"... Nine years after leaving office, the couple each have
favorability ratings well north of 50 percent. They are dignified but
also real: President Obama loves playing basketball, submits brackets
for the NCAA men’s and women’s tournaments every March, and freely
laughs at himself; Michelle Obama has been open about the reality of
being empty-nesters, seems freer to give her opinions via her 'IMO'
podcast, and is affectionately called 'forever FLOTUS' by her fans. And
in photos, the two look as in love as ever, aging like fine wine.
"As
their thoughtful, inclusive museum on the South Side of Chicago
welcomes the world, we should remember the couple as fondly for what
they aren’t — grifting, scowling, petty, vulgar, disinterested in each
other — as much as for what they are: public servants who still endure
an avalanche of hatred from some while providing aspirational Black
excellence for others.
"They are living their best lives, which is the minimum they are owed." -- Shalise Manza Young, writing at "The Contrarian" Substack, on "What If Obama Had...?" On the occasion of the opening of Barack Obama's Presidential Center, Young remembers how much the Obamas were held to a standard no other politicians in living memory have or are being held to -- because they're Black Americans. Well, they met and exceeded that standard of excellence in their eight years in office, and in their lives up to the present day. Young briefly contrasts that with what many Americans will tolerate and excuse in the world-historically corrupt, ignorant, incompetent, evil (but white!!) thing currently the object of their worship. It remains to be seen if the process of national suicide that we've been engaged in, led by the Malignant Fascist and his cultists, can be stemmed and reversed. But the Obamas will always be a reminder of what a bright future many Americans once saw ahead of them.
BONUS: Chaser --
A trail of destruction. Imagine their reaction if Obama had done even one of these things.
Eight years ago, we inaugurated the first African-American President after he won a decisive victory over his Republican opponents. He made clear that his agenda from the outset would include affordable health care, ending the war in Iraq which had been sold by the previous Administration on false pretenses and, most critically, reversing the economic catastrophe that eight years of Republican mismanagement had wrought. The month before President Obama took office, the U.S. economy was bleeding 800,000 jobs per month, the U.S. auto industry was nearing bankruptcy, major financial institutions were collapsing, the housing market was imploding, and the stock market had crashed.
The same day he was inaugurated, Republican Congressional leaders gathered in an upscale restaurant, The Caucus Room, and conspired to obstruct and oppose every piece of legislation proposed by the new President, whether or not it was something they had previously supported. After losing the White House and both chambers of Congress, their defeated party couldn't afford to give Obama a "win" on anything. Facing these headwinds -- the bogus Tea Party/ Koch brothers astroturf movement, the racist birther movement, and total monolithic obstruction from Republicans -- Obama was able to achieve several landmark objectives: the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, Wall Street reform (Dodd-Frank), the stimulus which reversed the economic collapse, loans which turned around the auto industry, the repeal of "don't ask don't tell," Federal support of same-sex marriage, ending major military involvement in the Iraq War, negotiating the Iran nuclear deal, and overseeing the mission that eliminated Osama bin Laden. His signature achievement, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, which Republican nihilists derisively labeled "Obamacare," was passed over Republican obstruction (despite incorporating many of their amendments), and is now the focus of their mean- spirited legislative attacks, despite providing life- altering protection for some 20 million Americans who previously lacked affordable health insurance. Want more? Here are those and many other accomplishments of the Obama Administration.
Beyond his official role, President Obama represented the best of us: compassion, dignity, decency, a good husband and father, and a calm reasonable approach to not only his job but to life, despite relentless racist animosity directed at him. He's the first two- term President since Dwight Eisenhower to leave office with no serious scandal marring his tenure. His often self-deprecating humor, his intelligence and extraordinary communications skills will be missed tremendously in the coming years as his polar opposite takes office. (HC has captured some of their favorite Obama family moments, which we endorse.) But, we'll always remember this picture of the young African American boy confirming his ethnicity by touching President Obama's hair, an image that captures so much about what President Obama meant to all of us, and who he was:
(Photo: White House)
We're encouraged that he leaves office with one of the highest approval ratings in modern times: 60%. In many ways, he was probably better than we deserve, just like sociopathic liar Donald "Rump" Trump is probably worse than we deserve. Some day, perhaps in the not-so-distant future, he'll get the praise and credit he deserves from even more Americans. That day can't come too quickly.
Lest we forget the other main ingredient in the Obama presidency, the wonderful First Lady Michelle Obama (who had significant accomplishments herself), let's take a final, short, nostalgic walk with her through the White House:
We're already seeing Rump claim credit for things he had no role in, which will only increase as he manipulates the broken corporate media eager for access and the clueless cult supporting him. But Obama's achievements are real, and must not be forgotten. What must also not be forgotten would be any dismantling of those achievements by the no- mandate, party- before- country Russo- Republicans, and the harm that would be done by that dismantling. Never forget those who would "comfort the comfortable and afflict the afflicted."
So, for future comparison, here's a snapshot of where we are as the Obama Administration hands the ball off to the tiny- fingered neo- fascist incompetent *:
