It is with a heavy heart I say farewell to President Obama and his family. I
have admired him, disagreed with him, sometimes sworn a little at him, praised
him, laughed with him, and been shocked for him. I know a lot of people will
disagree when I say that he and the first family brought a much-needed sense of
dignity to the White House; but when you consider the relentless obstructionism
from his political opponents, the unwarranted personal attacks by the ignorant
masses he and his family suffered, and the unknowable challenge of being the
first US President of African American heritage, down to the end, he refused to
stoop to the level of his detractors. From day one of his presidency, his
opponents brazenly boasted of their intent to make him a one-term president, and
despite one attempt after another to reach across the aisle to them, the
president was forever rebuffed, derided as "divisive," and subjected to
increasingly ridiculous attempts to discredit him (birth certificate, anyone?).
He was and is blamed — quite wrongly — for racial divisions that have come to
the forefront of our national consciousness. There is all kinds of fault to go
around, to be sure, but at the end of the day,
we, not the president, are
responsible. And yes, I
know many of you disliked his policies, not his
skin color, but racism was, in fact, a horrifyingly huge component of the hatred
heaped upon the Obamas. For god's sake, I have personally witnessed racists
coming out of the woodwork way too often, not just on social media but in the
world at large. I stopped going to one local establishment I had frequented for
years because, since 2008, the owners and staff constantly bitched and moaned
about the "Muslim nigger from Kenya." Those exact words. Over and over and over.
And that was just the tip of the iceberg.
I have disagreed with President Obama on any number of issues; he did spend too
much, he tended to go for over-regulation rather strike a fair balance between
necessary protections — for the environment, for minorities, for labor issues —
and executive overreach. I think he too often caved to special interests rather
than stand up for the middle class. That said, however, the more he braved the
slings and arrows of his detractors, the more I admired him. When his
initiatives failed, he was derided as weak and ineffective; when they succeeded,
he was vilified as a tyrant. From the right, no consistency, little logic, and
never a reasonable alternative proposed. Nothing he did could please his
detractors. And again, the uglier his detractors become, the more I came to
admire him. Little illustrates the ridiculousness of the prejudice against him
than the right's condemnation of his farewell address (to which I was going to
link, but the White House site has apparently removed it), in which Obama's
usage of the first person was condemned as "narcissistic." I did a little math
on this myself. The speech ran approximately 4,800 words long. Obama referred to
himself in the first person 75 times. That's 1.5 percent of the word count. To
those of you in opposition, I defy you to produce a 4,800-word missive detailing
one's eight-year tenure, one's accomplishments, one's failures, one's hopes,
one's recollections of how it personally impacted one's family, one's forecasts
for our nation, without mentioning yourself using no more than 1.5% of the total
word count. I
defy you.
"Oh, but the speech shouldn't be about
him, it's about
us." Next
breath: "We never could get to know Obama because he was distant and
disconnected." Sure. Sure thing.
A personal disappointment: more than anything, having seen the complete, utter
failure of our
pre-ACA health system to address severe, chronic illness —
up close and personal — I truly wanted Obamacare to succeed. There are so many
positive tenets of the plan, it's a damn shame it was implemented so poorly; I
have never felt it beyond repair, however, and I fear the direction we'll be
going in the coming days with healthcare is going to be an even greater
disaster. I hope I'm wrong.
In fact, when it comes to President Donald Trump, I hope I'm very,
very wrong in my, oh, maybe slightly negative evaluation of him. No,
really. I have, with more than due conscientiousness, evaluated every
conceivable rationale for accepting his shortcomings, every argument
for his strengths, and I'm sorry, but there's just nothing there.
Nothing. What we have today is a narcissistic, immature, tone-deaf bully,
who has assembled the least-qualified bunch of clowns to staff his cabinet
positions that any sentient being could imagine. I can't see any good coming out
of this, and if you can, you must give me the name of your eye doctor.
All that said, I do
not want to see Trump crash and burn. Our country,
our fortunes, our lives depend on this man being an effective leader, a
respected player on the world stage, a
partner in the success of the
United States. But at the end of the day, Trump works for
us, we
Americans who put him where he is, however unwillingly. Me, I will oppose his
every utterance that does not reflect
my values. As I have from the day I
reached legal voting age, I will speak with my vote
as well as whatever
ability I might possess to influence rational, reasonable people to see what I
see, as objectively as possible. If Trump follows through with his promises to
bolster the middle class, to present a workable health plan that does not leave
the most vulnerable of us to the wolves, to boost a still-struggling economy, to
keep America a respected world power without thrusting us into yet another
avoidable conflict... I will say to you, to the world, to Trump, to anyone with
an ear to hear it... that I was wrong in my evaluation of his abilities. My ego
has no vested interest here. But my well-being, and the well-being of my loved
ones
does. However, I will never apologize for condemning this man's lack
of character, not only admitted to but celebrated by his most rabid supporters.
Given that a disproportionately large number of Trump's supporters are diehard
Christians... I'd call that an irreconcilable absurdity. Wouldn't you?
Yeah, I understand a dislike of Trump's opponent. Hillary Clinton brought enough
baggage with her to kill a train of pack mules. But I tell you this, I'd vote
for her again in a heartbeat over what our now-President Trump brings to the
table.
If you don't see things as I do, I'm fine with that... up to the point that you
and I get thrust into a void from which we can never return. I'm
not fine
with that. And truly, despite having been brought up in a period when fallout
shelters were ubiquitous and we rather amusingly learned how to drop, duck and
cover, this chapter of life is one that brings with it a unique trepidation, a
sense that the territory into which we're treading is anything but Great.
No, I'm not religious, but I
pray that I am the wrongest son of a bitch
to ever walk this land. I pray this. If I'm wrong, in four years, you can have a
front row seat as I eat humble pie. Deal?
