Not In My Lifetime

[sleigh]

Until recently, I really didn't think that there was a chance in hell that I would see a black man as president of our country. I'm looking forward to seeing that historic moment today.

And hopefully, if I live long enough, I might see a few other firsts:

-- A woman elected president (as long as it's not Sarah Palin, please...). That, I think, is conceivable. Hillary Clinton's run for the nomination, and (I must admit) the choice of Palin as McCain's running mate have hopefully been enough to break down the barriers that Geraldine Ferraro first assaulted back in '84.

-- An openly gay person elected president. I suspect that one may have to wait a long, long time...

-- An openly non-Christian elected president. My preference would be for an openly agnostic or atheist, which I think is the one with the least chance. I suspect that a Jewish president is most conceivable. A Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu, etc. is nearly on a par with an agnostic or atheist.

What barrier(s) would you like to see broken in the future? What do you think the chances are?

Comments

Not in my lifetime

[(Anonymous)]

I do not expect it to happen in my lifetime but one of the barriers I want to see broken is the requirement that someone be BORN American (either on American soil or to American parents). IMHO, our founding fathers intended to prevent some of the German soldiers and others who stayed behind from becoming President. I do not believe they intended that someone who came to America as a child and lived her all his/her life in American and became a naturalized citizen should be barred from office while someone who was born in another country to American citizens and never set foot on American soil should be eligible.

It's going to take a constitutional amendment to achieve that and I don't think anyone is going to push for one for Arnold... which is why it won't happen in my lifetime.

Re: Not in my lifetime

[sleigh.livejournal.com]

Given that yes, that takes changing the constitution, I don't see that happening either.

BTW, this journal screen anonymous comments -- please identify yourself or you risk having the comment deleted in the future!