# What's the next "first" we'll see in the Oval Office? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 4, 2009, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-next-first-well-see-in-the-oval-office/484426 "2009-02-04T15:58:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2009, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-next-first-well-see-in-the-oval-office/484426/21 "2009-02-04T18:09:37Z")
> [@Lionne](#): > > Will it truly take that long to elect an atheist president? Maybe I’m understimating the strength of people’s religious beliefs but that seems insane to me. I don’t understand how it seems more likely that a Muslim president gets elected before an atheist one…I mean, wouldn’t a hardcore religious person rather see someone who doesn’t believe than someone who believes the opposite of them? If I take a swig of that magic potion that Tarzan got from the witch-doctor, the one that gave him eternal youth, and live for another 300 years until I mouth off to the wrong person and get shot in the back of the head, the president in office when I die will STILL have to say “so help me god” when s/he takes the oath of office or face horrible backlash. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2009, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-next-first-well-see-in-the-oval-office/484426/22 "2009-02-04T18:13:43Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > If I take a swig of that magic potion that Tarzan got from the witch-doctor, the one that gave him eternal youth, and live for another 300 years until I mouth off to the wrong person and get shot in the back of the head, the president in office when I die will STILL have to say “so help me god” when s/he takes the oath of office or face horrible backlash. I totally agree. And yes, I think a Muslim president, who, if the Muslim terrorist activity was still rampant, came swinging out of the gate with a “I decry\* and disapprove of those who have robbed my religion of its true meaning with this terrorist activity and will hunt them down, and furthermore, _I know how to stop them_”, he stands a good chance of being elected. Eventually. \*is that the right word? too lazy to look it up. If all this “terrorist” furor dies down then I think there’s even more chance. “We worship the same god as you. Ours is named Allah. Yours is named Jehovah. We are one people. Let’s bring the world together, not apart.” ---
**Author:** ![mswas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mswas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mswas)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2009, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-next-first-well-see-in-the-oval-office/484426/23 "2009-02-04T18:16:49Z")
The first foreign born President after we amend the constitution to allow Arnold Schwarzenegger to run. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2009, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-next-first-well-see-in-the-oval-office/484426/24 "2009-02-04T18:18:13Z")
> [@Anaamika](#): > > I totally agree. You agree with my prediction of how long it’ll be before we have an atheist president, or that I’m likely to be murdered because of my smart mouth? 😉 > [@](#): > > And yes, I think a Muslim president, who, if the Muslim terrorist activity was still rampant, came swinging out of the gate with a "I decry\* \ \*is that the right word? too lazy to look it up. “Decry” is exactly the right word. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Carrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f0a364/32.png) [@Captain\_Carrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Carrot)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2009, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-next-first-well-see-in-the-oval-office/484426/25 "2009-02-04T18:18:26Z")
> [@Lionne](#): > > Will it truly take that long to elect an atheist president? Maybe I’m understimating the strength of people’s religious beliefs but that seems insane to me. I don’t understand how it seems more likely that a Muslim president gets elected before an atheist one…I mean, wouldn’t a hardcore religious person rather see someone who doesn’t believe than someone who believes the opposite of them? Nope. I think they’d rather see someone who believes _something_, even if most of it is misguided. Muslims are at least not godless, though they are heathens. (Disclaimer: everything after “I think” is written from the fundamentalist point of view, not mine.) ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2009, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-next-first-well-see-in-the-oval-office/484426/26 "2009-02-04T18:20:37Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > You agree with my prediction of how long it’ll be before we have an atheist president, or that I’m likely to be murdered because of my smart mouth? > 😉 Yes. 😛 > [@](#): > > “Decry” is exactly the right word. Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![mswas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mswas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mswas)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2009, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-next-first-well-see-in-the-oval-office/484426/27 "2009-02-04T18:20:37Z")
[Thomas Jefferson - Deist or Christian?](http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=28006) ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2009, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-next-first-well-see-in-the-oval-office/484426/28 "2009-02-04T18:24:29Z")
> [@mswas](#): > > [Thomas Jefferson - Deist or Christian?](http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=28006) I only read **worldnetdaily** when i don’t have a gun in easy reach. It’s just common sense. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2009, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-next-first-well-see-in-the-oval-office/484426/29 "2009-02-04T18:28:47Z")
I think a woman is going to get elected in 2016. I’ve posted that a few times and being wrong one more time won’t hurt. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2009, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-next-first-well-see-in-the-oval-office/484426/30 "2009-02-04T18:35:52Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > In my opinion, a female President will be next then a Jewish one. Everything else is at least a generation away. > > Not on the OP’s list but I think we’ll also see a Hispanic President within twenty years. Thirded. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2009, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-next-first-well-see-in-the-oval-office/484426/31 "2009-02-04T19:08:17Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > Hillary. According to Rush and ilk. Which would take care of “lesbian”, too. 😃 Female is next, then Hispanic. I won’t live to see any of the others. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2009, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-next-first-well-see-in-the-oval-office/484426/32 "2009-02-04T19:14:47Z")
