It
has been painful to observe Presidents Day while the former
resident of the White House defiled and
besmirched the office. Inauguration Day finally
put an end to that nightmare, but
not before an attempted insurrection
and additional national trauma. His post term impeachment prolonged the agony and ended with a fizzle. The new
guy, Joe Biden seems decent and capable without all of the storm und drang. It is too early to assess Biden’s place in history, but he seems to be off to a fast start systematically dismantling
the worst of his predecessor’s outrages
on the American people, the world, and the environment. But this year
on Presidents Day it is easy to turn to Biden’s old boss, Barack Obama during this Black History Month.
It
was White backlash and dark money that propelled the former Cheeto-in-charge into office. A barely
competent egomaniac and sociopath
replaced a President known for his thoughtfulness,
erudition, compassion, and competence.
In his new Book Barack Obama reviews his first Presidential campaign and term in office.
Obama
was not perfect. I have been reading his latest best-selling memoir A Promised Land covering his first presidential campaign and first
term. He seems to recognize that his hopes for bipartisanship in
reaching his policy goals were thwarted by Congressional Republicans, especially Mitch McConnell and that he spent far too long trying to deal
with them. Only late in his second term did he turn to use of executive orders and other tools to do an end run around the Senate blockade.
More
disappointing was his wide-spread use of drone attacks often resulting in heavy civilian casualties in the elusive war on terror and far too many regional
conflicts. His motivation was to reduce
the risks and exposure to American troops
on the ground but he remained mired in
neo-con aggression of George W. Bush.
Sill,
looking back so many of us are nostalgic, and with good reason, for the Obama presidency.
Today
we will turn the clock back to January of 2007 as Obama’s first Presidential
campaign was just getting off of the
ground.
This blog, Heretic,
Rebel, a Thing to Flout was then on Live Journal and had a pitifully small audience. That didn’t stop an audacious endorsement of the then Senator from Illinois. This is what I wrote way back then…
Yesterday, January 16th, Senator Barak Obama announced he was going to run for the Democratic Party nomination for the Presidency—almost. In the elaborate
dance made necessary by custom,
the arcane labyrinth of Federal election law, and the urgency of fund raising, the Senator from Illinois
firmly put his right foot on the ballroom floor.
In
an e-mail to supporters the Senator
announced the formation of an exploratory committee, the necessary first step which allows serious fund
raising. He promises to follow up with a formal announcement of his eagerly awaited candidacy on February
10th.
The
announcement came a day after another acclaimed
Obama speech to the annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day
celebration at the Push/Rainbow
Coalition in Chicago. With modesty,
humor, and dignity Obama laid out how he rising
generation stood on the shoulders of Dr. King and other civil rights pioneers and martyrs. He extolled
their achievement, but left no doubt
that the fulfillment of their vision remains the challenge of the. It was a
great speech. But then we have come to expect great speeches from this man.
Obama
is unique among all of the political figures I have known or
observed in my life time. Years before
he rose to national prominence
following his keynote address to the
2004 Democratic National Convention,
people who met the skinny young
politician even for a few minutes went away muttering to themselves that
they had shaken hands with a future
president. He had that kind of effect on
people.
In 2003 Barack Obama was a little known Illinois State Senator when he threw his hat in a crowed ring to run fir the U.S. Senate.
I
know he did on me. In a chance encounter in the dust outside
the dispersing Democrat Day Rally at
the Illinois State Fair in 2003 Diane Oltman-Ayers introduced me to an acquaintance, a young state senator from Chicago. He was known to be
joining the crowded field running
for the upcoming Senate nomination
in 2004. He was quite alone and with no entourage. At the time I was
the lowly vice-chair of the then puny McHenry County Democratic Party, a
figure of next to zero political
influence. Yet he engaged us in conversation for about twenty minutes
displaying a keen recognition of the
political challenges and realities ahead of him and a close and carefully reasoned grasp of complex issues all wrapped up in a warm and witty personality.
I
came away quite frankly dazzled by
the experience. But with that power of shrewd political prognostication, for which I am so well noted, was
saddened that such an outstanding and in a web site posting
candidate had no chance for election
because of his unfortunate name. In the primary election that followed, I
signed on early in support of radio host
and liberal activist Nancy Skinner’s
doomed candidacy. I recognized I had placed the wrong bet by
mid-campaign. I felt compelled to honor
my original commitment to Skinner, but on Election
Day was elated by Obama’s victory.
His
unprecedented sweep to victory in the November election by an historic
margin laid to rest any doubts. The Convention speech came as no surprise to us in Illinois, it only
served to introduce him to a larger stage.
The
Freshman Senator’s rise was meteoric. He was mentioned as a possible Presidential
contender before his bags were fairly un-packed in Washington. He was the object of sometimes idolizing press coverage. Meanwhile he tried to keep his head down, lower expectations, and get on with the job of learning to be an
effective senator.
But
as the disastrous Residency of George W.
Bush unraveled, Democrats from
across the country turned increasingly to Obama. As did many ordinary Americans of all races and regions, with whom he struck a responsive
chord. Talk of the Presidency could
no longer be gainsaid.
Of
course the higher Obama soared, he invited a chorus of skeptics. Many painted him as a matinee idol, unproven
in the Senate or in crisis, a mere cipher whose true opinions and
positions remained veiled.
But
those who came to know him recognized that the senator was indeed the real deal. He has a piercing
intelligence coupled with a strong
work ethic. Colleges in the State Senate and the U.S. Senate both soon came to
recognize that he was thoroughly
prepared on every subject and willing to work hard, including reaching
across the aisle to ideological
opponents, to work out practical
solutions for thorny problems.
His
noted oratorical skills, in an age
when the political speech has
largely been replaced as an art form by the 30 second sound bite, rests not only on the strength of his magnetic personality, but on the depth
of capacity as a writer.
No American politician since Lincoln has been so literarily gifted. It shows
not just in his speeches, but in his two best-selling
memoirs.
The
right-wing posse of radio ranters, cable talking heads, and scriveners
planted by important sounding think
tanks, fear Obama as they fear
no other Democrat. They dream of running against the hated Hillary, but he sends shivers up their spines. Yet they are reduced to drawing attention to his
name and hinting that his father’s Islam makes him an un-trustworthy jihadist mole in
American politics. Or that a minor, but straightforward, real estate
transaction with an Illinois political
bag man tied to the Blagojevich
administration, might tarnish
his image as an honest straight shooter. But
it is futile. In the end they have to fall back on the unspoken hope that in their heart of hearts once inside the voting booth most white voters will be unable to pull a vote for a black man as
President—the Harold Ford effect.
But this time, they are wrong. Which is why for the first time Heretic, Rebel, a Thing to Flout is
proud to put all of its mighty influence
and resources at the disposal of Senator Obama. We want to be among the first media outlets to unreservedly endorse Obama for President of the United States.
Across
the nation, Democratic operatives
for other candidates especially Hillary Clinton quake in their boots as they realize the awesome implications of this endorsement.
Either because or despite the Heretic, Rebel. a Thing to Flout, endorsement, things worked out for Obama.
But
then again so will some of Obama’s staff
people when they realize that their boy has been endorsed in a blog named Heretic, Rebel. a Thing to Flout,
obviously the creation of some wild-eyed misfit somewhere.
Yet
we press boldly forward and invite
all of our dozens of faithful readers
to join in our support of the Next President of the United States.
