President Obama's Farewell Address

January 11, 2017 

I am going to miss this man.  I am going to miss this family. 

If you didn't get a chance to see it, I highly recommend watching President Obama's farewell address.  It was one of his best speeches. 

Whenever Obama speaks, I always have a feeling that an adult is in the room, that someone much wiser and calmer and with greater foresight is encouraging me to see beyond the daily noise to the long-term pattern, to move from tactics to strategy, from noisy, divisive political debate to the fundamental principles on which we all agree. 

As someone who was pretty cynical before President Obama and who didn't really get involved in campaigning, registering voters, or writing checks (then bigger checks) much before he inspired me to, I always feel that he is speaking directly to me.  Cynicism at some level is a cop-out.  Engaging in our system - because it is our system and is only as good or bad as we make it - makes us vulnerable to disappointment, to being let down, even worse to appearing naïve and foolish. 

I still remember one of Sarah Palin's snarkier lines back when people cared what Sarah Palin had to say:  "How's that hopey-change thing working out?"

Well, for your information, Ms. Palin, pretty damn well.

Oscar Wilde once defined a cynic as someone who knows the price of everything and the value of nothing.  It's a constant struggle not to join the cynics of the world, to sit back in the peanut gallery with the Palins and Gingriches and Ryans and Trumps, sneering and mocking and tearing down without any appreciation or understanding of what it is we are destroying or what we might replace it with. 

Obama reminded us that "change only happens when ordinary people get involved, and they get engaged, and they come together to demand it."  After 8 years as president, he said, "I still believe that. And it’s not just my belief. It’s the beating heart of our American idea — our bold experiment in self-government.  It’s the conviction that we are all created equal, endowed by our creator with certain unalienable rights, among them life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.  It’s the insistence that these rights, while self-evident, have never been self-executing." 

Powerful stuff.  "What a radical idea, the great gift that our Founders gave to us. The freedom to chase our individual dreams through our sweat, and toil, and imagination… For 240 years, our nation’s call to citizenship has given work and purpose to each new generation. It’s what led patriots to choose republic over tyranny, pioneers to trek west, slaves to brave that makeshift railroad to freedom… It's what powered workers to organize. It’s why GIs gave their lives at Omaha Beach and Iwo Jima; Iraq and Afghanistan — and why men and women from Selma to Stonewall were prepared to give theirs as well."

We are a work in progress, he reminded us.  We're not perfect and never will be, but we have shown again and again the "capacity to change, and make life better for those who follow." 

There were particularly loud cheers when he mentioned those crossing the Rio Grande looking for a better life here, drawing them into the sweep of our continental history (something he wrote about with particular poignancy in Dreams of My Father). 

"Yes, our progress has been uneven. The work of democracy has always been hard. It has been contentious. Sometimes it has been bloody. For every two steps forward, it often feels we take one step back. But the long sweep of America has been defined by forward motion, a constant widening of our founding creed to embrace all, and not just some.

What really made me understand what a once-in-a-generation leader he is was his ability to put into words things I didn't even realize I knew until he articulated them so clearly.   That, by the way, is my definition of a great teacher. 

He began with humor, laughing at an extended ovation that seemed it would never end.  "We’re on live TV here, I’ve got to move," he said, then adding, "You can tell that I’m a lame duck, because nobody is following instructions."

He talked about coming to Chicago as a young man "trying to figure out who I was; still searching for a purpose to my life… It was on these streets where I witnessed the power of faith, and the quiet dignity of working people in the face of struggle and loss." 

When the crowd started changing "FOUR MORE YEARS," he laughed.  "I can’t do that."

He rattled off the accomplishments of his administration which in saner, more honest times would be recognized as remarkable, as I am confident historians will characterize them: 

If I had told you eight years ago that America would reverse a great recession, reboot our auto industry, and unleash the longest stretch of job creation in our history — if I had told you that we would open up a new chapter with the Cuban people, shut down Iran’s nuclear weapons program without firing a shot, take out the mastermind of 9-11 — if I had told you that we would win marriage equality and secure the right to health insurance for another 20 million of our fellow citizens — if I had told you all that, you might have said our sights were set a little too high.

But that’s what we did. That’s what you did. You were the change. The answer to people’s hopes and, because of you, by almost every measure, America is a better, stronger place than it was when we started.

