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But those who wait on the LORD Shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run and not be weary, They shall walk and not faint (Isaiah 40:31)
It is a psychological fact that we cherish most what we have worked hardest to gain, the further we come, the sweeter the celebration at the destination when we arrive (Denis Waitley)
ho thought (of it) that we would live to see a black man as the President of the United States in the first place? More to that: Who dreamt that a black man would be re-elected the President of the United States of America in this century? But, now, history has been made; a black man, Barack Obama, has been re-elected as the President of the world's most powerful nation.
Obama's approval rating and popularity spiked after the election, in that Fifty-eight percent of Americans had a favorable view of the president after the election (his highest favorability rating in the poll since July of 2009). Not only that, the public's view of Democrats became positive in the wake of a largely successful election for the party. Fifty-one percent of those surveyed had a favorable impression of the party. Even the racists and some Republicans were dumbfounded by Obama's victory. Newt Gingrich, Rush Limbaugh, Donald Trump etc still couldn't believe what they were seeing as the results started coming in on the election night. Karl Rove was hoping that a miracle would have happened to reverse the result of the election that night as it took him long to accept the fact that the Obama has won. After the election, Newt Gingrich said this on the "Today" show: "We need to stop, take a deep breath and learn. The president won an extraordinary victory. And the fact is; we owe him the respect of trying to understand what they did and how they did it. But if you had said to me three weeks ago Mitt Romney would get fewer votes than John McCain and it looks like he'll be 2 million fewer, I would have been dumbfounded." Gingrich had previously predicted that Romney would enjoy an easy victory. He said on Fox News (before the election), "My personal guess is you'll see a Romney landslide, 53 percent-plus ... in the popular vote, 300 electoral votes-plus." Then after the election, Gingrich admitted, "I was wrong, as was virtually every major Republican analyst. And so, you have to stop and say to yourself, 'If I was that far off, what do I need to learn to better understand America".
What a man is this Obama? Obama is just a phenomenon; even the deaf proclaimed his good naturedness and predicted his re-election.
AFIS, on Tuesday, April 17, 2012 posted how a "Deaf Student Narrates Encounter With Obama....Noble Man", thus:
President Obama was shaking hands with supporters after an energy policy event on March 15, 2012 with Maryland Governor, Martin O'Malley, when he had an impromptu sign language exchange with a deaf man. The website, Distriction, was first to report on the candid exchange, which was captured on video by a 26-year-old Prince George's Community College student named Stephon, who is deaf. As Obama made his way down the line of supporters, Stephon used American Sign Language to tell the president, "I am proud of you." In the video, you can see Obama momentarily pause at the unexpected greeting. But he quickly responds by signing, "Thank you." A second deaf student then signs, "I love you." Obama smiles back at the student and shakes her hand before continuing down the line.
PARTIAL TRANSCRIPT (via Distriction): Narration by Deaf Student…..
"Hello, I would love to share my experience; something that I will not forget for rest of my life. Today was a special day for me, and I was preparing for it. It was announced yesterday, March 14, 2012 for everyone to receive tickets to see none other than the President of the United States, Barack Obama! "
"The moment I will never forget was when he looked at me. He gave me a chance to talk to him. It was like he was waiting for me to say something. I took the moment and signed 'I am proud of you,' and his response was 'Thank u' in sign language back!"
"Oh my gosh! I was like wow! He understood me after I said I was proud of him. It was so amazing…I was just speechless. Right after he thanked me, he smiled at another deaf lady who signed 'I love you.'"
"When I shook his hand it did not feel like he was superior to me. He was just a humble man. I am just impressed by him and know that he will have my vote and he will win second term without a doubt. Yeah, I feel safe to have him for another term."
In 2008, many claimed that Obama's victory was a misnomer (a fluke), and that it would never happen again. With his re-election in 2012, Obama has proved that he's no push over, that his first election wasn't a fluke. Obama is turning into a political colossus; infact after his second term, he would be an "institution" to be consulted and courted all over the world. It's in this second term that we would see the real Obama, the person that would be decisive, spiting fire in his trail, and, over-achieving. In mid term congressional elections coming up in 2014, the Republicans would lose the control of the House of Reps, while the Democrats, in addition to taking over the control of the House of Reps, would retain the control of the senate. Then we would have a democrat as the president and Capitol Hill controlled by the democrats, then Obama would be able to get his agenda through the Congress as there would be no more gridlock as we know it now. Obama would then end up as a very successful president.
Obama would show the world that behind the façade is a hidden resolve to get things done, and, he's going to more resolute now than ever. Obama is like the "Japanese bullet train" that even an earthquake can't derail. The AP wrote " A month after the bitterly fought election, President Barack Obama has his highest approval ratings since the killing of Osama bin Laden, according to an Associated Press-GfK poll, and, more Americans say the nation is heading in the right direction now than at any time since the start of his first term. Overall, the public gives Democrats the advantage on handling the economy, 45 percent saying they trust the president's party to do a better job on it, 39 percent favoring Republicans".
