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

[sleigh.livejournal.com]

If I had to pick an order, I'd agree that a woman is most likely -- we could conceivably have had that this time if Hillary had edged out Obama in the primary.But I think "non-christian" would be second, since someone who's Jewish qualifies there, and I can see that as being within the realm of genuine possibility. If the parameter is "non-believer" (agnostic or atheist) then I think you're right -- we'd see a (Christian) gay person before an atheist.