Jason Whitlock for President

In case anybody missed it, from out of the Don Imus storm has emerged America's newest media star.

Jason Whitlock.

Now, in the interest of full disclosure, I should point out that I know Jason personally, and like him. Also, though I don't think he's even the best writer at his own newspaper (the Kansas City Star), his takes on sports and society are almost always original, fearless and best of all, not politically correct. Criticisms that he seeks out opportunities to play the race card are made of ignorance. He talks about race a lot, but he doesn't play the race card. He analyzes racial issues honestly. In fact, the more I write about this, the more I realize that Jason Whitlock and Charles Barkley are probably the same person.

Anyway, Jason is about to become a mega star. He's been on Oprah. He's interviewed to replace Imus on the radio. He has blasted Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton publicly, something every other black voice has been afraid to do.

I don't know what plans Jason has for his career. He could have left The Star long ago and, indeed, he has worked for ESPN.com and, now, AOL.com, where he has more freedom. He has said that he's a sports writer at heart, and doesn't feel the need to live on a coast to have a voice, which is why he's still in Kansas City.

But if he wants it, I think he can be about as big as he wants to be. He'd need to spend a few years in a more politicized arena (perhaps as a radio show) to build some cred. But from my perch in the middle of white America, I get the sense that black America is ready to follow someone other than Jackson and Sharpton who, as Whitlock said, are living in 1965, trying to scare black people with the idea of an imaginary white guy in the sky who's trying to squash them.

Perhaps black America has been reluctant to give that up, which is understandable, because giving it up means taking on more personal responsibility.

Whatever. I don't expect Whitlock to make a run for public office. In fact, I sort of expect him to stay where he is and maybe just write some more non-sports columns and do a few extra interviews.

I just hope people will listen.