Later he added:

The economy is growing again. Wages, incomes, home values and retirement accounts are all rising again. Poverty is falling again. 
The wealthy are paying a fair share of taxes. Even as the stock market shatters records, the unemployment rate is near a 10-year low. The uninsured rate has never, ever been lower.
Health care costs are rising at the slowest rate in 50 years. And I’ve said, and I mean it, anyone can put together a plan that is demonstrably better than the improvements we’ve made to our health care system, that covers as many people at less cost, I will publicly support it.

And considering how this millennium and century started, this was no small accomplishment: 

No foreign terrorist organization has successfully planned and executed an attack on our homeland these past eight years… We have taken out tens of thousands of terrorists, including Bin Laden.

The only disagreement I have with President Obama is in his insistence that we accept the results of the electoral college vote and ignore the will of the people as expressed overwhelmingly in the popular vote.

I can't go that far.  I do not believe in accepting the peaceful transfer of power just for the sake of looking at ourselves and patting ourselves on the back for not being more disruptive.  At times a little disruption is called for.  The Trump phenomenon transcends politics, left or right, and although President Obama has his legacy to protect - perhaps he still believes despite everything that if he is reasonable, his opponents one day might be as well - I don't.  I can say the things he can't.

And I say that a crazy incompetent narcissistic serial lying asshole with an impulse control problem is soon to be 4 minutes from plunging us all into nuclear Armageddon.  I refuse to accept that and will do everything I can to resist.

I agree that our politics must "better reflect the decency of our people" but we cannot pretend that the future president of the United States bragged about sexually assaulting women and grabbing women and girls "by the pussy." 

I agree fully that our government doesn't require unanimity but it does "require a basic sense of solidarity."  We are "all in this together" and forget it sometimes.  "We can argue about how" to achieve our societal goals but "we can’t be complacent about the goals themselves."

Income inequality is a threat to any thriving democracy.   "Our economy doesn’t work as well or grow as fast when a few prosper at the expense of a growing middle class, and ladders for folks who want to get into the middle class… Stark inequality is also corrosive to our democratic idea. While the top 1 percent has amassed a bigger share of wealth and income, too many of our families in inner cities and in rural counties have been left behind."

Trade should be "fair and not just free" but automation will likely make many "good middle class jobs obsolete."

He addressed racism with the same balanced on one hand, on the other hand approach I wish more of our public leaders would use.  "Race remains a potent and often divisive force in our society" but "I've lived long enough to know that race relations are better than they were 10 or 20 or 30 years ago, no matter what some folks say."  But "all of us have more work to do."

One of his most powerful lines came in the middle of his speech: 

If every economic issue is framed as a struggle between a hardworking white middle class and an undeserving minority, then workers of all shades are going to be left fighting for scraps while the wealthy withdraw further into their private enclaves.

Absolutely!  A false dichotomy has been created between looking out for poor working class whites on one hand or helping African-Americans, Latinos, and newly arrived immigrants on the other.  While those on the bottom rung of the economic ladder fight among themselves, they are distracted at the massive theft going on at the very top.  The genius of Trump is that he got poor whites to get angry at the wrong people, to believe that they have more in common with a wealthy real estate developer - who really cares about them, just as he cares about women, believe you me - than they do with other economic and societal victims who should be their allies, not enemies. 

If we’re unwilling to invest in the children of immigrants, just because they don’t look like us, we will diminish the prospects of our own children — because those brown kids will represent a larger and larger share of America’s workforce.

Yes, we must take seriously the suffering and dislocation of white Americans, but it's not an either-or proposition.  Besides, "the effects of slavery and Jim Crow didn’t suddenly vanish in the ’60s; that when minority groups voice discontent, they’re not just engaging in reverse racism or practicing political correctness; when they wage peaceful protest, they’re not demanding special treatment, but the equal treatment that our founders promised."

Each generation believed that immigrants "were going to destroy the fundamental character of America" but immigrants "embraced this nation’s creed, and this nation was strengthened."

The third threat to our democracy came from the balkanization of our media and social media into splinter groups and the profound mistrust of science and reality among some.

Politics is a battle of ideas. That’s how our democracy was designed. In the course of a healthy debate, we prioritize different goals, and the different means of reaching them. But without some common baseline of facts, without a willingness to admit new information and concede that your opponent might be making a fair point, and that science and reason matter, then we’re going to keep talking past each other.  And we’ll make common ground and compromise impossible.

