While Michelle Obama may have only recently found a reason to be proud of her country, she has long been proud of rapper Common.  Mrs. Obama and her husband do not want to celebrate the National Day of Prayer in the White House, and the latter “forgot” to do a Presidential Proclamation on Easter — but having Common in the White House is a priority.

This president — and apparently his wife, as well — does not understand or relate to the views of average Americans.  Most of us read Common’s lyrics and cannot fathom why the president would allow this person to be feted in the People’s House.  The Chief Executive should be a unifying leader for the American people.  Why would he embrace such a vile and divisive figure?  Here are some lyrics of the recent White House guest (from the song “Some S*** I Wrote):

Like a n***** in position with the stolen card the credit
F*** flipping the script, the rap scene I’m trying to edit

That’s why cats be like “F*** you, f*** you, f*** you!”
Other studs come through to see what I am up to

My foundation is in a black block of n****** that rock they hat cock

That is a sampling of Common’s musings about something other than defending cop-killers and assassinating President Bush.  It is unlikely that he used these at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

While people are rightly outraged, none of us should be surprised.  The president has also had Jay-Z in the White House.  Here’s a sampling from Jay-Z about the threat of law enforcement:

Spill three quarts of my blood into the street, let alone the heat
F***  ’em, they hate a n***** lovin his life
In all possible ways, know the Feds is buggin my life

This White House guest serves up rhymes of violence, profanity, and paranoia — and hatred of law enforcement to boot.  And here is part of the chorus from his song “Ain’t No N*****”:

Ain’t no n***** like the one I got
No one can f*** you better

When Jay-Z came to the White House, he was granted an “unscheduled” visit with the president and sat in the chair of the commander in chief under the Presidential Seal in the Situation Room.  These are the people whom Barack Obama chooses to honor and hold up as icons for America’s youth.

As we now know, Common is another product of the Rev. Jeremiah Wright.  Though Obama is a less “common” version of the progeny Wright produces, he and Common are sadly cut from the same cloth.  As an American who happens to be black, I can say unequivocally that Common does not speak for me or the values of the black community, liberal rationalizations notwithstanding.

It is not incompetence that caused the First Couple to choose National Law Enforcement Memorial Week to highlight a rapper who rhymes in support of cop-killers. On some level, Mr. Obama shares Common’s antipathy for the police.  That was made quite clear by the president’s rush to judgment against the police officer in the Cambridge incident involving his friend Henry Louis Gates.

Frankly, what we have on our hands is a leadership crisis.  This president’s far-left views are restrained only by the limits of political reality.  It is frightening to contemplate what he would do with another four years in office unfettered by the need to get reelected.

The view of the left is that we are a racist, sexist, homophobic, fundamentally unjust nation with a capitalist system that exploits our citizens and the world.  The vision of most Americans is that we are a fundamentally just, decent, and generous nation with opportunity for all.  That is clearly not the vision of Common, and the evidence strongly suggests that it is not the vision of his hosts, Barack and Michelle Obama.

We need leadership that is going to bring us together around the inspired vision of “one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.”  The first Tuesday in November 2012 offers the opportunity to end our leadership crisis. The American people should take advantage of it.