A Few Moments Enjoying the Quiet Class of Bygone Days



I rolled out this morning to execute my  already established weekday routine of retirement.   After the usuals and retrieving my coffee, I turned on the talking heads of cable news, expecting the usual repetitive yammering... to a very pleasant surprise:    Calm, peaceful coverage of a dignified ceremony to present the official portraits of President and Mrs. Barack Obama.

Normally, this would not be my cup of tea but I found myself very attracted to a few calm minutes watching the Obamas humbly and gratefully, yet with quiet dignity and self deprecating humor accept  this simple honor.

Even though I always felt that Barack Obama was handed the worst situation  that any president has ever inherited, I felt he steadily and steadfastly overcame those obstacles to lead this country back to prosperity - at a high cost, yes, but that was also baked into what he stepped into.

That said,   I was not  an Obama  fanboy...despite the total opposition he faced from the right.   I felt President Obama could have done more, and I felt he threw in the towel a bit early at the end of his term.    I always had respect for the President however, and he was treated very poorly by a lot of people.

Listening to him speak today, I remembered that I also felt other things during his presidency that I now miss.

I felt Mr. Obama was a decent man.  I knew where he'd be coming from and basic civility and morality.

I felt the President approached the job with humility and respect, and humor - as he did in the ceremony today.  I don't remember every seeing him brag or personally bash the opposition.

I felt I knew where Back Obama would be coming from on basic issues of morality, human rights, racism, respect for women, and civility. 

I felt Mr. Obama represented this country with dignity and an eye to the long term.

While the Obamas are well off, relatively speaking they are upper middle class working people (at least while in office, like most presidents they are doing better since leaving office) n inflation-adjusted dollars.   They felt far more like regular people than today's (self pronounced) billionaires.     Watching them adjust to and deal with life in the White House looked like the struggles regular people would go through.   

Despite the bag of goods eh was handed, I really don't recall Back Obama blaming those difficulties on W.   By contrast, HE is now blamed even though  he handed over a booming economy and stock market (This is, when the new administration is not taking credit for those same things).

As I watched the proceedings this morning, I was really struck by the soft-spoken humility of Michelle and Barack,  so sharply contrasting with the bellicose blustering braggadocio we see almost every day.     It was also refreshing to see a first couple with true respect and admiration for each other (the president referred multiple time to how the artist had captured her class but also her "hotness", which tickled my funny bone).

The class, decency, and humanity of the past and of good leadership is too easily drowned out by the egotistical, brash squalling of the "me first, me only" potential despot with behavioral lines.     Every moment they spent in gratitude accepting and presenting their portraits  was more powerful than a dozen nasty tweets.   As a people, we are too responsive to such negative means.,    but the calmness and relative nobility of these two people that served their country well calls for more than simply  to continue the argument on this page.    In the long run, I believe that our better angels will win out over the dangers we face.

I was very surprised that all three of the major cable news outlets, including Fox, seemmed to carry the entire proceeding.    None of them were talking over the quiet speeches, which went on for some time.    Perhaps the media too was glad from the frantic, high decibel daily drubbing delivered from and to the administration, the congress, and the people thereof.

I am deeply disturbed and concerned by what is going on in government and media today.   It truly was nice to have a short break from both.   We could use a few more calm minutes in cable news.



Congrats to the Obamas, I thought their portraits were well done.