Wednesday, September 13, 2017

Even out of office Barack Obama continues working to make our future more hopeful.

I swear every time I hear him talk I am overcome with a wave of nostalgia.

Courtesy of the Chicago Tribune:

Starting next month, the Obama Foundation will begin a series of one-day training sessions and also will host a summit aimed at promoting civic engagement among students and young adults, officials said Wednesday. 

In a video, former President Barack Obama said the programming, along with the creation of a fellowship program and the incorporation of his My Brother's Keeper Alliance into the foundation, is his way of grooming the next generation to "change the world." 

"We're bringing together hundreds of leaders from all around the world for a hands-on exchange of ideas in my hometown," Obama says in the video, which was posted to the foundation's website and emailed to followers Wednesday morning. 

"The summit will be a place to gather and learn from one another, and then go back to your communities to lead others in the hard work of change. And it will also help guide our foundation as we continue to design programs that will connect and support the next generation of young leaders here in the United States and around the globe." The announcement comes just one day before the foundation's top brass will meet with the public for the first time to discuss how the Obama Presidential Center will look and what it will offer.

This is exactly the kind of grassroots organization and education that we desperately need to insure a more knowledgeable and energetic group of future leaders.

It is also a great way to inspire and educate future voters, so that they learn to utilize their critical thinking skills and are less likely to be manipulated by social media or to be led astray by conspiracy theories.

This is just the first such training, and the foundation will offer future trainings in both Boston and Arizona as well.

Personally I hope that this program will expand because I really see a need for it all across the country.

I imagine that once Donald Trump gets wind of this he will open his own alternative foundation, only in HIS version the young people will simply be struck repeatedly in the forehead with a two by four until they can no longer form a coherent sentence.

That will make them the perfect candidate to run as a Republican for public office or to vote against their self interests in future elections.

16 comments:

  1. Anonymous4:34 PM

    I have tried really hard but I still do not understand people who don't love Barack Obama. He is amazing. I just hope our country survives the Trump maladministration.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous6:27 PM

      you are not alone. obama is a great guy and was such a fantastic president. folks that don't get that are missing something serious.

      Delete
  2. Anonymous5:03 PM

    How about WHO you are to run.
    Who cares about Democrat or Republican anymore. It's not that way in some other countries.
    It's WHO is running for office?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous3:37 AM

      There are huge differences between Republicans and Democrats. Party affiliation is important because the political viewpoint that a candidate espouses determines how the country will be run. Right now, we have a president who has only named people to Cabinet positions and important agencies whose only interest is to serve big corporations and to make the wealthy wealthier. They have no interest in the lives of the people on this planet. Similarly, the GOP in Congress also cares about promoting the interests of the wealthiest among us and getting elected again. They have little or no interest in promoting the general welfare of the American people or in abiding by the Constitution to which they have sworn allegiance. Voters who depend wholly on Fox News, helped along the way by the Russian oligarch and a complicit GOP, gave us the man who now lives in the White House. His political affiliation is bringing down this great nation.
      Beaglemom

      Delete
  3. Anonymous5:05 PM

    I always get a smile on my face when I watch him speak. What a wonderful human being.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Anonymous5:43 PM

    The far right has been doing this for forty years in the days when Anita Bryant was having a fit over Gays. That's why we have Trump now.

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    Replies
    1. Anonymous5:57 PM

      If memory serves, didn't Anita Bryant lose her contract with Florida orange juice over her rants? Too lazy to google it.

      Delete
    2. Yes, she did.

      But she was still the darling of the rabid right, Republicans and the blue rinse set. They made sure she was loved and made appearances and endorsed shit.

      Delete
  5. Anonymous6:23 PM

    That POSOTUS and his hoochie third wife can undo everything they want to erase President and First Lady Obama from history, but they know what they did, and how they were esteemed by so many. So do WE.

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    1. Anonymous7:12 PM

      Still waiting for the "agenda carefully planned" by the alien. She can't do bullying lest she be laughed off the planet. Twitter is having a hoot with that one.

      Stand next to the dumbass in her sunglasses and botoxed grimace, now that she can do. Vanity Fair got it right.

      Delete
  6. Anonymous7:00 PM

    While the 1%ers and their rube elected Ayn Rand idolizing lackeys work to make the lives of the rest of us more difficult. He's a good man but the task of countering these evil folks and the gullible simpletons who elected them is enormous.

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    1. Anonymous7:32 PM

      Like Jimmy Carter, he has the ability to now live his own life and agenda, and go about it freely. My admiration knows no bounds.

      Delete
  7. Anonymous8:09 PM

    Do the Rethugs realize there no longer is a GOP? It is the Trump cult, nothing more, nothing less. The lack of brains in the Rethug party is unbelievable, including the Drumpf voters/supporters I observe in my own circle. A startling discovery to find long time friends are totally, totally closed to any factual information. I keep my distance now after decades of sharing with them socially.

    Fox Noise created a lot of the exaggerated hatred toward women, people of color, other religious folks. That goes for the white male I live with who has become someone I do not recognize. But Drumpf can do no wrong - really.

    Decency went out of our country when the Obamas moved out of the White House. They made us proud of them while they made our country better every day. Michelle was her own star and touched so many young lives. Obama made everyday worthwhile, and he kept us safe, prosperous, and worked to lift up those who struggled.

    He is, and was a great role model, if only sanity still reined in the WH!

    Their energy will not be shuttered so we can continue to expect good things and support them where we can.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Leland3:23 AM

    While I agree that what he is wanting to try is important, but I see a far more critical thing needing doing while that is being done. Our students need to learn the Constitution!

    There needs to be a solid course on the U.S. Constitution - in detail. Far too few people today are aware of what their rights are!

    Of course, I see that as the deliberate end result of the repubes and their destruction of public education to make it easier for them to get elected.

    If one doesn't know their rights, it is impossible for one to fight for them.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Anonymous5:28 AM

    Obama - Intelligent. Compassionate. Classy. Hopeful.

    Everything Trump is NOT.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Anonymous6:49 AM

    OT:
    http://www.rawstory.com/2017/09/north-korea-threatens-to-reduce-the-us-into-ashes-and-sink-japan-with-nuke/

    ReplyDelete

Don't feed the trolls!
It just goes directly to their thighs.