> [@Duke](#): > > I’d say that it’s possible in 50 years (or, hopefully, within my lifetime) that a majority of people in the US will be irreligious. I remember back in the '60s . . . many of us believed that within a generation, organized religion would be dead. Don’t hold your breath. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2009, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-next-first-well-see-in-the-oval-office/484426/33 "2009-02-04T19:17:32Z")
> [@Lionne](#): > > . . . wouldn’t a hardcore religious person rather see someone who doesn’t believe than someone who believes the opposite of them? In what sense is Islam the “opposite” of Christianity? ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2009, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-next-first-well-see-in-the-oval-office/484426/34 "2009-02-04T19:24:59Z")
The thing is Obama self-identifies as “African American” but he is in reality mixed race. He’s as much white as black. As soon as we get a black person who has a mother and father who were both black gets to be president, Obama will be retroactively relegated to “first mixed race” president. This is the problem with lables, now you can apply them without meaning. I know a guy who’s mother and father were born in Japan, they are Japanese, the entire ancestory has lived in Japan. His parents moved to Mexico and he was born there. He calls himself a Latino and the other Latinos back him up, saying Latino isn’t about race. But to most people latin means “Spanish ancestory,” but with more and more Indians (Native Americans) claiming Latino, with no European blood in them, Latino is taking on a new meaning. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2009, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-next-first-well-see-in-the-oval-office/484426/35 "2009-02-04T19:36:57Z")
> [@Markxxx](#): > > The thing is Obama self-identifies as “African American” but he is in reality mixed race. Have you not heard of the one-drop rule? An ounce of black heritage outweighs 53 ounces of white. I think part of the reason President Obama self-identifies as black is that he was always obliged too. Mrs. Rhymer is much lighter-skinned than he–she’s about as fair as Natalie Portman, and could easily pass for white if she were inclined to repudiate her mother’s side of the family–but on more than a few occasions she’s been told that she’s “really” black–whatever _really_ means in this context. ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2009, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-next-first-well-see-in-the-oval-office/484426/36 "2009-02-04T19:49:56Z")
> [@Markxxx](#): > > The thing is Obama self-identifies as “African American” but he is in reality mixed race. So are almost all African Americans. > [@Markxxx](#): > > This is the problem with lables, now you can apply them without meaning. I know a guy who’s mother and father were born in Japan, they are Japanese, the entire ancestory has lived in Japan. His parents moved to Mexico and he was born there. He calls himself a Latino and the other Latinos back him up, saying Latino isn’t about race. > > But to most people latin means “Spanish ancestory,” but with more and more Indians (Native Americans) claiming Latino, with no European blood in them, Latino is taking on a new meaning. No, Latino does not mean “Spanish ancestry”: it means Spanish-speaking. Most Latinos are at least partly descended from Native Americans, and many are also descended from African slaves. In addition, it means from Central or South America: someone from Spain doesn’t actually count as “Latino”. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2009, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-next-first-well-see-in-the-oval-office/484426/37 "2009-02-04T20:04:20Z")
> [@Markxxx](#): > > This is the problem with lables, now you can apply them without meaning. “Now?” Did they mean more in the past? ---
**Author:** ![Euryphaessa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Euryphaessa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euryphaessa)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2009, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-next-first-well-see-in-the-oval-office/484426/38 "2009-02-04T20:13:54Z")
> [@Duke](#): > > Most of the very religious aren’t going to be alive in 50 years. I don’t think the next generation is going to be anywhere near 85%. Two generations from now, I reckon it will be even less. > > I’m still not buying that the idea of an atheist president in 50 years is so intrinsically unlikely. 50 years ago, Barack Obama _couldn’t have eaten lunch_ in a lot of places in Washington, DC. I’d say that’s a hell of a bigger mountain to climb in 50 years than where atheists are now. The thing about the fight for African-American civil rights is that there was such an obvious inequality between black people and white people, so supporters of the cause were outraged and willing to fight. There were rallies and protests and everybody was forced to see how unfair the treatment of African-Americans was. Atheists aren’t really persecuted or denied priveleges, so it’s not like there’s a huge movement of people pushing for acceptance of atheists and trying to stop discrimination. There’s no reason for religious people (which I believe will be much more numerous than you think in the next generation) to be swayed in their opinion because nobody is trying so visibly to change it. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2009, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-next-first-well-see-in-the-oval-office/484426/39 "2009-02-04T20:23:53Z")
> [@mswas](#): > > The first foreign born President after we amend the constitution to allow Arnold Schwarzenegger to run. So in the next 4, 8, 12 or 16 years huh? Because if Arnold runs, he’s got it in the bag. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Carrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f0a364/32.png) [@Captain\_Carrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Carrot)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2009, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-next-first-well-see-in-the-oval-office/484426/40 "2009-02-04T20:40:17Z")
> [@Justin\_Bailey](#): > > So in the next 4, 8, 12 or 16 years huh? Because if Arnold runs, he’s got it in the bag. Err, what? I don’t think Schwarzenegger can pull a full Reagan. He’s already done a partial, but I think this is as far as he’s going. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-next-first-well-see-in-the-oval-office/484426.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-next-first-well-see-in-the-oval-office/484426.md?page=3)