory. In New Hampshire, however, all of that changed—radically. They decided that the big guns they had been saving for the general election had to be brought out immediately. That heavy artillery was unleashed on Barak with a fury that had him reeling back on his heels. Big Bill, who had been affecting the role of a casual overseer, decided that it was time to jump into the fray with both fists swinging. With the projections of a Hillary undoing at that point, they knew that the hemorrhaging had to be stopped there and then.

Soon thereafter, Michelle Obama would notice that the Clinton’s would “do anything to win.” Of course they would; this is American politics. Thus it has always been; thus it always shall be. If that was a shock to the Barak camp, they should have stayed at home. What the hell did they think this was--a pleasant tea party where everyone “played nice” until the end?! Didn’t they realize it was a formidable political machine they were opposing? Of course the Clintons are going to brandish the “race card” when they are threatened with extinction! What else are they expected to do when they are jeopardized by an ethnically vulnerable, naïve idealist who thinks he can overcome America’s institutional racism with pithy platitudes?

No, Mr. Obama, you may or may not win South Carolina today; whatever the result, I suggest it may be the end of the line for you. America was intrigued for awhile, but now it’s down to serious business. I do hope that my cynicism is betrayed—but I doubt it.

As in the movie, Rick’s Café may change ownership, but gambling will go on. Whether or not it is “the beginning of a beautiful friendship,” is yet to be seen. So, in the meantime, “You must remember this…as time goes by.”