Thank you Salon for a short but thoughtful article.

Obama is right ~ for too long our country has been parachuting into countries thinking they can solve problems based on inadequate and faulty information.

We need a President who understands that but is also willing to take action to correct it.

Anyone who is "hip to" Margaret Mead has my vote!

"Not since Franklin...". Help me! I could pretend I was alluding to FDR and forgot to append the rest of the name (like we were on a first-name-basis?) but the truth is I meant Benjamin Franklin, had just previously been thinking about FDR, and now maybe should be pricing nursing homes.

I meant Ben Franklin. Hell, he was better than most of our Presidents anyway!

Why is that? This is one of the finest of many fine attributes displayed by Obama. He really is hip to this, and his understanding of multiple cultures and anthropology is not something limited just to the area of foreign policy (though god knows we need someone to just, at least once, come along who not only possesses this knowlege but can apply it there). It is also a domestically useful talent in a nation as diverse yet as provincial as ours (illustrating just how weird a paradox can be).

Not since Franklin can I think of a President who was as worldly in this way as Obama, nor as easy and reasurring a speaker (especially in his from-the-hip style) since JFK. He really is hip to this and a lot of other things, and his while his personal style is extemporaneous (he rarely uses talking points, so comes across as far less robotic than someone I could name here) and only seems to change this up when something he has said off-the-cuff seems to work especially well, draws a big positive response, or just feels right to him. Yes, I know the current President does that too, but that only illustrates how infuriating a paradox can sometimes be.

All of which just adds to the long list of reasons Obama will have my vote come the general election, assuming there is any justice left in the Universe

Is not about laser beams and space ships, but about cultural disconnect. One side says one thing, the other side interprets it entirely differently, and a war is born. Or someone is killed. Or an entire race of people think they're under attack when they're not.

Yes, anthropology and at least one foreign language should be required for every American.

Obama is growing on me too. Anyone who can see the nuanced need for anthropology at a national and foreign relations level is someone who has my vote.

How refreshing to hear from a candidate about the crucial need for and relevance of the anthropological perspective. Anthropology should be required coursework for all modern American college students. But it remains a fringe elective at most institutions, mine included. Even so, I just quit my full time corporate job to devote more time to teaching anthropology because it's the one small thing I can do to help fill the void of cultural ignorance in my country. Thanks Mr. Obama!

With that answer, Senator Obama revealed why he may very well be the best choice for not only the Democratic Party, but for the United States.

We know from recent painful experience that working from "the gut" is a very bad approach. We know that having someone in the White House who will keep three fingers in the wind and carefully nuance a comment to sound appealing to multiple constituencies is a mediocre approach at best.

Having someone in the Oval Office, on the other hand, who knows that making decisions based on good information - acquired before the panic of a crisis sets in - serves the nation well in the long run.

Obama gets it, and seems to get it in a way that few others seeking the presidency get it.

Hillary Clinton would have given an answer "designed" to move her from point A to point B at the moment. Obama gave a thoughtfull responce to the question. I've been hard on Obama, but he's beginning to grow on me. I think he's finally beginning to emerge from the hype.