In his final State of the Union address last night, President Obama revealed “one of the few regrets” of his time in office.
Having made healing the divisions in Washington a major campaign theme in 2008, the President told the joint session of Congress, “It’s one of the few regrets of my presidency that the rancor and suspicion between the parties has gotten worse instead of better. There’s no doubt a president with the gifts of Lincoln or Roosevelt might have better bridged the divide, and I guarantee I’ll keep trying to be better so long as I hold this office.”
Sorry, Sir, but you are being a bit too hard on yourself. There is no other president I can recall who entered office with the deck so stacked against him. Yes the rancor and vitriol in Washington has gotten much worse since you entered the White House but it is not for your lack of trying. It is simply due to the fact that you are you.
On the same day you were sworn into office, the Republican leader of the Senate, Mitch McConnell, bragged about how making your failure would be the Republicans’ primary goal … not creating jobs, or fixing the economy. Said the Minority Leader, “The single most important thing we want to achieve is for President Obama to be a one-term president.”
The blowhard king of conservative talk radio, Rush Limbaugh, speaking of your presidency, told his audience, “I hope he fails.” Of course this helped stir hatred against you from the get go. It didn’t matter that what the faux patriot was saying, in effect,, was that he hoped America failed.
Then you had the official propaganda machine for the Republican Party, Fox News, joining in the battle to portray you as an enemy; an outsider; a loser. Any policy initiative you proposed, they were against… even if Republicans themselves, at one time, had pushed for the same policy proposal. It didn’t matter; if you were for it, Fox and company was against it. It is beyond ironic that the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) was a Republican creation!
You had to endure, and still are, the whole “birther” movement against you. You were not eligible to be our president, said the “birthers,” because you were not “one of us.” You were a Kenyan Muslim secretively trying to undermine our great country. It is now more than clear that the whole “birther” nonsense was nothing but a racist reaction to your status as the first African American president of the United States.
No Sir, you need not regret nor blame yourself for the increased animosity in Washington. You had no chance. I dare say not even a Lincoln or FDR could have done better or handled the situation with any more of the calm or grace you’ve exhibited.(The Amazing Grace Of Barack Obama)
You are truly an amazing man. In spite of all the roadblocks, all the hatred, all the malice, you have been able to accomplish so many things for the American people; great things that the visceral hatred of so many will not allow them to see.
Sir, it takes two to tango and your partner (Republicans) refused to dance from the moment the music started playing.
Enjoy your final year in office, Sir. We look forward to many more great things from you.
John: You hit the nail on the head. He went into office with the GOP/TeaParty/Racists/Bigots looking for him to fail. The fact that he didn’t only made them try harder and hate him more, to the point of where asshats like Trump and Cruz are serenaded as the GOP’s only chance to win back the White House. Fat chance of that happening. I think POTUS more than ably took his shots at the GOP last nite, clearly based upon them sitting on their hands most of the nite and the A-hole Rafe Cruz “boycotting” the SOTU to stay up in NH. NBC should be ashamed of themselves for putting him on air after he dissed the President and SOTU address. I’m sure he gained points with his hater supporters. The President should be proud of himself for what he accomplished these last 7 years and as Americans, we should be proud that we lived through it as witnesses.
When you can’t see past the hatred, there is nothing our president could have done to change the dynamics in Washington or on Main Street.. He will go down as one of our greatest presidents in spite of the fact so many despise him.
I heard a rumor if a Democrat wins the White House, Obama will be nominated for the Supreme Court. Any truth?
It’s possible, perfectly legal but will never happen .. for a number of reasons. I doubt Obama would want the job (at least now) or get the Senate to approve his nomination.
Wow John, among your many excellent and eloquent posts, this one may be your very best. Honest and heartfelt, accurate and absolute, observant and informative, pure and undeniable, factual and irrefutable, immutable and timeless. Thank-you so very much. Mr. Sloane’s comment and its final few words reflect how I feel also. I am truly honored and privileged to be a living witness to President Obama’s unqualified devotion, unfeigned compassion, steadfast integrity, unwavering goodness and decency, and unbreakable heart, will, spirit, and character in the face of an intense and continuous base and vicious hatred from millions of right-wing Americans who are no more Christian than is Satan.
Thank you, Edward. I really appreciate your compliment.It really feels sometimes that some Americans (the Obama-haters) live in an alternate universe (Fox Bubble?). Their visceral hatred of our president clouds their minds from seeing all the good things he has been able to accomplish… in spite of .. all the obstruction from the right. Now spread the word about this blog and continue reading!