Obama Archives - Revolutionary Misfit

A President Who Made Me Proud

January 11, 2017 by costaricaguy Leave a Comment

I’ve experienced a total of 10 Presidents during my 56 years on this planet, some of whom I was too young to remember. But of the ones I can remember, I can’t really say that any of them inspired me to any great extent…well, except for this last one.

Now, does that mean I agree with EVERYTHING he did?

Hardly…

There are many things regarding the Presidency of Barack Hussein Obama that I didn’t like. However, none of them have the slightest thing to do with his birth certificate, his heritage, ethnicity, or the name that his parents chose to bestow upon him.

My objections have more to do with his promising a lot of change and delivering far too little. He was a too neoliberal and not nearly progressive enough for my preferences.

But his farewell speech last night was a great one. He always did give great speeches, you’ve got to give him that.

I particularly liked these lines…

So regardless of the station we occupy; we all have to try harder; we all have to start with the premise that each of our fellow citizens loves this country just as much as we do; that they value hard work and family just like we do; that their children are just as curious and hopeful and worthy of love as our own.

And that’s not easy to do. For too many of us it’s become safer to retreat into our own bubbles, whether in our neighborhoods, or on college campuses, or places of worship, or especially our social media feeds, surrounded by people who look like us and share the same political outlook and never challenge our assumptions. In the rise of naked partisanship and increasing economic and regional stratification, the splintering of our media into a channel for every taste, all this makes this great sorting seem natural, even inevitable.

And increasingly we become so secure in our bubbles that we start accepting only information, whether it’s true or not, that fits our opinions, instead of basing our opinions on the evidence that is out there.

There’s a great message of inclusivity in those lines. Earlier in this speech, I believe I even heard him use that all too familiar line that I’ve used quite often in this blog…”we’re all in this boat together.”

However, I am afraid that contained within that inspiring rhetoric is an ominous warning for the years to come.

Today I am watching with amazement (as well as amusement) the stark contrast between the President we said goodbye to last night and the reality posed by the one we face today. Donald Trump gave his first press conference. It was nothing less than I expected…in short, “a circus.” But wouldn’t you say that’s a fitting description for most of what surrounds this new President.

The problem, as I see it, is that I could never imagine Donald Trump uttering inspiring lines like those I lifted above from Obama’s farewell speech. I just don’t think Trump has it in him. Trump is a lot of things, but inclusive is not among them. Trump is about Trump. Either you’re for him, and what he stands for, or you’re an enemy. His press conference displayed that truth very well.

Now, I know many just loathe Obama. Many are my friends and acquaintances from my youth, growing up in South and North Carolina. That’s not Obama country! I’ve seen that hatred on display every day in my Facebook feed for the past 8 years.

However, I’m always a bit curious as to why. I’m afraid that all too often that hatred has as much to do with his birth certificate, his heritage, ethnicity, or the name that his parents chose to bestow upon him, as it does with any actual policy disagreement.

And therein lies the legacy of this president…

The legacy of an average middle class black man with an above average intellect, compassion and willingness to make an impact, who brought out the best in us and weathered the worst in us.

But, more than anything else, he is and always will be a president who made me proud.

The Trumpet Call

July 31, 2015 by costaricaguy Leave a Comment

Well, I tried.

And, I failed.

My experiment in repatriation proved to be a disaster.

Why, you ask?

Many reasons…not the least of which was getting off to a very bad start.

Nevertheless, it was another eye-opening experience. And in that light, it was beneficial to have suffered it. I had a handful of folks genuinely pulling for me…and I sincerely thank you all for that.

But in the end, it just didn’t work.

And what revelations and epiphanies transpired in my mind, heart and soul from all the trauma?

It all sort of comes down to this opinion, conclusion, warning, or however you want to couch it…

The U.S.A. is in deep trouble.

No, not because of 8 years under Obama. If anything, his presidency has been successful in a myriad of statistical ways…but it has not reversed the trend…

the slide into the abyss…

In fact, his presidency seems to have marked an acceleration.

The basic problem comes down to this: the rich are getting richer and the poor poorer.

We can drill down on that a bit more and rephrase it: the super rich are getting superbly richer whilst the rest of us are growing more and more downtrodden…

and the great swath of American society called the “middle class” appear to be completely oblivious to this alarming trend.

Rather than look up to the problem, they look down in blame…or over at Obama.

Obama is not the source of the problem. He does acknowledge it, but he’s been pretty powerless (or unwilling) to do much about it.

Obama’s presidency has in no measure changed the increasingly factual reality that our country has become an outright oligarchy.

The super rich class control the levers and they’re making damn sure that their ass is insulated from the turmoil that’s coming…

The shit may be close to hitting the fan folks.

And the election of someone like Donald Trump could really be the proverbial straw…to continue on with this annoying string of clichés.

What we don’t need is exactly what a fellow like Trump proposes.

