The Audacity of Dignity

[tgards79]

A unique look at Obama's Farewell Address:
http://www.borntorunthenumbers.com/2017/01/the-audacity-of-dignity.html

[Dark n Stormy Knight]

1. Great read. Thanks.

There are better excerpts, but this one resonated with me today, which is sad because it's not hopeful. Still lots of fight in me, but not feeling very hopeful these days.

I freely confess to being an unabashed and enthusiastic supporter of Barack Obama. For eight years, he has made me proud to be an American.

Yet I must also confess that I do not share his unequivocal optimism for our nation’s future. Where he sees an oft- interrupted but nonetheless relentless march forward – two steps forward, one step back – I can make an argument that America shows many traits of the great powers and cultures that have peaked and begun a slow and inexorable slide toward mediocrity. Exhibit one in my argument is the election of Donald Trump as our President, which is one hardly “one step back,” but more like programming the flex capacitor in the DeLorean to 1856 in an 88 mile-per-hour retreat from our ideals, principles, and aspirations.