You should have seen the way Beyoncé looked at me at that ball tonight. Damn! I played it cool though. I didn’t even look back at her. I grabbed Michelle’s hand, did a few twirls with her in that toilet paper dress, and made my way offstage like a cool cat. They were yelling for me to come back, but I just gave them a wave over the shoulder. I like to leave ’em fired up and ready to go.
Pastor Jeremiah was right; to hell with “America the Beautiful.” It’s the era of Barack the Beautiful. Long may I reign.
Unfortunately for Americans, the leader of the United States and his intimates have a deeply distorted view of America. Throw in unhealthy doses of class warfare, envy, and narcissism, and the long-cherished vision of America becomes almost unrecognizable—like Nancy Pelosi after a long Botox session.
Leaders from George Washington to Teddy Roosevelt to Ronald Reagan celebrated this country apart from themselves; praising her virtues, her ideals. President Obama takes a different tack. To understand where he is coming from and where he means to take us, it helps to look back.
In March 2008, while on the campaign trail, then-senator Obama offered this touching salute to America: “. . . for as long as I live, I will never forget that in no other country on earth is my story even possible.”
No matter the topic, no matter the occasion, whenever Barack Obama is talking, rest assured that the oration will somehow relate back to him! His personal narrative is always in evidence. Like Rome, all roads lead to Barry. Even America and her long, noble history must bend to accommodate the “story” of Barack Obama. But at least he is consistent. He always sings in the same key: Me, Me, Me, Me, Me . . .
Michelle and Barack Obama have a truly lamentable track record when it comes to celebrating America as the greatest country on the face of the earth. Probably because they don’t believe it’s true. Now, for those who think I am being petty—with apologies to the president—let me be clear: I’ve been around politics long enough to know, if you want to understand what a person really thinks and feels, don’t listen to the scripted speech. Listen when they speak off the cuff. Listen for what they don’t say. The truth is far more likely to come tumbling out when the teleprompter is off. And it has tumbled out.
On February 18, 2008, at a campaign rally in Madison, Wisconsin, Michelle Obama uttered the now-infamous proclamation about America: “For the first time in my adult lifetime, I am really proud of my country—and not just because Barack has done well, but because I think people are hungry for change. And I have been desperate to see our country moving in that direction and not just feeling so alone in my frustration and disappointment.”
“For the first time in my adult lifetime, I am really proud of my country . . .”
Can you imagine reaching the age of forty-four and never having been proud of your country? Michelle Obama couldn’t find one American virtue or laudable quality that stirred pride in her heart in all those years? Worse, she added that she was frustrated and disappointed in the country. Like her husband, the First Lady saw no objective goodness in America until they arrived on the scene.
During the 2008 campaign, Lauren Collins profiled Michelle Obama for the New Yorker. She wrote: “[Michelle] Obama begins with a broad assessment of life in America in 2008, and life is not good: we’re a divided country, we’re a country that is ‘just downright mean, ’ we are ‘guided by fear, ’ we’re a nation of cynics, sloths, and complacents.”
I have often tried to figure out why it is that liberals—especially Ivy League–educated liberals—have such a hard time loving America unconditionally. Whether it is a multimillionaire actor like Sean Penn or a business tycoon émigré like George Soros, our country’s most privileged liberal elites seem genetically predisposed to think the worst about the country that helped them achieve their wealth and celebrity. Why is this? What other country on the planet is better, freer, more beautiful than ours? (Both would probably scoff at the previous sentence for its “mindless flag-waving sentimentality.”)
Surely, as individuals, we can be critical of our political leadership— Lord knows I am—yet at the same time love our country and be grateful for the sacrifices of our forefathers. While I can certainly understand one having a dim view of certain political figures or events, I cannot understand the overall negative, cynical view shared by so many Obama boosters. You know the mind-set—the type who reflexively feel the need to remind the world that America has screwed up royally.
For them, America is better now only because it has embraced the Obamas. But by any measure, America is a great country. She was magnificent and set apart before the Obamas came along and will continue to be “the shining city on the hill” long after they are gone.
THE DIARY OF FIRST LADY MICHELLE OBAMA
THE WHITE HOUSE
January 21, 2009
I’ve got to tell you, making history is exhausting. After the parade and the balls and the Jonas Brothers’ drop-by, I am now stuck in this drafty, white mausoleum of a house, arranging bedrooms! I’d like to see Barack get five people situated in a new house overnight.
This morning, I’m sitting with Mama at the breakfast table in my robe, just worn out, and Barack walks in all spiffed up, giving me that “The First Lady have big plans today?” jazz. I threw my newspaper down, looked him straight in the eye, and said, “Listen, buddy, you go arrange the girls’ bedrooms and I’ll go meet with the national security team, okay? Believe me, that’s easier. And I probably know more about national security than you!”
He didn’t say a word. When he tried to quietly slink away, Mama gave him the evil eye and said, real loud, ‘This First Lady’s got bigger plans than you’ll ever have, string bean!” Even the servants were laughing.
