Obama - Press Conference--Presidential

Okay I'm not political. I barely can keep on my own shoes, let alone worry about the yammerings that pass for politics in my country. Plus for the last 10 years--at least since the years of Ronald Reagan, that secret Darth Vader of nastiness and navel gazing--the politicians and the press have been so incredibly out to lunch, off the mark, full of excrement that I've not been able to stomach too much extended watching of anything. The Republicans waved a magic wand and produced demons that were fake though genuinely scary. And the Democrats. Lord how the Democrats let themselves, their party, and the country down, and again and again and again. In the name of what? Compromise? Fear of looking "non patriotic?" Impotence before a discourse that was crafted by the right and the righter-than-thou?

But this guy. Oh lord. This guy has raised my hopes. This guy makes me ashamed that it has taken so long to rise up against the radical representatives of very rich people that run our country. Partly because things have gotten so bad, Barack Obama may be a gift to America on the level of Abraham Lincoln and George Washington. And this press conference shows he responds with the grace of John Kennedy. My god, after 8 years of Little Lord WonterWoy, any person who speaks in declarative sentences is enough to catch one's attention. But Obama shows a burning intelligence and a general willingness to stand up for what he believes is right. Zimbabwe? He didn't just memorize 16 words at a pre-press conference briefing. He knows the names of the politicians. He knows the stances of the Europeans. He's scathing in his evaluation of Mugabe. Socrates says when we see the truth, we know it. And I feel like with Barack Obama, I'm seeing if not "the truth," then an honest and well articulated perspective.

Obama, this young man fielding questions of import with compassion, grace, and shining intelligence at his press conference, didn't smile at all. He was serious, even somber. After a year or so in office. When he makes some changes--or as his campaign crafters might specify--after he enables America to make some changes, he may smile again.

I've seen him smile, and it is great when it comes--and I'm confident it will come again. And when it does, I'll remember this, just like I remember the day I went to hear him speak. And I'll remember how I felt it was a trial press conference for an Obama presidency--and he handled it beautifully.