Ella~
A black man, not an elite, not from wealth or close family bonds, he nevertheless came from nowhere and won the big prize. What do you think personally about him and what do our authors state? Do you think they lean one or another?
Barack Obama is a bi-racial man. His father was African from Kenya, and his mother was white from Kansas. He was raised with his white grandparents, in Hawaii who were very well off. She held a high position in banking. He seemed to hob nob with many elites on his way to the White House, not to mention he has Hollywood celebrities enamored with him. In his book "Dreams From My Father" I read where he speaks of animosity toward his mother's white race. Throughout his years in college he formed friendships with mostly blacks, Chicanos and more radical people. He admittedly, spent much of his college years doing drugs. He also writes, because he did not spend much time in the company of his father, he learned about him through his mother. His mother was a bit of a rebel herself, and left him with her mother to raise. So, I wonder if Obama even really knew his mother or father. Is this why we see so few pictures of him, and we know so little about him? The men he drew himself to as mentors, as a young male and in his early adulthood, are those who had very radical/anti American ideas. Rev. Jeremiah Wright, he calls, not only his lifelong mentor of 20 yrs in his church, his spiritual guide, but also, was like a father to him. Then as
Ella states, he
"came from nowhere and won the big prize." My personal feelings, are that he was groomed by these men in his life, from the time he was young, into early adulthood, to "win the big prize," to pursue
their ideologies. I feel Obama, and many of his democrats, have used the racist card many times to make white Americans feel bad, if we do not support, or agree with their policies, yet he is half white and seems to not want to recognize that. As far as his effectiveness in the four years he has been president, I can honestly say, I feel it will take years to undo the damage he has done with the economy, foreign relations, racial tensions and class warfare. Yes, he keeps reminding us that he had a mess when he took office, which is true. BUT.....I feel he has not helped to make it at all better, if anything adding 16 Trillion dollars more in debt over 4 yrs, has put this country deeper in debt to China, weakens our dollar, and lessens our strength as a country. He acknowledges his success in killing Bin Laden, yet we are now dealing with the out come of that, with terrorists killing our Ambassador, two navy seals and an assistant of our Ambassador. The uprising in the Middle East since 9-11-2012, does not in any way make me feel safer. If anything I believe Al Quieda, as they are stating, will avenge Bin Laden's death with more terrorist attacks. On the 11th anniversary of 9-11, I am still trying to understand, after receiving information of a possible attack on our embassies, why did he NOT beef up security with our own soldiers to secure our embassies? Was campaigning and winning re election so much more important, that he thought skipping security briefings was okay?
My biggest concern when I saw the DNC push Hillary out of her right to continue running for the spot on the ticket, and hand it to Obama, was that he was a person with NO experience what so ever. When I discussed my concerns with Obama supporters I asked them, "If you were the owner of a huge successful company, would you appoint a newly, inexperienced college graduate to the CEO position?" So when he won the presidency, I was in shock, especially when he was running against John McCain, a longtime, intelligent, respected Senator, POW, ex veteran, and has experience with foreign affairs. I can't explain the
why, but I think I understand the
how it happened. Instead of Obama using the president's club to help him more, (with the state of affairs he inherited), since he lacks knowledge and experience, he surrounded himself with appointees/czars, that were his friends, with the same ideologies as his own. Other than using Clinton for public approval ratings and the release of the journalists, the authors did not give us any indication Obama reached out much, if any, to others in the club.
I think the authors did not lean one way or the other, where Obama is concerned. They did not cover him as much as I feel they could have, but then again, there has been so little that the public has been allowed to have access to, leading up to being elected, and to this very day, so it would be difficult for them. No school records, no college transcripts, no thesis or papers he wrote in college, no access to his other brothers, sister, cousins, grandmothers, friends etc., etc. Rev. Wright his long time spiritual guide, was some how removed from the picture once the videos of him became public how he hates whites and America. Just a Law review professor, and community organizer, before being elected to the Illinois senate. Then "out of NOWHERE" he becomes President...wins the big prize!
I hold my faith, priests, church and religion sacred in my life. I could never image denouncing them or the church, I have attended my entire life, or for 20 yrs. I am still bewildered with that entire decision, he made on his way to the White House. But then again, was it a decision he could avoid?
Well, as all good things must come to an end, our book discussion draws to an end. I have truly enjoyed being back with all of you. If nothing else, we are an intelligent, spunky, opinionated, fact finder, and fun group. Thank you to Ella and Harold for once again, guiding us, informing us and leading us into an in depth look at "The President's Club." I look forward to the next time we join one another for an interesting discussion.
Happy Fall to y'all....... Ciao for now~
