Many of the younger ones here don't remember the 60's, weren't alive then, didn't pay attention in history classes, etc. Well, in the 60's we had tremendous civil unrest in America, and violence in the inner cities where there is a dense population of the poor and disenfranchised. It was actually pretty amazing that with Katrina we didn't see greater violence from the poor blacks at that time, but they had more important things to do I guess...like seek higher ground so as not to drown. Like it or not, there is a sense of entitlement in this country. Now many will think that sense of entitlement is only feature of the black and/or poor community. However wealthy Americans feel entitled to tax cuts, protection and security behind gated communities, and in many cases as we have seen over the past couple of decades, especially in corporate America and on Wall Street, where we have had so much white collar crime and abuse of power that is has created a deeper distrust of "the man" and the upper crust of our society. They didn't get away with murder, but they got away with making millions...the good old fashioned way...by cheating and corrupting the system, electing stooge representatives in D.C. to allow them to do their dirty yet profitable work, etc. Meanwhile since the violence in the 60's, we have white republican America addicted to hate speech radio and a festering anger toward the minority groups and/or liberals who they feel are the cause of the decline in America. Bottom line, compare today to the great depression. We have more anger, more distrust of Government, more acrimony and partisanship, more availability of media that allows people to listen and read continually what is essentially hate talk and hate speech. On both sides of the equation. In the inner city we have hate speech in the form of rap music, which we have seen erupt in acts of violence and assassinations, etc. We have more guns in this country than ever before, and with a lot more firepower than in the depression era. We have a potential for a return to the type of riots we saw in the 60's or worse, and we have vigilante thinking on the right wing side of the situation. So imagine the economy does get as bad as the 30's. Imagine the levels of unemployment, bread and soup lines, and people who are not impatient and pissed off. You have a receipt for riots in the inner cities, no doubt...and violence everywhere. So why is Obama the best person for the job? Say we do have riots. Who will calm down the minority groups? Would John McCain have been able to garner the trust of the poor and disenfranchised and stem the tide of a violent reaction by the poor, hungry, unemployed? Or will Obama be able to keep a lid on a very dangerous explosive situation because the poor and hopeless have faith in him? Especially in the heat of the summer...when most riots took place in the 60's.
Actually, your point has some merit, though I doubt Obama would have been elected on the, Hey, I'll keep the natives from getting too restless campaign slogan. Seriously, I do expect a long hot summer similar to 1968. Burn baby burn.
I agree that Obama was not elected because of possible riots in inner cities due to difficult economic conditions. However, I can't imagine "Bomb, Bomb, Bomb Iran" handing a race riot in a manner that would calm down the simmering unrest that may come and potential for cascading civil unrest. Hell, he would have all the National Guard in Iran by now...
No where am I advocating rioting. You must be one of those angry white men, feeling emasculated, dreaming of seeing this again: <img src=http://elandslide.org/images/miamirioters.jpg> The truth is, a riot in America due to a bad economy is much more likely than a terrorist event by outside forces...