Barack Obama at the DNC

There are definite and substantive problems with the political legacies of both Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, but I’m going to focus mostly on the positive aspects of Michelle Obama’s husband’s speech last night.

First off, there’s a lot to be said about the Ginger Rogers nod in Obama’s speech, that Hillary Clinton has had to do everything he did, but “in high heels and backwards.” That was an ad-lib, but what an ad-lib. She takes criticism from both sides, for wanting to tax the wealthy and for being in the pocket of Wall Street. She’s either a war hawk or she’s weak on national security. This seems like dancing backwards, for sure. On top of getting attacked from opposite angles on multiple issues, she’s had to contend with both her husband’s infidelity and with her opponent saying she enabled it.

Obama talked about how Hillary Clinton is optimistic about America and has policy proposals for how to form a more perfect union, in contrast to her opponent’s consistent cynicism and fear-mongering with no practical solutions. Specifically, he spoke of her track record of getting programs like SCHIP in place, which achieve real and powerful gains for people. SCHIP is a fine example of another point our President made about compromise: it was a positive outcome of Hillary Clinton’s failure to get comprehensive health care legislation passed.

I did have a real problem with the comparison between “Black Lives” and “Blue Lives” for a number of reasons, but the most pressing is that we already highly value “Blue Lives” in America. Any killing of a police officer is considered 1st degree murder, a charge normally reserved for killings that are willful and premeditated. The law considers officers’ lives more valuable than your or mine. On the other hand, neither civilians nor police face the same sorts of consequences for taking Black lives as they would if they were to take my (white) life. This must change.

A few other thoughts, briefly, as I’ve got to get to a meeting:

• The statement that a fantasy “real America” that “must be restored” didn’t start with the GOP nominee. This idea of a harkening back to a time that never was is an old tool of charlatans, and the guy with a dead squirrel on his head is only the latest to use is.
• On his Scotch-Irish ancestors: “I don’t know if they had their birth certificates, but they were there.” Please drink at my funeral.
• “Our military can look the way that it does, every shade of humanity.” If only the rest of our society look as pluralistic as those whom we choose to sacrifice.
• Comparing “jihadists” to “home grown demagogues” was a brilliant turn of phrase.
• Also, more cowbell?