HONKY, PLEASE

Cover line of the current issue of Esquire, accompanying a picture of John Edwards:

Can a white man still be elected president?

If so, John Edwards will have to battle image, cancer, and the forces of history.

Yeah, "the forces of history" -- because, you know, we really might get President Hillary or President Barack, and then it's gonna be all over for male Caucasians as far as presidential politics goes. We'll never have another white-guy president again.

And dnA tirelessly digs into our past history in search of non-white-male presidents and discovers -- stop me if you already knew this -- that there haven't been any.

Look, I know the cover line is meant to be clever and cheeky, but the anxiety -- the fear of the loss of privilege -- absolutely shows through. When are my fellow white males going to get over their whiny sense of persecution?

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(Then again, you know who I fear is going to be the next president, and maybe Esquire has a point.)