Friday, January 14, 2011

The President has been a real President

Someday in the future, when history is analyzed by thoughtful, objective historians, it will be written that Barak Obama was a great President.  One of the strong points that will be mentioned is that contrary to the present-day arguments of the outer wings of each party, Barak Obama has always had a vision, and has had the courage and tenacity to implement it.  Six months ago or so, all my liberal friends were moaning about the President’s performance and poll numbers, and were prognosticating a one-term presidency.  At the same time, those on the far right were rejoicing over the President’s poll numbers and prognosticating a one-term presidency.  Throughout all this, the President never waivered.  He governed as the president of ALL the people, which of course can only be accomplished by moving toward the center while still holding core beliefs than must be implemented within the borders of the center.  I, and a few of my friends consistently defended the President and had faith that he was guiding us in the right direction (see the comments of my old friend Michael Lally on his blog over the past months). 

Therefore, it was with quiet joy that I awoke to read this article that was reprinted in today’s San Francisco Chronicle.  After reading this article, ask yourself whether you would be reading such facts if the President had taken bomb-throwing, unwinnable positions just to placate our friends on the far left.  Or, whether these polls would as favorable if the President had simply caved in completely to the party of “no” and not accomplished all the wonderful things he has been able to accomplish.

And, consider this portion of the main editorial in this morning’s Chronicle focusing on the President’s speech in Tucson:

But what made the president's speech so moving was the fact that he chose to focus on hope and uplift in the midst of tragedy. In many ways, it represented a return to the Obama we saw during his race for president. Instead of taking partisan shots or expressing anger, he implored Americans to recognize what unites us all.

"But what we can't do is use this tragedy as one more occasion to turn on one another," he said. "Rather than pointing fingers or assigning blame, let us use this occasion to expand our moral imaginations, to listen to each other more carefully, to sharpen our instincts for empathy, and remind ourselves of all the ways our hopes and dreams are bound together."

As the country mourns, it's worth remembering the values that we all share. These values, not the ones that divide us, are what made this country great.

In short, this guy knows what he is doing and we are damn lucky to have him at the helm.

~ Tom

1 comment:

JIm said...

The nation will surely benefit, if Obama joins with conservatives and rolls back the run away spending and excessive regulation of business. He has hinted at reshaping the tax code. It would be positive if he worked with Republicans to cut rates and replace the current income tax with a flat lower rate. US corporate tax rates are excessivly high and or non competitive with international rates. A reduction to 20%, or so would go along way with stimilating employment and the economy.