by
dominique DiPrima
The Supreme Court’s decision to uphold The Affordable Health Care Act is widely viewed as a victory for President Barack Obama. It has led to lots of speculation about the legacy of the 44th President, and finally forced some pundits to acknowledge the gravity of President Obama’s achievement with his signature piece of legislation.
It reminds me of the Iowa Caucus in 2008, when then-Senator Barack Obama beat presumed frontrunner Hillary Clinton. And it’s not just because it was a surprise. I remember months of boxing my own community on the air prior to that victory. I believed we could win, I argued my point with Black politicians, celebrities, listeners pundits and professors. Very few people believed candidate-Obama had a chance. The justifications were endless: he didn’t have enough experience, it wasn’t his turn, we owed the Clintons (after all Clinton was the first Black president, right?) he couldn’t win, on and on it went. After the mostly white voters of Iowa gave our Black candidate an overwhelming victory, suddenly the game changed. Did we need someone outside our community to give approval before we could get behind our own? Did we need somebody whose “ice was colder” to validate our own cool? After Iowa folks started to get on the bandwagon, first the people, finally the politicians believed…Yes We Can…And we did!
Forward to 2012, as I watch African American pastors blast the president for his solidly common-sensical, non-religious take on same-sex marriage I feel as if I’m seeing reruns on Nick at Nite. As I listen to so-called Black intellectuals and media mavens attack the president for “not doing enough for “us,” I see the wavy lines of a movie flashback in my mind. Why must we act as our own Trojan horses…Gleefully attacking ourselves from within destroying our own entrails while triumphantly proclaiming ourselves “independently minded?” Are we back to 2008’s “President Obama is not Black enough?” Evidently he is Black enough to be the target of more assassination attempts and attacks than any president in U.S. History. And amazingly he is doing a wildly successful job of “governing while Black!”
So when Justice John Roberts broke ranks and upheld the constitutionality of Obamacare (the bill nicknamed after a constitutional law professor,) and our pundits grudgingly noted that the president has managed to do something that presidents have tried to do for decades, it kinda made me mad. You needed a far right Supreme Court Justice to show you that your president is wildly successful? Really? Or is it just that you needed someone outside (far outside) your community to legitimize the facts?
Wildly successful. That’s how I define our president, and will continue to do so. His legacy is already that and given another four years, he will emerge as one of the most accomplished residents of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue – ever. We must judge men by their achievements in the context of their times. Bill Clinton is held up as a model president, but he failed to enact healthcare reform even in good times. And he did not inherit the Bush Crash of ’08 (a nation on the brink of complete financial ruin,) at least two huge wars, and a Wall Street gone crazy with the deregulation Mr. Clinton himself allowed. It is in this context that President Barack Hussein Obama has signed the Lilly Ledbetter Act, overturned Don’t Ask Don’t Tell, created a consumer financial protection agency, enacted financial reform, passed the Affordable Healthcare Act, and ended the war in Iraq. And that’s just the first four years.
So as much as it annoys me that we need outside validation, I pray that the Supreme Court decision will be this election cycle’s Iowa wake-up call. This time the Democrats campaign slogan is “forward.” With their attacks on women, the poor, educational opportunities, and voting rights Republicans and their current leader Willard “Mitt” Romney have proven that they intend to take us back. Their “good old days” were our days of work with no pay and responsibility with no rights. Forward. It could not be more simple or more on point. If you are not going forward, you’re backwards. And I pray…No I believe we will remember, before November!
July 11, 2012 at 12:06 pm
Whitewater did a lot to curb Clinton’s popularity. Secondly, as the voters demonstrated, the country wasn’t quite ready for a woman president. Third and perhaps most importantly, after 8yrs of arguably the most damaging republican(for folk like me anyway) presidency ever, the country overwhelminly voted in the democrat.
In my mind, much like the sports that we watch and bet on today, I can’t help but feel like things are scripted. The so-called war on terror in Iraq for all intents and purposes may be over(in theory) but the war on the entire middle east is full speed ahead with Iran dead center in the crosshairs. They remains a very strong US millitary presence in Iraq and more and more millitary might being shipped into the Strait of Hormuz.
I shall share more opinion a bit later.. I have to go..
July 11, 2012 at 1:56 pm
Continuing..
So-called democracy is being spread throughout the middle east with puppet presidents being stratigicly “voted” in. (Remember, it was Al Gore who actually won the presidency in 2000)..
It remains to be seen what the actual effects of obamacare will be on the american economy. I ceratinly hope it’s a positive one. I just wanna remind folk that Mr. Obama had to indeed give up a lot of himself in order to endear himself Iowans and to whites in general. The denoucement of his pastor Rev. Wright, a good friend up to that point speaks volumes to me of what one is willing to give up in order to obtain power.
I can go on and on with this so I’ll stop and save some for another topic but I’ll say this.. We as Blacks had better get about the business of knowing the in’s and out’s of politics, We cannot afford to leave any stone unturned. The president is signing all kinds of documents that they don’t broadcast on the evening news. He’s signing all manners to leglislation when the lights and cameras are off. If we do our homework we’ll discover that the things we argue over, the things dem and reps argue over on the surface is absolutely nothing compared to whats coming for this country..
Winter is coming.. ..and we are cheering it on in..
July 12, 2012 at 11:43 pm
You forgot to mention Obama gave the green light to raid the suspected hideout of Bin Laden which ultimately led to his demise. I look back to that night of the TV footage of Americans coming together to celebrate the death of the worlds most wanted terrorist. That was a great feeling that I have yet to see any other president carry out. I’m voting for 4 more years of Obama.
July 16, 2012 at 5:23 am
Is Obama the lesser of the two evils(Obama vs Romney)? Perhaps.. But I don’t concede that point lightly.
It’s all bullshit.. ALL OF IT!!!