http://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/obama-on-the-hoofbeats-of-history
I'm a fan of Glenn Thrush. For me, he is in Politico but not of it. But I think he gets this take on Obama, coming off his fractious and steely Iran deal press conference, simply wrong. The image is of a president frantically trying to cram as much legacy as he can into the final quarter of his presidency.
No Drama Obama has been replaced by a man who is testy and impatient. As often happens late in a president's term, many key advisors - the ones most able to rein in his more unlovely tendencies - have gone on to their post-presidential lives. That, I think, is a fair characterization of Thrush's article. It's not at all what I see.
We all remember that week last month when the country seemed to be marching with history. The Court upheld the Affordable Care Act against what is likely its last serious legal challenge, effectively embedding it deeply into the structure of American social policy. The Court then (in what was unfortunately a weakly argued majority decision) made marriage equality the law of the land nationwide.
Then on the heels of these events came the President's speech (transcript here) in Charleston, South Carolina - actually a eulogy for Clementa Pinckney, one of the victims of the Emmanuel Church massacre on June 17 but in fact a commemoration and meditation on the meaning of the whole event. (James Fallows' is one of the best appreciations and treatments of it.)
Even more unexpectedly the sea change rumbled across the South, sparking decisions to ditch the flag from the most conservative Southern white Republicans - decisions which would have been unthinkable only days before.
The President said something both profound and shocking in his address, something that would have been demagogued mercilessly (perhaps not without some cause) in almost any other context of his presidency but this one, with its immense gravity and the President's praise of political opponents who had taken the lead in recent days ending the flag's reign over the South.
Out of the horror of the killer's attack and his wish that it would spike racial hatred on both sides of the color line, the President saw something different. "Oh, but God works in mysterious ways. God has different ideas. [Dylann Roof] didn’t know he was being used by God."
When I look at Obama I don't see a President desperately trying to cram legacy achievements into the declining months of his presidency. I see achievements coming to fruition that were usually years in the making but often seemed errant or quixotic and uncertain in their outcome. This is what for many was so bracing about the end of June.
This has been a long long seven years. What seemed like an uncertain list of achievements, long on promise but hacked apart by mid-term election reverses and Obama's sometimes over-desire for accommodation, suddenly appeared closer to profound, like a novel or a play which seems scattered or unresolved until all the pieces fall into place, clearly planned all along, at the end.
Whatever you think of this Iran agreement, it is not only the product of years of work but is core to the foreign policy vision Obama brought with him to the presidency. It's as core to the goals he entered the presidency with as anything that has happened in recent weeks. He has it in view; his political opponents will be very hard pressed to block him. And he is pushing ahead to get it done.
i don't think Pres. found his voice i think it was always there but he had the intelligence to know that PRESIDENT is not an island he does not get to rule he gets to lead had he gone all angry Black guy republicans would have successfully sold the snake oil to it's base and there would not be the changes we see today.
i wondered why he didn't go after Cheyney/ Bush war crimes but came to understand the logic had he done that we would still be litigating it he knew if he wanted to do what he pledged he had to go for it not republican criminal acts that i believe will come to pass but ACA, FAIR WAGE, JOBS, and the hundreds of other things he's accomplished thrive because he chose America and Americans over political revenge.
if you are wondering where this Obama was he was in front of you why didn't you see him, the republican vitriolic slime and the fumes of hate and bigotry clouded your vision. now they no longer can do damage he is free and so are we whether we keep our freedom depends on what we hear Nov. 5th 2016
republicans have done a great job at confusing Americans as to who's got their backs some gullible enough to turn a blind eye to the past and present exploits of republicans and focusing on the lies and misinformation supplied over the last 7 years by republicans. just like ignorance is no excuse for the law it's no excuse for shooting yourself in the foot over and over at some point you get a clue if you ignore it you continue till there is no foot.
