portrait of a president

[sheshe2]

snip/

Obama’s thoughts have been down in the city. The drama of racial inequality, in his mind, has come to presage a larger, transracial form of economic disparity, a deepening of the class divide. Indeed, if there is a theme for the remaining days of his term, it is inequality. In 2011, he went to Osawatomie, Kansas, the site of Theodore Roosevelt’s 1910 New Nationalism speech—a signal moment in the history of Progressivism—and declared inequality the “defining issue of our time.” He repeated the message at length, late last year, in Anacostia, one of the poorest neighborhoods in Washington, D.C., this time noting that the gap between the rich and the poor in America now resembled that in Argentina and Jamaica, rather than that in France, Germany, or Canada. American C.E.O.s once made, on average, thirty times as much as workers; now they make about two hundred and seventy times as much. The wealthy hire lobbyists; they try to secure their interests with campaign donations. Even as Obama travels for campaign alms and is as entangled in the funding system at least as much as any other politician, he insists that his commitment is to the middle class and the disadvantaged. Last summer, he received a letter from a single mother struggling to support herself and her daughter on a minimal income. She was drowning: “I need help. I can’t imagine being out in the streets with my daughter and if I don’t get some type of relief soon, I’m afraid that’s what may happen.” “Copy to Senior Advisers,” Obama wrote at the bottom of the letter. “This is the person we are working for.”

Snip/



snip/




Obama has every right to claim a long list of victories since he took office: ending two wars; an economic rescue, no matter how imperfect; strong Supreme Court nominations; a lack of major scandal; essential support for an epochal advance in the civil rights of gays and lesbians; more progressive executive orders on climate change, gun control, and the end of torture; and, yes, health-care reform. But, no matter what one’s politics, and however one weighs the arguments of his critics, both partisan and principled, one has to wonder about any President’s capacity to make these decisions amid a thousand uncertainties, so many of which are matters of life and death, survival and extinction.



“I have strengths and I have weaknesses, like every President, like every person,” Obama said. “I do think one of my strengths is temperament. I am comfortable with complexity, and I think I’m pretty good at keeping my moral compass while recognizing that I am a product of original sin. And every morning and every night I’m taking measure of my actions against the options and possibilities available to me, understanding that there are going to be mistakes that I make and my team makes and that America makes; understanding that there are going to be limits to the good we can do and the bad that we can prevent, and that there’s going to be tragedy out there and, by occupying this office, I am part of that tragedy occasionally, but that if I am doing my very best and basing my decisions on the core values and ideals that I was brought up with and that I think are pretty consistent with those of most Americans, that at the end of the day things will be better rather than worse.”





“I think we are born into this world and inherit all the grudges and rivalries and hatreds and sins of the past,” he said. “But we also inherit the beauty and the joy and goodness of our forebears. And we’re on this planet a pretty short time, so that we cannot remake the world entirely during this little stretch that we have.” The long view again. “But I think our decisions matter,” he went on. “And I think America was very lucky that Abraham Lincoln was President when he was President. If he hadn’t been, the course of history would be very different. But I also think that, despite being the greatest President, in my mind, in our history, it took another hundred and fifty years before African-Americans had anything approaching formal equality, much less real equality. I think that doesn’t diminish Lincoln’s achievements, but it acknowledges that at the end of the day we’re part of a long-running story. We just try to get our paragraph right.”

http://theobamadiary.com/2014/01/19/portrait-of-a-president/#more-153377

He has indeed carried a great burden on his shoulders, much of it he did without help or support.

"if I am doing my very best and basing my decisions on the core values and ideals that I was brought up with and that I think are pretty consistent with those of most Americans, that at the end of the day things will be better rather than worse.”

[Thinkingabout]

1. Thanks, enjoyed

[sheshe2]

2. I am glad you enjoyed it.

Thank you, Thinkingabout!

[Aristus]

3. K&R!

Still jazzed as HELL to have Barack Obama as our President.

The haters can kiss my ass, and then move to Somalia, or whatever no-taxes, no-government, no public infrastructure, all-guns-all-the-time shithole they'd feel most at home in.

We have Barack Obama. You guys get Ted Cruz. Enjoy!

[sheshe2]

4. It is one of the many reasons I luv ya, Aristus!

Obama rocks!

And they got the bottom of the cesspool! Time to flush~

[Aristus]

7. Love you back, sheshe2!

And the Seahawks won, too! Life is good!...

[sheshe2]

8. Aaaah~ Aristus.

For just the second time in franchise history, the Seattle Seahawks are headed to the Super Bowl.

http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/2014/1/19/5309262/super-bowl-2014-seahawks-nfc-championship

LOL~ not much of a football fan. Yet I applaud excellence.

Yikes, I had to look it up. NE Patriots are out!

Therefore, I am free to say The Seahawks rock! Go Seattle!

[freshwest]

5. Fabulous OP! I learned some new things from it. Thanks, Sheshe!

[sheshe2]

6. Ah freshwest~

You are so welcome.

But, no matter what one’s politics, and however one weighs the arguments of his critics, both partisan and principled, one has to wonder about any President’s capacity to make these decisions amid a thousand uncertainties, so many of which are matters of life and death, survival and extinction.

How he does it, I don't know, yet~

To the good times, the best times. He has made a significant difference in our thinking and our lives.

[IrishAyes]

9. A great North Star.