Obama has been a compassionate president, while creating more jobs in four years than President Bush created in eight years, he has been giving lifeline to millions of Americans, and that was what Mitt Romney termed "bribe" and why he was re-elected. That's the mark of good leadership; helping to put more people to work while helping those who are yet to get a job, the weak, the needy, the poor, the sick and the elderly to survive. For mitt Romney, doing so is a "sin"; for Romney, only the fittest should survive and the weak should be left to their fate, but, Obama will not have that.
John Blake of CNN wrote: "Since Obama became president, a record number of Americans, at least 46 million, now receive food stamps. And one in six Americans receives some form of government aid as the nation struggles to recover from the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression. There are a lot of people who are relying on government for their basic everyday needs: food, clothing and shelter".
Acho Orabuchi wrote: "In this Thanksgiving, however, some people are celebrating the recent victory of President Barack Obama at the polls regardless of recent comments of Gov Mitt Romney. The Republican presidential candidate, Gov. Mitt Romney, speaking to big donors on a conference call, attempted to explain why he lost his bid for the presidency. He attributed his loss to Obama's "gifts" to women, African Americans, Latinos and young voters-Obama's "coalition groups"-a characterization that drew a public ire. This was in consonance with statements Mr. Romney made earlier during the campaign when he said, "There are 47 percent of the people who will vote for the president no matter what. All right, there are 47 percent who are with him, who are dependent upon government, who believe that they are victims, who believe that government has a responsibility to care for them, who believe that they are entitled to health care, to food, to housing, to you name it." "...These are people who pay no income tax. Forty-seven percent of Americans pay no income tax," Romney said.
This time, people seem to consider his comments to his donors more insulting and degrading to a vast majority of the people who voted for Barack Obama. Gov Romney said to them, "With regards to the young people, for instance, a forgiveness of college loan interest was a big gift." He continued, "Free contraceptives were very big with young, college-aged women. And then, finally, Obamacare also made a difference for them, because as you know, anybody now 26 years of age and younger was now going to be part of their parents' plan, and that was a big gift to young people. They turned out in large numbers, a larger share in this election even than in 2008." "You can imagine for somebody making $25,000 or $30,000 or $35,000 a year, being told you're now going to get free health care, particularly if you don't have it, getting free health care worth, what, $10,000 per family, in perpetuity - I mean, this is huge. Likewise with Hispanic voters, free health care was a big plus. But in addition with regards to Hispanic voters, the amnesty for children of illegals, the so-called Dream Act kids, was a huge plus for that voting group," Romney expressed".
In the words of Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1806 -1861) ("Light tomorrow with today!"), Obama is lighting a better tomorrow for America today. Obama wants to leave a better America for the future generation and he's passionate about it and will do all he can to achieve it. Anything standing in his way would be surmounted.
In his valedictory speech after the re-election, President said:
"But despite all our differences, most of us share certain hopes for America's future. We want our kids to grow up in a country where they have access to the best schools and the best teachers. A country that lives up to its legacy as the global leader in technology and discovery and innovation, with all the good jobs and new businesses that follow!
We want our children to live in an America that isn't burdened by debt, that isn't weakened by inequality, that isn't threatened by the destructive power of a warming planet. We want to pass on a country that's safe and respected and admired around the world, a nation that is defended by the strongest military on earth and the best troops this - this world has ever known. But also a country that moves with confidence beyond this time of war, to shape a peace that is built on the promise of freedom and dignity for every human being.
We believe in a generous America, in a compassionate America, in a tolerant America, open to the dreams of an immigrant's daughter who studies in our schools and pledges to our flag. To the young boy on the south side of Chicago who sees a life beyond the nearest street corner. To the furniture worker's child in North Carolina who wants to become a doctor or a scientist, an engineer or an entrepreneur, a diplomat or even a president - that's the future we hope for. That's the vision we share. That's where we need to go - forward. That's where we need to go".
The President doesn't want to leave even a child behind and the remarks he made above is in line with what Maya Angelou (1928) said that "Each child belongs to all of us and they will bring us a tomorrow in direct relation to the responsibility we have shown to them". Obama is passionate about educating American kids, because, without education, he wouldn't have been the most powerful man in the world today, so he wants to give his all. For Obama, good schools are the answer, and, the wherewithal (for those schools) matters a lot to him, just as Maya Angelou noted that "The best candy shop a child can be left alone in, is the library ".
