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  1. The AtlanticBarack Obama11/12/209 min
    24 reads7 comments
    9.7
    The Atlantic
    24 reads
    9.7
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    • sjwoo3 years ago

      Always nice to hear from a president who can actually string a few sentences together.

      Having said that, the most truthful part of this essay is this:

      "The jury's still out."

      Oh yeah. The jury's super, super still out. I just heard a podcast where some smart person mentioned that democracy is not binary but rather a spectrum, which makes so much sense when you really think about it.

      With the last four years and the garbage still happening post-election, USA's democracy has been dented like the side of a car. You know how hard it is to undent a car?

      We're still in a load of trouble, and my guess is that we've just been given a slight reprieve with the Biden win, but the curve is on the down slope. I hope I'm dead wrong.

    • DellwoodBarker3 years ago

      Deeply Admire these words from a Respectable Human Being and his ability to look back with Self-Awareness of his imperfections as a Leader. It Is High Time We Begin viewing political parties in 3D, 4D, even 5D - like a Rubik’s Cube where We each bring a Color to the Table. Our True-True Power Is, simultaneously, non-conformist pixels and United Illumination Outside from Within these distinct complexities. Common Ground Will Be Found once We each dig to the Core of our individual disintegration, death and re-birth. True-True Government By the People and For the People Will Be So Far Beyond two party lines. The Scale of Liberty Will Balance Most Dynamically from the Fire of the Green Heart 💚 In Between the two polarities a too many are lost mentally within these days.

      That is just the way I see it.

      My Day Is Better Having Read This.

    • bill
      Top reader of all time
      3 years ago

      When will this guy stop being so presidential?

      I'm asking that question as a criticism, not a compliment, although I guess you can read it either way.

      • vunderkind3 years ago

        One person has to be above the messiness, I'd say.

        • jeff3 years ago

          I agree and I think there's a lot of value in both his message and the consistency with which he communicates it. I think we need a good mix of radicals and traditionalists and Obama seems to me like one of the best examples of the latter.

      • Billsfriendjake3 years ago

        Hmm — in some ways I think he’s already put aside some of the pretenses. Campaigning for Clinton and Biden would have been considered unpresidential in previous years. I also can’t imagine any of the presidents in our lifetime showing the same level of introspection about his own ego, shortcomings, particularly where he’s been almost entirely scandal free for last 16 years. If you can’t tell — I cherish this dude— the contrast with trump is basically why there was any trump at all.

        • bill
          Top reader of all time
          3 years ago

          Fair. These are good points. I once worked for Obama, so yeah, I cherish him too. Plus, he's a hardcore reader, fiction and non-fiction, and has excellent, non-pretentious literary taste. So... 😍🥰

          My frustrations come from a place of love. Mainly, I want him to transcend partisanship (and maybe even politics) altogether. He should be done being a Democrat. He already completely won that whole game. The ongoing delusion that the winning party will unite us would be laughable if it wasn't, frighteningly, the only option that's ever on the table. We need to break the gridlock. I have no clue how. Obama is on a really short list of people who might be able to figure it out.

          1. Update (11/16/2020):

            I have so much to say about "almost scandal free" but I'll bite my tongue, because the point you're making is valid. If I cough and the word "Snowden" comes out though, I can't help it.