We will miss that “Obama cool” very soon…
Craving that Obama Cool
The following is an excerpt from a column by Nicholas Kristof in the New York Times:
Here’s my prediction: America and the world will soon be craving that “Obama Cool” again…
Donald Trump spews emotional tweets impetuously and vindictively, lacing his venom with misspellings or grammatical mistakes. We’ll be craving Barrack Obama ‘s prudence, intellect and reserve.
The personal differences between them aren’t just that Obama was an African American son of a single mom, while Trump was the scion of a real estate tycoon. It’s more the behaviors they model. Trump has had five children by three wives, has boasted of his infidelities, has shrugged at conflicts of interest and is a walking scandal. In contrast, Obama has the most boring personal life imaginable and is the rare president who got through a second term without significant scandals.
Whatever our views of Obama’s politics, we should be able to agree that he is a superlative family man. For eight years, this family has made us proud.
When Obama gave his farewell address in Chicago this month. he was accompanied by Michelle and his older daughter, Malia, but 15-year-old Sasha was missing. Twitter was abuzz, and #WheresSasha was soon trending. It turned out that she wasn’t in a drunken stupor or staying away in an angry teenage sulk. Rather, it seemed that the Obamas had Sasha stay home to study for an exam the next morning.
If I were Sasha, I’d be annoyed: “C’mon, Dad! You coulda written me a note!” But I’m proud of a first. family that so values education and is so averse to asserting privilege. Trump may dismantle Obamacare and pull out of the Paris climate accord. But he cannot undo Obama’s legacy of dignity and old-fashioned virtue, and the impression he made on all of us.
And if, as I fear, we see the white House transformed into a bog of scandals flowing from an unprincipled narcissist, we will be more appreciative of a first family that set an impecccable example for all the world.
