Is America Ready for a blind albino Jewish President of Japanese descent?

Enough already.

If I hear one more ounce of praise for someone for being the first "blank" to be in the position of "blank"... well, I'm not going to scream, or throw up, or do anything overtly dramatic. But I'll probably want to.

Look, if you're the first black Secretary of State, good for you. The first Hispanic governor of New Mexico? Right on. First female Speaker of the House? More power to you. First black coach of a Super Bowl team? Not as impressive as the other ones, but still, cool enough.

But it doesn't matter.

Sometimes, when the media outlet covering the latest version of this favorite news story doesn't particularly like the person who has ascended to the position, they'll actually get the story right. Most of the time, however, the piece is worked in one of two ways: either it will be a fawning puff piece about the wonderful person who managed to overcome the odds to reach this position, or it will be a questioning item on whether or not America is ready to deal with the implications of this event.

If it will minimize the articles, I'll give the answer to the second one now. YES. Is America ready for a female President? YES. A black President? YES. A hispanic President? A gay President? YES. A one-eyed genetic experiment consisting of human mixed with manatee DNA? YES.

Are there intolerant people among us? Oh, hell yes! Of all creeds and colors. But when final decisions are made, there is one thing which consistently wins out over intolerance in the vast majority of Americans: self-interest. America is ready to elect just about anyone, if the majority of the country believes it's in their self-interest to do so. That means different things to different people: some want a role model for their kids; some want specific programs to be expanded or contracted; some want particular agendas pushed domestically or internationally.

People are more likely to trust those who most resemble themselves. After that, there are a few other factors which tend to elicit trust in one's leadership: height is a common factor, as is (in these times) a lack of facial hair. Posture can be a huge influence. But you can't take the resemblance factor away, and because of that, people who are different from a majority of the constituency will have a harder time gaining the most confidence. But that difference can be overcome at any time if enough people can be convinced that the prospective candidate will be the best one for their personal interests. It'll be harder for a short Jewish woman to get the Presidency, but the possibility remains, and if she gets the majority of the vote, it will be because a majority of Americans felt she was the best candidate for the job.

Now, in terms of ground breaking, it's not a news story either. It really doesn't matter if Condi Rice is the first black female Secretary of State, or Nancy Pelosi is the first female Speaker of the House. It doesn't. Not the tiniest bit.

What matters is twofold: One, that a black woman, any black woman, can become Secretary of State, or that a woman can become Speaker of the House. That is a testament to the value of our Constitution and our culture. While there have been occasional standouts who have pushed their way into a position thought unacheivable... the first one-armed professional baseball player, for example, Pete Gray... unless their performance was so incredible that it inspired people to break established rules or implement new ones, what we should be celebrating is the strength of a system which keeps so many doors open to so many people.
In those rare instances, I'll happily back off my stance. But most people who are the first of their type to do something aren't overcoming anything but inertia. They're simply taking advantage of the steady increase in public perceptions of equality in performance ability. That's attributable to the culture, not the person.

Two, that there is an availability of knowledge and experience to allow the "groundbreakers" in question the competency to gain and hold their position. It wouldn't matter much if the position were open to people, but they were unable to gain the skill sets required to do the job well. In such an instance, the "groundbreaker" would be gaining the spot for all of the wrong reasons, and as such, would likely do a poor job.

I don't want a Baptist lesbian jockey to be my Senator; I want the most competent person to be my Senator. If she happens to be a Baptist lesbian jockey, more power to her.