I begged those Bushes to let us stay at Blair House, the White House guest residence, after the election and bring our things in slowly. But noooo! They had “dignitaries to accommodate.” So we were cooped up like refugees over at the Hay-Adams. (Do you know they didn’t even have conditioner in the bathroom?) The Bushes should have gotten the hell out of this house in November after the election and let us move in. We’re historic! Mrs. Literacy and Mr. Illiterate should have gone to a hotel. Didn’t they already have their eight years?
After I unpack Sasha’s room, I’ve got to get dressed and go to some damn military thing. Just what I need today. All that flag-waving, hillbilly music, hand-on-the-heart crap. To think that for the next four years I have to ooh and aah over the “sacrifice” of people who never graduated college . . . You want to know what sacrifice is? Giving up a cushy, six-figure, hospital board salary to play second fiddle to a man who still leaves his dirty socks in the middle of the bedroom floor.
But Desiree says, as First Lady, I’ve got to distance myself from the “first time I’m proud of my country” comments. So here I go: hugging and saluting and singing “Yankee Doodle Dandy”—again! Desiree picked out a blue sheath dress with a stars-and-stripes bow on the front. And I’ve got to say, my arms look fine in it. If I play my cards right, I might get an American Legion magazine cover out of this thing.
The place I work in,
The worker by my side,
The little town or city
Where my people lived and died.
The howdy and the handshake,
The air and feeling free,
And the right to speak my mind out,
That’s America to me.
How we speak of our country, how we treat the symbols of our freedom, the gratitude we show to our military and veterans—all of this defines who we are as Americans. Words and gestures, even the things we wear, express in a concrete way what’s in our hearts. A big part of patriotism is showing everyone we meet that we believe in the American creed—that we are proud of this country and her history, regardless of her shortcomings. President Obama has disparaged such displays. As a senator and presidential candidate, he made a point of removing his flag lapel pin in 2007.
“The truth is that right after 9/11, I
had a pin. Shortly after 9/11, particularly because as we’re talking about the Iraq War, that became a substitute for, I think, true patriotism, which is speaking out on issues that are of importance to our national security,” Obama said in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, that year. “I decided I won’t wear that pin on my chest. Instead I’m going to try to tell the American people what I believe, what will make this country great, and hopefully, that will be a testimony to my patriotism.”
So Obama is going to tell the American people “what will make this country great.” You’d swear he was a coach positioning himself to save a losing team—as if the country isn’t great now, but after it adopts his agenda, it will be spectacular. No wonder he would later attempt to, in his words, “fundamentally transform the United States of America.”
Obama is simply wrong. Our patriotism, our devotion to country, should never be swayed by the passing policies of the government. I agree with Mark Twain, who wrote, “Patriotism is supporting your country all the time, and your government when it deserves it.” I would argue that the lapel pin and displays like it are an outgrowth of our patriotism, tangible signs of faith in America.
Obama’s lapel-pin comments drew a firestorm of criticism, prompting him to further dismiss the importance of such displays in (ironically) Independence, Iowa: “After a while, you start noticing people wearing a lapel pin, but not acting very patriotic. Not voting to provide veterans with resources that they need. Not voting to make sure that disability payments are coming out on time. My attitude is that I’m less concerned about what you’re wearing on your lapel than what’s in your heart.”
Who knew that among Obama’s many gifts was the reading of hearts? To defuse the controversy, Obama began wearing the flag pin throughout the campaign and continues wearing it today. What, then, does the pin on his lapel actually mean, given his admitted feelings?
Barack Obama’s flawed thinking about America and how to present her to the world has now bled into his presidency, with disastrous results.
WHY WE’RE GREAT
Born of our revolutionary spirit and belief in the Almighty, America has long seen itself as exceptional—a people and a land set apart. Alexis de Tocqueville was the first to call America “exceptional.” But the principle has been enlarged and confirmed by our astounding growth and leadership in the world for more than two centuries.
The Encyclopedia of American Foreign Policy describes American exceptionalism as “a term used to describe the belief that the United States is an extraordinary nation with a special role to play in human history; a nation that is not only unique but also superior.” Our national pride and confidence come from this notion of American exceptionalism. It gives America the strength to seek out those things that are in her best interests and in the best interests of those in other lands.
If you have traveled outside the country for any length of time, you know there is nothing like coming home to the United States. That doesn’t mean there aren’t problems (like going through customs), but when one returns from a trip abroad, the marks of our exceptionalism are more apparent than ever by contrast. In the power of our industry. In the self-reliant, independent spirit of our people. The generosity of Americans. Their concern for their fellow man and the common good. These are the qualities that define us. (Just look at the outpouring of support for the people of Haiti during their recent tragedies—in the midst of a recession, I might add.) The proof of America’s exceptionalism is in evidence for anyone with eyes to see it.
The things I see about me,
The big things and the small,
The little corner newsstand,
And the house a mile tall;
The wedding and the churchyard,
The laughter and the tears,
And the dream that’s been a growing
For more than two hundred years.
