Here's something classy - retiring Republican Sen. Tom Coburn saying he's proud the U.S. elected Obama. I wish we had more of this kind of thing happening.
Especially from Coburn's side of the Senate aisle. I tip my hat to him. He recognizes, at least now, the profound historical precedent this nation established in electing Barack Obama twice to the Presidency, and how that fact modifies, to a major degree, whatever other legacy of accomplishments and failures the Obama Presidency leaves behind. Those latter things can't and won't be judged properly until considerable time has passed after Obama leaves office.
But the historical precedent of a nation that once allowed persons of African heritage to be enslaved, and afterward subjected to unspeakable atrocities and discriminations, to have elected a person of African heritage to the highest office in the land, TWICE, says a lot about where the United States of America has traveled, in political consciousness, even though many racial problems remain.
Tom Coburn is about as socially conservative as any U.S. Senator has been since the days of segregation in the southeastern states. For him to say this is a welcome statement that needs to be acknowledged, which I do.
caw
