20 below, Riddick/Vin and Obama

First, I hate snow. I don't care how pretty people think the white, fluffy rain is, it's cold, wet, messy and can ruin any drive in an instant. The beyond frigid cold that has come to the Mid-West has left me isolated in a few spots and cherishing my California dreams...but moving right along...the wind chill is 20 below zero. That's cold enough to kill and kill quickly. But the frigid temps didn't stop the typical Kansas City stupidity.

I heard on the morning news that a snow plow driver was shot last night around 2:35 a.m. while taking a break. This happened near my home so it is rather unsettling to know this nut-bar may live near me.

Keeping in mind that a blizzard (I ain't kidding either) hit the city Christmas day and the snow has not let up since. It snowed today too...the weather has been brutal. Killing or trying to kill people trying to remove the snow is just about one of the worst things I have ever heard. My co-workers speculated that this may have been a gang initiation.

With that knowledge that a KC fool is running about with a gun, I nestled in with my son and watched a couple movies I own but never watched, "Pitch Black," and "The Chronicles of Riddick." I've heard reasonably good reviews about Pitch Black, nothing but slams on Riddick. Both movies star Vin Diesel as Riddick, a reluctant hero...which brings me to our president.

Pres. Obama's popularity rating is falling. That is normal but it also brings to mind the numbers of people who reluctantly voted for him just to oust Bush. They knew he couldn't take office and immediately turn around the country...yet these are the same people who will quickly withdraw their support for our president. A full year is about to pass, that is not much time in the world of politics, but people want perfection. This is not a surprise to any American minority, especially black people.

I noticed long ago that as a black female, I could not do just as good as my white counterparts, I had to be better...not just better, clearly superior. Being just as good means I am sub-par. A mediocre white person will never admit that mediocrity in the face of an equally mediocre minority. That would be saying we are equal.

I have heard a lot of talk about how everyone is "just the same" when a black person speaks on racism. Whites will quickly dismiss the charge and proclaim that they do not see color, everyone is just the same. In a way, that statement is true. In another way, it is completely wrong.

We are all human, yes, but different races do have subtle differences. Certain races are more likely to get particular diseases. Some races tend to be taller or shorter but these differences do not translate to some races naturally having higher intelligence. I have never believed that and never will. I've met too many stupid people of all races to believe any one race has naturally superior intelligence.

However, whites in America have culture to fall on to support this belief. So many whites will look at that story about the snow plow driver, see that a black man committed the crime and conclude that blacks are "more violent than whites." The stupidity of one black person is enough to confirm to that white person that blacks are naturally inferior. When a story of a white person doing something stupid or horrible is reported, the same white person who made the snap judgment about blacks somehow concludes that the white person is the aberration and never the "norm."

Obama, in my view, is the reluctant hero to many young people of all races. I think he wants and believes he can do a good job. He actually has to be better than good, he needs to be Clinton-like in his excellence, Bill, not Hillary. The only way we will know how well Obama does is to watch, wait and support his efforts.