Anyone who enters the political arena had best be prepared for a hefty dose of ridicule, deserved and undeserved. They can expect to be fodder for the equal-opportunity late-night comics who need monolgue material five nights a week, and will take a shot at anyone regardless of their position on the political spectrum. They can also, of course, expect to endure even greater abuse from those with whom they truly differ on issues, basic philosophy, etc.

If an African-American candidiate needs special immunity from this normal nasty give-and-take, school-of-hard-knocks process, then I would suppose that means that the nation is not ready for an African-American candidate ~ which is NOT what I believe.

I think we ARE ready for a President Obama, so I have to assume that Mr (and Mrs!) Obama must be ready for us ~ ALL of us, even political opponents and folks with philosophical and even personal differences, and even people who are simply downright rude. And as for anyone likely to get their own feelings hurt by proxy, well, they simply need to get over themselves.

I absolutely recognize that we are not "colorblind" as a society, but we need to be moving in that direction, and that means that everyone needs to reassess their assumptions. Nobody should get a free pass because of their membership in a "victim" class.

As a constituent of the crooked Congressman William Jefferson and the incompetant Mayor C. Ray Nagin, I can attest to the damage that can result from African-American politicians being protected from criticism and held to a relaxed set of standards.