The ‘Obama Effect’ Has Begun: ’60 Minutes’ Airs Stories on Racial Injustice, Third-World Doctors

I’m convinced we’re about to see a giant "Obama effect" on the culture: that win or lose, Obama’s values of global awareness, community law, and racial justice have already been inhaled by his faithful and are going to be reflected in the media, corporate life, public policy, on down the line. Well tonight’s "60 Minutes" had two Obama effect stories: 1, a stirring piece on a project to free Dallas men wrongfully imprisoned through the long-ago efforts of a racist railroading D.A. named Wade. Some of these men were incarcerated for 20+ years. 2, A piece on Paul Farmer, the doctor who built a hospital in central Haiti 25 years ago and has gone on to provide health care to Third World peoples everywhere. Both pieces featured black victims of unfairness. Both featured idealists–doctors, volunteers for a Dallas justice project–who would work for nothing in order to help others. Both stories were tear-jerkers that made you want to smash the world our parents gave us. I know: classic "60 Minutes" investigations. But back-to-back, and black, it’s the Obama Effect. About time!