That he's today the President of the United States means that Obama knew what he wanted and he went for it, just as Brian Tracy (1944) wrote that "A clear vision, backed by definite plans, gives you a tremendous feeling of confidence and personal power." Just as George Bernard Shaw (1856 -1950) wrote that "We are made wise not by the recollection of our past, but by the responsibility for our future." Obama left the ugly past behind! Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792 - 1822) wrote "Fear not for the future, weep not for the past." Instead of bemoaning or blaming the predicament the blacks have found themselves in, Obama looked forward to a brighter future and worked hard to achieve what was previously seen as an impossible dream, proving what Patricia Fripp wrote that "The future belongs to charismatic communicators who are technically competent". The experiences of the past made Obama to work harder and that spurred him to victory, because, Mark Victor Hansen (1948) noted that "Goals are a preview of future events and experiences in your life." True to the words of Eleanor Roosevelt (1884 -1962) "The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams", and, that's why Obama is one in a million, because, he had a dream and he set out to realize it, and, he's succeeding. Mark Caine wrote that "The first step toward success is taken when you refuse to be a captive of the environment in which you first find yourself", but, unfortunately, many blacks in America have given up, citing one form of racial discrimination or the other as the reason. But Obama, despite his tumultuous childhood, worked his way up; he didn't allow his past to hinder his future! Just as Orison Swett Marden (1850 - 1924) wrote that "Our destiny changes with our thoughts; we shall become what we wish to become, do what we wish to do, when our habitual thoughts correspond with our desires"! For Obama, just as Jean Dela noted "Man is so made that whenever anything fires his soul, impossibilities vanish." Obama has personified positive change and he is an encouragement to billions of people all over the world just as Mahatma Gandhi (1869-1948) said "be the change you want to see in the world".
The message from Obama is that the adversity of slavery shouldn't deter the blacks to rule their world, wherever they are, because, it didn't deter him from aspiring, struggling (working hard) to win the American presidency. Obama saw the situation and became courageous, just as Maya Angelou (1928) wrote that "Courage is the most important of all virtues, because without it we can't practice any other virtue with consistency". Obama refused to be a "slave", just in tune with the Melians to the Athenians, Peloponnesian War, 431 BC ( ref: Thucydides' History of the Peloponnesian War) that "It may be your intent to be our masters; how can it be ours to be your slaves?" For Obama, giving up is suicidal, and, Maya Angelou (1928) concurred when she wrote "I know that you may encounter many defeats, but you must not be defeated. If you accept that you have been defeated, you give power to the force that is trying to defeat you". Also, Ben Stein (1944) added that "It is inevitable that some defeat will enter even the most victorious life. The human spirit is never finished when it is defeated-it is finished when it surrenders."
For Obama, Horace (65 BC -8 BC) rightly said that "Adversity has the effect of eliciting talents which, in prosperous circumstance, would have lain dormant." If the world was a better place for everybody, may be, Obama wouldn't have struggled to achieve his electoral success. Jim Rohn (1930 -2009) captured Obama's essence when he wrote that "Adversity brings out our resources, reveals genius, prosperity conceals it. Don't wait for things to change. Make the change!"
For Obama, just as James Buckham (1844 -1930) wrote "Trials, temptations, disappointments- all these are helps instead of hindrances, if one uses them rightly. They not only test the fibre of a character, but strengthen it. Every conquered temptation represents a new fund of moral energy. Every trial endured and weathered in the right spirit makes a soul nobler and stronger than it was before." Only the blacks who have surmounted adversity succeed the most in all racially conscious nations. Obama is one of the few blacks who have blazed trails where none existed hitherto, just as Aristotle (384 BC - 322 BC) wrote that "The beauty of the soul shines out when a man bears with composure one heavy mischance after another, not because he does not feel them, but because he is a man of high and heroic temper." The bottomline is that Obama rather than to continue "crying over split milk", identified the problem early enough and started crafting a plan on how to overcome it, and, that was as Brian Tracy (1944) noted "Identify the major obstacle that stands between you and your goal and begin today to remove it". What Obama has achieved so far is in line with the thought of Chris Widener (1963) where he wrote that "Adversity makes us better people with stronger characters. Never underestimate the power of adversity to shape us inwardly."
Maya Angelou (1928) once wrote "you may trod me in the very dirt. But, still like dust I'll rise". Obama didn't allow institutionalized stereotype and bigotry against the blacks to deter him from putting up a good fight. Although blacks have been discriminated against for years, but, as Maya Angelou noted, Obama keeps fighting on, and, out of despair, he has created hope.
Do you know that only two Untied States senators have been elected the President in the history of the nation: Only J.F. Kennedy and Barack Obama have been to the United States Senate and from there to the White House? Don't you know what that tells you?
