Barack Obama and Moby-Dick

I watched Wednesday morning (it's 12 hours ahead of New York here in the Land of Smiles). My pessimistic evaluation of the polls had things pretty up in the air. The Bradley Effect you know. Actually, I believe there is such a thing, but it's only one thread in an entire fabric of reasons/rationales/feelings/beliefs that make up a voter's mind for him(her). Wow, that sentence wasn't very nice was it? Anyway, there I was, and at 11 AM, after it had already become a sure thing, the polls closed on the West Coast, and CNN immediately called Candidate Obama the winner. I was amazed at how powerful my feelings were. Something about the "officialness" of somebody on TeeVee saying it aloud. About two minutes later my strongest emotion was one of annoyance, as legions of talking heads all delivered oracular statements about the "Historic Event" (code for "He's Black"). Some of the announcers actually said "He's Black" (code for "Historic Event).
Now, sure, this election was historic, in that sense. For the first time in the history of the United States a person other than Yet-Another-Old-White-Guy was elected President. About time, some might say, but hey, let's take a lesson from the President-Elect, and be gracious here.
What does Moby-Dick have to do with this? Aha! Thanks for asking!
Here's what The White Whale has in common with the President Elect. In the book, Moby-Dick, the white whale, is being sought by Ahab, the one-legged whaling captain. But Ahab wants to stick a harpoon in Moby-Dick, not because Moby-Dick is white. Ahab wants to hapoon Moby-Dick because Moby-Dick rove off his leg (the right one, if I remember right). The Whiteness Of The Whale has nothing to do with it! In Chapter 41 (or perhaps 42 - there's a lot of chapters in the book), Melville writes, opaquely, in my opinion, about the significance of WHITE. Concluding that it has a powerful emotional effect, but whether of joy or dread or fear or ... Well, read it yourself, for the full gamut.
Likewise, other than symbolically, The Blackness of the President-Elect has nothing to do with Barack Obama and how he will govern. (Equally Significant: Skinny Legs!) To my mind, the historicity of the election is that for the first time in a long long time the voters went with the intelligent candidate. There's been a run of good-ol-ignorant presidents ever since Ronald Reagan. Admittedly, Bill Clinton was intelligent, but he campaigned as Bubba-From-Arkansaw (because he was smart). Who knows? Maybe President Obama will be the first in a line of intelligent knowlegeable thoughtful studious presidents. Maybe its the beginning of a trend!
My money? He's a One-Time Phenom. He'll say and do things that will make too many voters (and Those Who Prey On Them) unhappy. It will be seen that he is not, as they like to say; "Just Like US!