It is obvious from our founding documents that the Framers considered America exceptional as well. They saw us as a people led by Providence, rooted in the ideals of equality under the law and freedom for all. Somewhere along the way, President Obama must have missed that lesson in history class. When asked about American exceptionalism at the NATO conference in April 2009, the leader of the free world said:
I believe in American exceptionalism, just as I suspect that the Brits believe in British exceptionalism and the Greeks believe in Greek exceptionalism. . . . Now, the fact that I am very proud of my country and I think that we’ve got a whole lot to offer the world does not lessen my interest in recognizing the value and wonderful qualities of other countries, or recognizing that we’re not always going to be right, or that other people may have good ideas, or that in order for us to work collectively, all parties have to compromise and that includes us.
Inspiring, isn’t it?
Just one day before, at the G-20 summit on April 2, 2009, in London, the president offered this nugget: “I do not buy into the notion that America can’t lead in the world, but it is very important for us to be able to forge partnerships as opposed to dictating solutions.”
Notice the language: in Obama’s worldview, before he came on the scene America was a dictator, a bully—“downright mean.” This perspective serves only to dilute the moral authority and influence of the United States and embolden the world’s true dictators. Obama thinks he’s being the sophisticated anti-Bush by offering foreign nations greater opportunities for “dialogue and understanding.” But, of course, the result is the diminishment of America’s leverage and strength in the world. No wonder they all think they can roll us now.
Throughout the NATO and the G-20 summits of 2009, Europe set the ground rules and led the way. Which was hardly a surprise. It was exactly what the president desired. When he first arrived at the G-20, he told British prime minister Gordon Brown that he had come “to listen, not to lecture.” At a press conference with German chancellor Angela Merkel at the start of the NATO summit, Obama announced: “I don’t come bearing grand designs . . . I’m here to listen, to share ideas, and to jointly, as one of many NATO allies, help shape our vision for the future.”
This practical repudiation of American exceptionalism was the capper of what might be called the Obama Contrition Tour. If the president’s feet are on foreign soil, chances are that at some point during the trip, he will apologize for America. When he speaks of the United States, he speaks as if he is somehow above America. He is the detached Messiah analyzing but unmarred by this deeply flawed country. He is in America, but not quite of it. Victor Davis Hanson has dubbed Obama the first postnational global citizen. Which sounds about right when you hear him speak overseas.
At a town hall meeting in Strasbourg, France, on April 3, 2009, he remarked: “In dealing with terrorism, we can’t lose sight of our values and who we are. That’s why I closed Guantanamo. That’s why I made very clear that we will not engage in certain interrogation practices. I don’t believe that there is a contradiction between our security and our values. And when you start sacrificing your values, when you lose yourself, then over the long term that will make you less secure.”
Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa . . .
In Trinidad and Tobago, on April 17, 2009: “I know that promises of partnership have gone unfulfilled in the past, and that trust has to be earned over time. While the United States has done much to promote peace and prosperity in the hemisphere, we have at times been disengaged, and at times we sought to dictate our terms.”
Given his confessional posture in foreign lands, the president and Michelle might ask their dressers to select some new fashion accessories next time they travel abroad: sackcloth and ashes.
His recitation of America’s purported sins creates an equivalency between the United States and nations that do not begin to approach our economic, military, or cultural strength. This idle chatter to win the affections of the aggrieved in the end diminishes America. As described by the president, the United States seems like just another defective member of the League of Nations.<
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In an interview with Fox News in December 2009, former vice president Dick Cheney could barely disguise his disgust with Obama’s international confessions as well as the president’s habit of bowing to foreign princes:
I think most of us believe, and most presidents believe, and talk about the truly exceptional nature of America: Our history, where we come from, our belief in our constitutional values and principles, our advocacy for freedom and democracy. . . . There’s never been a nation like the United States of America in world history.
And yet when you have a president who goes around and bows to his host and then proceeds to apologize profusely for the United States, I find that deeply disturbing. That says to me, this is a guy who doesn’t fully understand or share that view of American exceptionalism that I think most of us believe in.
President Obama’s words and example have led Americans down a path of self-loathing and have taught the world to disrespect our nation and our history. When then–Prime Minister Gordon Brown, following a series of meetings with the president of the United States, announces, “The old Washington consensus is over; I think a new world order is emerging with the foundation of a new progressive era of international cooperation,” it’s time to start worrying. The tragedy is, America was not overwhelmed by other nations but was in fact cut down by her own leader and served up on a platter.
THE DIARY OF PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA
THE OVAL OFFICE
April 21, 2009
8:30 a.m. Just finished reading Open Veins of Latin America: Five Centuries of the Pillage of a Continent, the book that Hugo Chavez handed me at the Americas Summit last week. President Chavez inscribed it: “For Obama with affection.” Where’s the president of the United States part? Or “the most honorable”? And all he’s got for me is affection? Couldn’t he have spared a “with love” or “in adoration” or “in humble homage to . . .”? Affection. That’s cold.
The Obama Diaries Page 2
