i was at a crazy college party at a very posh resort. everyone was dressed to the nines and the alcohol was flowing. it was fun and everyone was laughing. a jagged piece of info made it's way through the crowd; obama was mixing and serving drinks at the mai tai bar. of course everyone wanted a drink mixed by obama and soon hundreds of people were crowded around him clambering for a presidential cocktail. someone grabbed my arm and said, 'obama needs help' and i found myself working and pouring beside him. he was smiling and sweet as he worked very hard to make good drinks and ask everyone's name as he passed it to them. i kept thinking about how difficult it was not to like him as he seemed so friendly and earnest. after a couple of hours there was a lull and the secret service was pinching off the line. obama turned his attention to me and thanked me for all my help. as he shook my hand i said, 'you seem so authentic, i don't understand how you could lie to so many people who believed in you.' i could see in his eyes that he was aware of his deception but was taken off guard by the question in this setting and began fumbling for words. michelle was dozens of meters away but saw the change in her husband's demeanor instantly and motioned for the secret service to take him away from me. within moments he was gone.
i remember thinking i was glad i didn't vote for him, but sad that there was just no one to believe in anymore.
4 Comments:
Very interesting.
I'm having a hard time saying "why"; because most of why turns out to be very complex, and complicated by bizarre factors like- I went to school at Punahou- just like Barry- but about 10 years ahead of him. But I KNOW how he grew up... and it's important in trying to understand him. I think it's part of the reason he does NOT communicate quite as well with Americans as he and they hoped in the first place; some of him is VERY Hawaiian, and priorities and realities ARE different...
I still believe in him. Partly also - I know the realities of 'government' include the actual necessity of - ah- skirting the truth; sometimes. No prince has ever managed to survive by telling only hard truth...
:-) And I would say your dream shows- you actually know that, too.
http://pressthink.org/2013/08/to-make-journalism-harder-slower-less-secure/
http://www.forbes.com/sites/erikkain/2012/01/02/president-obama-signed-the-national-defense-authorization-act-now-what/
https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130620/18182823551/obama-administration-has-declared-war-leakers-claims-any-leak-is-aiding-enemy.shtml
He worked as a civil rights attorney in Chicago and taught constitutional law at the University of Chicago Law School from 1992 to 2004. It a tough sell to think of the extension of the Patriot Act and his administrations record on the aggressive prosecution of whistle blowers as 'compromises' (to name just a couple of items on the list...).
Having said that, I have no specific ax to grind with him, I simply think he is a finger on the same hand that has been in power for decades.
It does give me comfort however that you hold a more optimistic view.
:)
" I simply think he is a finger on the same hand that has been in power for decades."
You're absolutely correct there- and I think Barry had to LEARN some of that himself, once he was in the Presidency. The realities of power are ugly- no way around it; and we don't let the public know that in most cases. I do think he was a little naive at the outset- witness his attempts to bargain with the House GOP - where he gave them everything immediately, and expected them to reciprocate - which, of course, they didn't (incredibly dumb- very "local" Hawaiian).
I'm honored you are comforted. :-)
In the end I find it's the small things that help me to endure...
:)
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