The big dog spoke and finally everybody could understand. President Clinton gave a great speech on Wednesday night of the DNC. He was a terrific maybe the best surrogate for President Obama for the whole convention. Pundits are falling all over themselves saying that finally we understand what President Obama has done and further made us finally understand what Governor Romney will do as well. No one else has explained it before that moment especially the President. He simply can't explain his accomplishments. I believe the problem of explanation of Obama’s accomplishments is not with President Obama. Maybe it’s with us. White America.
People keep saying President Obama hasn't explained himself for the last nearly four years. Clinton suddenly did explain and now finally we ALL understand. Are we sure that it's not more the fault of the listener than President Obama? Maybe the problem is the majority of Americans don't want to listen to an African-American. They need a white man to explain it to us. President Obama has always made sense to me. His grasp of facts and knowledge has never been questioned by his staff after a press conference like after President GW Bush press conferences. Remember how they would "clarify" his remarks every time he talked? It was a running gag on Letterman.
Our President is a brilliant man who made the Yale Law Review. Nevertheless, his acumen has continually been attacked with people even asking for his transcripts. Why didn’t anyone ask for President Bush's grades during the eight years before? My guess is everyone, GOP and Democrat critics included were more worried that worse fears would be confirmed. He was just as incompetent as he seemed. The real truth that nobody asked was the same reason they didn’t ask for the grades of Presidents Clinton, HW Bush, Reagan, Carter, Ford, and Nixon and on back through history. The simple reason was because they were white.
That's the only anomaly that differs from past Presidents. This President isn't white. Because of that and the fact he doesn't have the right kind of name his very patriotism has been challenged ever since he stepped on the national stage. Are we all racists? No. Thankfully we're not anymore. But frankly it is not that long ago the vast majority of us while we weren’t racists, we would hesitate to give certain responsibilities of leadership to a person of color or a woman.
Four years ago, those extreme feelings surfaced again in the persons of many outspoken white people who already had a substantial platform from which to spew their cowardly hate. They have influenced many who might have the slightest doubt about a black man being our President. While most people don't outright accept their characterization of our President I am more concerned than ever that so many have allowed themselves to doubt his effectiveness as our leader and even whether or not he is the leader of the current Democratic Party. Ed Helms last night on MSNBC hinted that Bill Clinton is the head of the Democratic Party to many of the Dems at the convention. And wasn’t until they heard from him that they were satisfied Obama was all right. Huh? President Clinton didn’t include the denouncement of DOMA, the acceptance of the Respect of Marriage Act. This is President Obama’s platform. Unlike the sheep in sheep’s clothing Romney who can’t accept his party’s platform nor can he denounce it.
Last night there was a contentious moment when the word God should be used in the platform. President Obama put an end to the discussion when he said it should. The fact that atheists and agnostics are also accepted and welcomed in the Democratic Party is no small thing. Despite the fact that he asked to have God included in the language of the platform atheists and agnostics, as all of us in LGBT community did for years, know that Obama respects their views and welcomes them.
White people years ago disappointed me. I went to bed out here in California one night with the hope that Tom Bradley would be our next Governor. He had led in the poles and was expected to win. On Election Day there was suddenly a close race and ultimately George Deukmejian won the Governorship. The only reason that Bradley lost is because he was black. Deukmejian was another W. Bush. I thought four years ago the nation had turned the corner when it elected Obama but that was the same night that California passed Prop 8. It was a mixed night that since has been clarified by a courageous President. Meanwhile from the start, despite the affirmation of the vote for President Obama and his decisive victory, he was undermined and now we still haven’t accepted him. Maybe last night the final doubt was quelled when the big white man told us all that the President of the United States was all right.
Also I don’t it buy when people tell me that they are undecided and they call themselves “progressive”. Just freaking admit it. You were waiting for some white guy to tell you President Obama is okay. HE really did do all the things HE said HE did and he would have done more but the GOP made it their mission to stop him doing anything. Rush said he hoped that he would fail as a President just a few days before our President was inaugurated. When I hear progressive pundits doubt him and his accomplishments or that he has never been his best advocate. It’s 99 times out of a hundred a white guy making excuses that are so lame I’m surprised they can walk away from the interview table.
The interesting thing for me is Clinton told me nothing I didn’t know. I will readily admit that no on explains policy better than anybody does. His title of the Great Communicator is very apt. But why is it I, who have lost ten per cent of my brain to a heart attack, have understood President Obama from the very beginning. Am I so much smarter than others? No I’m not. But I am proud to say I am evidently not carrying as much resentment for black people that others must have. The President's accomplishments are many and have finally been enumerated by others for the last two days culminating in the Big Dog’s speech. I guess. I have never had any trouble understanding him. For me he has been a transformational President. DADT is gone and he supported Marriage Equality while sitting in the White House. He has supported unequivocally women’s rights including most importantly their reproductive rights and he passed and put into law that which could not be passed and put into law the Affordable Health Care Act or Obamacare. If re-elect the President and we allow it to take true effect we all will embrace it as a nation. If you don’t believe me READ IT!!! It’s online. For me President Obama is simply the most amazing man we have had in the White House period.
President Obama is a good man and he never would get caught in any lie. He is often characterized as a liar but there is simply no proof. He has accomplished more than any President since Johnson and yet still he is constantly challenged for not letting us know what he’s done. Well no one has an excuse now. We all know now thanks to the big dog. President Obama is the best damn thing that happened to us in the last oh I don’t know - like forever. If he doesn't get re-elected now it's because he is black. That’s it. No other reason. All the other reasons have been proven bogus thanks to the big dog.
