@lovendures I agree with @jeannemayell that we must focus on the victories and with you that we must always Hope. The road to change is never paved with lollipops and rainbows. It's paved with heartache, pain, suffering, loss and grit. Hope, love, caring and compassion for others are why some extend themselves for the cause. Came across this tweet/story from the Dem candidate for Georgia Secretary of State. It's about the Fall of Saigon and how President Carter (D) and Iowa Gov Robert Ray (R) impacted her family.
Hope.
https://twitter.com/BeeForGeorgia/status/1426997094410330112?s=20
@theungamer @lovendures Thank you for your hopeful posts. I have been watching the HBO Obama series which is beyond wonderful. I have felt that history will find him to the one of the two greatest presidents (along with Lincoln).
But I also reflected as I watched the documentary that I did not appreciate what we had, what I had, in him as my president back during his tenure. That's because of the tendency we (and I) have to see the negative and the worrisome in the world. Yes, I thought he was the greatest president in my lifetime (that goes back to Eisenhauer), but I just couldn't stop and smell the roses during Obama's presidency. (Just watching the documentary is so inspiring.) That's what I'm hoping we can do now, even while we prepare for action to make a better future.
@jeanne-mayell Completely agree. Plus, it's kinda sad to wait until someone is gone to appreciate the good they tried to bring into the world.
We downsized a few years ago and bought an electric car in 2018. We then put solar panels on the house to charge the car. Don't miss trips to the gas station and there has been zero maintenance on the vehicle.
@tgraf66 I agree completely.
May the light reach the people of Afghanistan and bring peace and healing to all
I have completely forgotten until today what it sounds like for a President to admit they're fallible. https://apple.news/AQlq44u-BQ8qoFqTHVb-6ag
@jeanne-mayell Abe Lincoln, who I'd argue is head and shoulders above all other Presidents, was followed by Andrew Johnson, whose reputation recently improved by virtue of someone else being clearly worse. The contrast between Obama and what-came-after was hard to live through, but not unprecedented.
@walden-ponderer Yes, Lincoln was probably the greatest president. But Obama was the greatest president in my life time and I don't know how I'd compare him to FDR and the founding fathers.
@walden-ponderer @jeanne-mayell Jimmy Carter was a good president, too. And just a good man. And his daughter Amy made me so proud- she was like the Anti-Ivanka.
@unk-p yes I forgot about Carter. If the country and the world had followed his lead, we would not have a climate crisis. I remember when he put solar panels on the White House and set forth a doctrine of human rights around the world. He also pardoned all the Vietnam draft dodgers. And so much more. The country turned right then and he never got the credit he deserved. So glad you mentioned him.
LBJ may have been a mixed bag, but we've got Medicare, Medicaid, civil rights legislation (some of which has been wrecked by SCOTUS), federal funding for legal services for the poor, the 1965 Immigration Act (which was anti-racist) and probably other stuff I'm not aware of. I know he escalated in Vietnam and that was a disaster, but domestically, we have so much because of him.
Carter was the president of my early teens and I will always remember his term with affection. He was/is a decent man who understood that doing good in the world is what's important.
I voted for Obama but I always felt he was out of touch, aloof. I haven't been able to watch the documentary because I think I've got residual anger at him. I think he got a lot of things wrong. To me he always came across as a prep school kid, and I never much took to that.
I think Biden will be my favorite president. In many ways he already is.
Clinton gave us RBG, which was a gift. Otherwise he signed so much bad legislation it deserves its own thread, but that would be a depressing thread.