President Obama is a pace setter and a trail blazer. He has being the first of many things which he worked hard for. Obama was able to get the historical health care bill passed and signed into law; no democratic president in history has done that. So, history will be kinder to the first term of President Obama. He ended two wars; he brought American soldiers home, a decade of war became over, he started investing at home and not in Iraq; he kept America from falling into another depression. President Barack Obama is taking America closer to different peoples and nations: he was recently in Myanmar and Cambodia. It marked the first time a U.S. president has visited either country.
This writer has one wish from President Obama and his lovely wife. They are still young to have another baby. We would like to see them have another child in the White House, thereby setting another record. We would like to see a black child sleep on the Lincoln's bed in the White House so that the racists will go and jump into the Atlantic or Pacific Ocean.
Do you know that the racists are so angry that a black man is the President and Commander-in-Chief of the United States' Armed Forces that they have been planning to kill Obama? Just read it for yourself:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/barackobama/5967942/Barack-Obama-faces-30-death-threats-a-day-stretching-US-Secret-Service.html
Nonetheless, this writer is imploring President Obama and all blacks in the Americas, Europe, Asia or elsewhere to be strong and not to let the racists to pull them down. They (the racists are the past, while we are the future). Let Maya Angelou (1928) lecture us here:
Hater/ By Maya Angelou
A hater is someone who is jealous and envious and spends all their
time trying to make you look small so they can look tall.
They are very negative people to say the least. Nothing is ever
good enough!
When you make your mark, you will always attract some haters....
That's why you have to be careful with whom you share your
blessings and your dreams, because some folk can't handle seeing
you blessed...
It's dangerous to be like somebody else... If God wanted you to be
like somebody else, He would have given you what He gave them! Right?
You never know what people have gone through to get what they
have...
The problem I have with haters is that they see my glory, but they
don't know my story...
If the grass looks greener on the other side of the fence, you
can rest assured that the water bill is higher there too!
We've all got some haters among us!
Some people envy you because you can:
- Have a relationship with God
- Light up a room when you walk in
- Start your own business
- Tell a man / woman to hit the curb
(if he / she isn't about the right thing)
- Raise your children without both parents being
in the home
Haters can't stand to see you happy.
Haters will never want to see you succeed.
Most of our haters are people who are supposed to be
on our side.
How do you handle your undercover haters?
You can handle these haters by:
1. Knowing who you are & who your true friends are
*(VERY IMPORTANT!!)
2. Having a purpose to your life: Purpose does not
mean having a job. You can have a job and still be
unfulfilled.
A purpose is having a clear sense of what God has called you to be.
Your purpose is not defined by what others think about you.
3. By remembering what you have is by divine
prerogative and not human manipulation.
Fulfill your dreams! You only have one life to live...when it's your
time to leave this earth, you 'want' to be able to say, 'I've lived my
life and fulfilled 'my' dreams... Now I'm ready to go HOME!
When God gives you favor, you can tell your haters, 'Don't look at
me...Look at Who is in charge of me...'
Now, let's finally, for now, thank the President:
*
For the capacity to be compassionate:
President Barack Obama greets a woman in the audience after speaking at Cleveland State University in Cleveland, Ohio, Oct. 31, 2010. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)
President Barack Obama greets the Gramajo family, participants with the Make-A-Wish Foundation, in the Oval Office on July 15, 2009. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)
*
For being an inspiration to so many:
President Barack Obama fist-bumps Make-a-Wish child Juan Blanco in the Oval Office, Oct. 6, 2010. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)
President Barack Obama greets a young visitor in the Oval Office, Feb. 5, 2010. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)
*
For facing the most difficult and loneliest job in the world with grace, dignity, honesty and guts in spite of so many "Haters":
President Barack Obama stands alone in the Green Room before speaking at the White House Summit on Community Colleges, Oct. 5, 2010. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)
President Barack Obama waits in the Blue Room before his news conference in the East Room of the White House, Sept. 10, 2010. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)
*
For being, in spite of all the hate, pettiness, racism, corruption and immaturity around, the most progressive and 'for the people' president in decades:
*
And simply for this:
President Barack Obama discusses the START treaty, during a phone call with President Dmitry Medvedev of Russia in the Oval Office, March 26, 2010. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)
BARACK OBAMA: Thanx for Being...................."MR. PRESIDENT", And, For Winning This Thing (Re-election) (This writer wishes you a very successful Second Term (well deserved))!!!
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THE THANX IS ALL YOURS!!!
Acknowledgment:
*White House Photos made possible by blackwaterdog.wordpress.com
(These photographs are provided by THE WHITE HOUSE as a courtesy and may be printed by the subject(s) in the photographs for personal use only. The photographs may not be manipulated in any way and may not otherwise be reproduced, disseminated or broadcast, without the written permission of the White House Photo Office. These photographs may not be used in any commercial or political materials, advertisements, emails, products, promotions that in any way suggests approval or endorsement of the President, the First Family, or the White House).
*Paul Aniugo, for some of the quotes in the articles
