Barack Obama Is That One

Remember Richard Nixon? I am not only old enough to remember him (he bore an uncanny resemblance to my childhood dentist), I remember his campaign song and slogan. Yes, for awhile there, we had campaign songs. Not like what we have now. Original music and lyrics.

Nixon’s campaign slogan, and the title of his campaign song, was Nixon is The One.

Being called “The One” is apparently not a bad thing at all. The band Orleans made a mint on a song with “the one” in its title.



But being called “That One” is bad. It’s very bad. African-Americans point out that it is racist. I didn’t know that, but they said that when they heard those words that John McCain uttered last night, their take was that it was a racist remark. Here read it for yourself:

“‘It speaks to the fundamental belief of racism: despite all evidence to the contrary, you are inherently beneath me simply by virtue of the melanin content of your skin,’ Ciji McBride, a 33-year-old sales professional in Los Angeles, said Wednesday.”

“Don Hammonds of The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette also took offence.”

“‘Regardless of intent, it showed Senator McCain to be culturally ignorant, and completely unaware of the implications of what his off-the-cuff statement meant to people of colour,’ he wrote.”

“‘Whether Senator McCain meant it that way or not, if you are a person of colour, and someone trots out the 'that one' remark, you instantly take it as racist. I know that I did.’”

Being called “The One” is a compliment. Any doubters should ask Tom “Neo” Anderson about that. But being called “That One” is like using the “N” word. It’s a code word for a man with a tan.

So the question is, was this a Fordian “Poland moment?” The same man’s famous nose dribble moment on national TV? Is this Richard Nixon debating Jack Kennedy, showing his shifty eyes to American voters?

Did we just hear McCain say “Macaca?”

Should pundits now refer to the Republican presidential candidate as John McCaca?