A friend of mine found this photograph of the President a while back, and observed that it made him look like Lincoln. It also reminds me of the sculpture of Spartacus by Denis Foyatier I saw at the Louvre years ago, vibrating with cool, pensive determination in the face of enormous challenges.
I try not to get carried away by too much romantic nonsense about leaders, but a measured dose is healthy. I don't want to forget how in some ways the Obama administration doesn't just disappoint me, it horrifies me. At the same time, I think that we have seen that Obama has the capacity for greatness.
In the last Presidential election I had hoped that we might elect one kind of hero. Today I hope we reëlected the guy in this picture.
There's work to do.
Update: That same friend has found another.
2 comments:
I was just saying over on my fb that I believe we've elected a new Obama. A second-termer is always different, but I think he'll be substantially different.
We must remain vigilant. But for a moment or two we can rest, and let out a sigh of relief.
That is my hope as well.
I don't have any illusions that we will see a progressive, anti-war Obama emerge. He has always been a good-government neoliberal moderate. But if he can build a strong neoliberal moderate norm in American politics, and implement some effective policies, it may be able to break the grip of antigovernment rhetoric on our politics, which would be a good thing.
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