The Flamingo and His Detractors!

Even at this early stage in Senator Barack Obama's campaign for the White House, one would have been surprised that there are no right-wing groups ready to go up in arms against him. So, I wasn't at all taken aback this morning when I accessed the dashboard to post here on IkengaComments and saw an ad that claims its intent to expose 'The Real Barack Obama' in a 'free special report'. The ad by an entity that calls itself "Human Events" solicits e-mail address from IkengaComments audience with which it would send them the 'free report'.

Well, my journalistic curiosity compelled me to access the ad, which reveals that "Human Events" prides itself as the 'Leading Conservative Movement Since 1944'. The hidden faces behind this campaign against the Senator's campaign are alleging that he has 'a radical stance on abortion', and is prominent 'in corruption scandals that has been (sic) virtually ignored by the mainstream media'

Although I wouldn't for the life of me lend them my time and e-mail address to help them push their tommy rot, it's obvious from their ad that they want to disseminate cooked-up lies as 'ammunition ...to end Obama's White House dreams once and for all'. Without raising alarm over this shadowy entity and those who are funding it, one obvious inference that anyone can easily draw from them is that: they are certainly worried already that Senator Obama's campaign is striking the right chords in mainstream voters across the board in the US population.

One shouldn't be under any illusion that they won't stop at anything to undo his campaign. But my assessment of Senator Obama's quest is that, the man and his bid for the White House is already a dilemma for evil-minded people and what they represent in America since its history. My prediction is that given the Senator's sound over-all credentials, anyone, be that one a detractor or an admirer who doesn't carefully assess his/her negative views on him before they are aired, will run the risks of self-destruction. Attempts to smear him will bounce off him so cleanly that those who are behind such attempts will regret ever trying. Such potential manufacturers of smear against Senator Obama must ask Australia Prime Minister, John Howard his experience when he tried to use the usual aiding-the-terrorists charge against the Senator when he used his annoucement to condemn the invasion of Iraq. If you recall, from the outset that charge was perfected by supporters of the invasion of Iraq and used effectively to silence their opponents. Even Senator Joe Biden who tried to say something complimentary about Senator Obama was almost burnt when people felt that he was being unnecessarily patronizing. Senator Obama reminds me so much of the flamingo in Igbo lore. The immaculately white-feathered Mr. Flamingo was smeared with charcoal by his detractors, and behold, before they could blink an eye Mr. Flamingo re-emerged after a brief encounter in a slight drizzle with a more impeccable attire of white plumage.

As the Igbo often say, the only thing that detractors would possibly say to a spotless beauty is, 'please move on with your beauty'--elechasia onye mara nma, asi ya biko mara gawa!