And that is, the privatization of, well, everything. The idea that everything works better if it works for profit…

And for whom does that profit work?

Well, certainly not for me…

You perhaps?

Doubtful as well.

What do “we” all really want…the normal we…not the private jet-set crowd…but regular run-of-the-mill blokes, like you and me?

We want “America” to work…we want the land of the free and the home of the brave to be a nice place to live in, for all of US…right?

Well, if this problem continues unabated much longer, it won’t be.

One reason I feel more at ease down south…way down south…about as far removed from the culture of materiality as you can get…

is that, while people are generally poorer than poor, in terms of American standards…

they are exquisitely happy, dignified and life loving folks.

They work good and hard…but their work doesn’t define them. Their decreased desire to accumulate reduces that pressure.

And what I witnessed during my five odd months of U.S. repatriation is that THAT is just not true up there.

The downtrodden are just that, downtrodden, and rightly pissed off about it. The culture that tells them they are worthless wretches for not having more gives rise to their anger and frustration.

This anger is simmering to a boil under the thinning crust of American materialistic excess…and the pressure that could lead to violent eruption is building.

What could possibly release it…the pressure that is?

Perhaps the election of someone who really cares about THE PROBLEM.

Someone who doesn’t ignore it, or make short shrift of it as being part and parcel of a dreaded “progressive” (translated: communist) ideology.

The problem will persist (and grow like a cancer) regardless of how you choose to label it…

Labeling is not the solution that will make it go away.

I’ve learned the hard way that the strategy of ignoring (or belittling) my problems generally only leads to their becoming larger.

So, in a little over a year, America will be faced with a very important choice…

if we’re fortunate enough to get to that point.

I’d suggest it choose wisely.

The trumpet call is sounding…it’s time for less words, more action.

image credit: alxinhim2 via Compfight cc

The Curious Case of Bowe Bergdahl

June 6, 2014 by costaricaguy Leave a Comment

America loves its POWs, right?

Well, maybe. Depends.

Here we have the curious case of Bowe Bergdahl.

From June 30, 2009, when Bowe, an American soldier, was captured by the Taliban, until May 31, 2014, when he was released, Bergdahl was a prisoner of war.

Those facts are not in dispute.

What is in dispute are the facts surrounding his capture.

But we have yet to actually hear a single word from Bowe himself.

Even so, the far right is completely ready to have him tried for treason…in the media.

The target of their ire is not so much Bergdahl, but Obama. Who released five members of the Taliban held at Gitmo in exchange for Bergdahl’s release.

Obama is the real traitor here…our sitting and twice elected President is the one that is treasonous. Really?

For starters, Bergdahl was NOT a terrorist hostage…he was a POW.

There is a difference. Just like there’s a difference between Fox News reporters who maintain their faculties of reason and those who don’t…as the video below demonstrates.

I am bothered by all this. Deeply bothered. Why?

Because the level of vehemence that the far right is displaying smacks of the deepest levels of hypocrisy. And it’s all done under the guise of “loving one’s country.”

It’s a bit sickening, really.

They have even gone so far as to attack Bergdahl’s father for growing a beard in solidarity for the release of his son.

Since when do the far right, whose support for the U.S. military is always unwavering, become so up in arms about the release of a POW?

When the President that is securing the release is Barack Obama, that’s when.

Can they not at least take a deep breath and give Bergdahl himself a chance to explain the facts surrounding his capture?

Oh no, there’s the possibility of an Obama scandal in the air, and that scent drives the far right into an irrational feeding frenzy.

And there’s certainly no bigger nor hungrier mouth to feed than that of Fox News.

You know, I talk a lot here about things like the Big US and removing impact blinders. One of the ways to do that is to avoid rushes to judgment.

People do things for reasons that seem right to them at the time. In hindsight, sometimes those reasons are exposed as faulty. But it always pays to try to see things from their perspective at the time.

Bergdahl may indeed have become disillusioned about the war and the treatment of the Afghan people by U.S. soldiers. I would venture to say that there is a large percentage of the entire U.S. population that harbors similar sentiments.

Does that make them all un-American?

Does that make Bowe Bergdahl less than a U.S. soldier who was captured by the enemy and treated pretty badly…to the point of his health being in serious jeopardy?

Does that mean that in the future if there are more wars…something I would certainly hope against…and more POWs, that we better examine the facts of each case of captivity before taking action to secure release?

Does that mean that if there are allegations of desertion, we should just leave the POW exactly where he or she is?

I believe the far right needs to step back and examine exactly where all this foment over the curious case of Bowe Bergdahl leads.

Because it might just lead to a very un-American result.

If Bergdahl is really a deserter as Fox News has unequivocally declared, he should be tried and convicted of the same.

I doubt very seriously that’s actually the case at all.

In the meantime, those of you on the far right who want to try and convict him in the media, why don’t you all just shut the fuck up.

You’re behaviour is very un-American.

image credit: Steve Corey via Compfight cc

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