So, yesterday, I re-tweeted the following.
I'm usually not a new year person but I guess with Obama in charge one should celebrate that we got through another year alive
— Peter Ingemi (@DaTechGuyblog) January 1, 2016
My Twitter account and my Facebook page are connected, and on the latter, the assertion caused a bit of a stir. Because of this, I will expound on why this is a logical assertion, though I have done so many times since 2007.It’s difficult for many people to separate the personal from the impersonal and, related to that, it’s difficult for many to pull back and view people, events, actions, concepts, ideology, etc.—or some combination thereof—and separate these from singular, one-off facts which are personal in nature. But the separation of the personal and the impersonal, along with the pull-back are necessary when one needs to take a clear, sober view of what is and what’s probably on the way.
Some of my friends, dear and cherished, are fans of President Obama. Now, we all know that there are many out there who will cheer on the president no matter what he does, and will do so for tribal reasons. (Don’t forget that tribalism isn’t always racial or ethnic in nature.) Others, however, have personally benefited from some of his actions as president, so it is understandable that they like him.
But understandable and correct are two different qualities in this context. The president presides over a citizenry of 300 million plus.
Any President of the United States is not just the president of you or me, fellow Americans. And, in view of America’s informal role as leader, the policies and actions of a President of the United States affect more than just America. Therefore, if an individual has benefited from an action or a policy implemented by President Obama, that fact is irrelevant to determining whether he has been a “good president” or not. (Side note: it can be argued that America and the rest of the world would be better off if America would pull back from that role, but, as with any role abdication, there will be others who will try to fill the role and those others will not always have magnanimous intentions for the world. As a matter of fact, it is almost certain that they will not.)Back to the overarching view of the Obama presidency: many observers have provided lists of this president’s words, policies and actions and have concluded that Barack Obama is not merely a terrible president, but that he is actively seeking to destroy this country as it has existed. As it happens, I agree with this conclusion and, having paid close attention to who Barack Obama is and what he believes since his existence became widely known, I’m not surprised in the least of how this presidency is playing out.
But the reactions to making such a conclusion public tells the story: President Obama’s existence and ascension are personal to all too many. And, personally, I’ve experienced the effects of opposing Barack Obama’s election and his actions as POTUS—as many know, my biological father and that of the president are of the same Kenyan ethnic group—the Luo tribe. Members of the Kenyan side my family have expressed dismay at my public opposition to our acknowledged kinsman.
But, pulling back yet again, many non-Luos and non-blacks have a vested interest in the "success" of the Obama presidency and it isn’t just personal. Many Americans—not just liberals and Leftists—wanted the first president of acknowledged African descent to do well in that office as a symbolic victory over this country’s history of legislated racism.
That’s a noble sentiment. But sentiment is irrelevant when something so serious is being decided.
And since we’re being straight here, I had a huge problem with that sentiment: those using it failed to take Barack Obama into account as a man and a political entity, and failed to take a clear look at how the combination of those things fit with the office to which he aspired. Instead, toall too many of his fans, his ascendance represented who we are--or who we are supposed to be--as a nation. Voting for Barack Obama seemed to be a self-congratulatory act. Who he really is and who he has been in his 54 years on this earth was considered irrelevant and any questioning of that existence was/is deemed racist or self-hating.
It is as if any black man would have fit the bill for this historic first.
Underneath that, is the presumption is that no black person would have nefarious intentions for this country. Anyone who is related to black people and/or lived next to some should have known better than this.
Who Mr. Obama is and has been, both personally and politically, has been out there from Day One, even though much of the professional media has refused to publicize it. However, even that which they have publicized, is telling. But observers have to 1) be able to use these facts to come to cogent conclusions about Mr. Obama, and 2) be willing to do so.
Most of the Obama supporters in my own sphere are able. Willing is another story. But when one takes a look at what has been said and done by this president--when one takes a look a the effects of this president's actions and policies--to conclude that he has this country's best interest at heart is the most wishful of thinking and wishful thinking can get you killed.
So it is again that I co-sign on Peter's assertion; I'm grateful to have survived 2015 in one piece, in spite of our president's stated intention to fundamentally transform my country and his demonstrable actions--and the results thereof--which tell my lying eyes that I won't like the end results of that transformation.
And it gives me no joy to suspect that President Obama's fans will not like those results either.
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