Not too many people talk much about the Enlightenment these days, but Obama gave a shout out to the spirit of Voltaire and Franklin:  "It is that spirit … born of the enlightenment that made us an economic powerhouse. The spirit that took flight at Kitty Hawk and Cape Canaveral, the spirit that cures disease and put a computer in every pocket, it’s that spirit. A faith in reason and enterprise, and the primacy of right over might, that allowed us to resist the lure of fascism and tyranny during the Great Depression, that allowed us to build a post-World War II order with other democracies."

The postwar order "based not just on military power or national affiliations, but built on principles, the rule of law, human rights, freedom of religion and speech and assembly and an independent press" is being challenged as never before, by religious fanatics and brutal autocrats abroad, but also by forces here at home. 

And that’s why for the past eight years I’ve worked to put the fight against terrorism on a firmer legal footing. That’s why we’ve ended torture, worked to close Gitmo, reformed our laws governing surveillance to protect privacy and civil liberties.

That’s why I reject discrimination against Muslim Americans who are just as patriotic as we are.

That’s why we cannot withdraw from big global fights to expand democracy and human rights and women’s rights and LGBT rights.

No matter how imperfect our efforts, no matter how expedient ignoring such values may seem, that’s part of defending America. For the fight against extremism and intolerance and sectarianism and chauvinism are of a piece with the fight against authoritarianism and nationalist aggression. If the scope of freedom and respect for the rule of law shrinks around the world, the likelihood of war within and between nations increases, and our own freedoms will eventually be threatened.

So let’s be vigilant, but not afraid. ISIL will try to kill innocent people. But they cannot defeat America unless we betray our Constitution and our principles in the fight.

The final threat he saw to democracy is complacency. 

 Our democracy is threatened whenever we take it for granted… When voting rates in America are some of the lowest among advanced democracies, we should be making it easier, not harder, to vote.

He gave one of the most eloquent cases for a dynamic Constitutional interpretation (which strangely had echoes of some things that Scalia once wrote about the virtues of a "dead" Constitution):

Our Constitution is a remarkable, beautiful gift. But it’s really just a piece of parchment. It has no power on its own. We, the people, give it power. We, the people, give it meaning — with our participation, and with the choices that we make and the alliances that we forge.

Whether or not we stand up for our freedoms. Whether or not we respect and enforce the rule of law, that’s up to us. America is no fragile thing. But the gains of our long journey to freedom are not assured.

Every member of my family looked at me and pointed when he said this: 

If you’re tired of arguing with strangers on the Internet, try talking with one of them in real life.

Then added:

If something needs fixing, then lace up your shoes and do some organizing.

If you’re disappointed by your elected officials, grab a clip board, get some signatures, and run for office yourself.

Show up, dive in, stay at it.

Sometimes you’ll win, sometimes you’ll lose…. There will be times when the process will disappoint you. But for those of us fortunate enough to have been part of this one and to see it up close, let me tell you, it can energize and inspire. And more often than not, your faith in America and in Americans will be confirmed. Mine sure has been.

He then turned to his wife as he said, "Maybe you still can’t believe we pulled this whole thing off.  Let me tell you, you’re not the only ones…"  Then he turned to his wife and daughter and made them both cry while he cried himself.

Michelle...

Michelle LaVaughn Robinson of the South Side... for the past 25 years you have not only been my wife and mother of my children, you have been my best friend.

You took on a role you didn’t ask for. And you made it your own with grace and with grit and with style, and good humor.

You made the White House a place that belongs to everybody.

And a new generation sets its sights higher because it has you as a role model.

You have made me proud, and you have made the country proud.

Malia and Sasha...

Under the strangest of circumstances, you have become two amazing young women.

You are smart and you are beautiful. But more importantly, you are kind and you are thoughtful and you are full of passion.

And you wore the burden of years in the spotlight so easily. Of all that I have done in my life, I am most proud to be your dad.

My fellow Americans, it has been the honor of my life to serve you. I won’t stop; in fact, I will be right there with you, as a citizen, for all my remaining days. But for now, whether you are young or whether you’re young at heart, I do have one final ask of you as your president — the same thing I asked when you took a chance on me eight years ago.

I am asking you to believe. Not in my ability to bring about change — but in yours.

I am asking you to hold fast to that faith written into our founding documents; that idea whispered by slaves and abolitionists; that spirit sung by immigrants and homesteaders and those who marched for justice; that creed reaffirmed by those who planted flags from foreign battlefields to the surface of the moon; a creed at the core of every American whose story is not yet written:

Yes, we can.

Yes, we did.

Yes, we can.