Now I tend to resist the urge to revisit a topic after I have posted about it once, but I have to admit that after looking through these pictures there appears to be something almost magical in how Barack Obama interacts with our youngest Americans.
Take a look for yourself, and tell me if you agree.
And it isn't just the babies who are charmed by our President. Their older brothers and sisters seem to gravitate toward him as well.
You know if I were on Obama's reelection committee, I would simply run an political ad of nothing but President Obama interacting with children. The man gives an amazing speech, but his effortless rapport with children is an open window to his soul.
Take it from a guy who has worked with kids his entire life, and also enjoys a certain amount of automatic trust from them, you can learn a great deal about a person's humanity by how they interact with children.
After the election, I made a scrapbook of nothing but pictures of Obama with little ones. (I went back and added a photo to it- the one you posted of Mark Begich's son gleefully pointing out Obama) They ARE a window to his soul. I was once told that when babies have an obviously magical rapport with someone, it's because babies are "new" enough to the human race that they have not been tainted by the rigors of surviving on this spinning ball. They can sense the pure goodness of someone and that's why they always stop crying, or instantly seem content even in a huge crowd with hundreds of distractions.
ReplyDeleteAnd also, too...it is such a refreshing change to see a politician with babies who HAVEN'T been drugged within an inch of their lives.
You can also determine a lot by how children react to the adult in question. They sense that he is open to them, is not talking down to them and is seriously interested in what they are saying. Kids know when someone is faking an interest in them just as most astute adults can determine the same, although kids are more likely to react in direct relation to their feelings. His smile with each and every one of those children melts my heart.
ReplyDeleteWe NEED President Obama in office for another four years!
What GREAT photos. So glad we have such a terrific President, even kids love him. These would bring a smile to anyone's face. I tried to imagine McCain or Palin doing this, and the smile left immediately. $carah doesn't like kids, particularly her own.
ReplyDeleteKids are like radar,they can tell BS from the truth.Out of the embrace of babes,they know goodness.Send this post to the President.This makes me feel good today.Have a great day everyone.
ReplyDeleteThose are absolutely precious!! Great way to start my day. Thanks
ReplyDeleteThe third one says it all. Best pres ever.
ReplyDeleteWhat's cool is that this man, the President of our country, makes TIME to hold, look at, interact with, and enjoy a moment, with children. He is never too busy, too intent on the next agenda item, too rushed by his handlers, to make time for the children. That is amazing. It shows me that his priorities are in the right place. People come first, not votes, not the press, not money. But people. THAT is the kind of person I want leading this nation. Someone who is real and loves children.
ReplyDeleteThe pic with the boy in the tie is beautiful..........that should be in a museum somewhere. Sure hope the parents were able to get the shot.
ReplyDeleteI would like to offer another mental picture of our outstanding president.
ReplyDeleteOn the Sunday before the election my family and I went to Cleveland to see the Obamas at an outside appearance. It was a chilly rainy day...and we got there really early and stood in line for quite a while. The excitement was wonderful.
With me was my husband, his sister and her son, two of our grandchildren (ages 11 and 14) and my 89 year old mother who was wheelchair bound. An organizer came and said that my mother and one of us should come this way. I was chosen to accompany her We were led around and about through this gate and that, until we ended up right in the very front row, right where they walked onto and off the stage.
What an amazing experience. We got to hear Bruce Springsteen perform and then, with the rain falling, Obama spoke to us. When he came down the steps, he walked over and took both of my mother's hands in both of his hands and looked into her eyes and thanked her for being there.
Tears are flowing as I type this, but I wanted to share with you that he has a charisma for old babies too.
My mother died the next year at age 90...and although her body had betrayed her, her mind was sharp to her last breath. In the last week, she said that she never, ever, dreamed that she would live long enough to see a biracial person in the White House. She said she was dying knowing the world was in good hands for her great grandchildren.
Well said. Is it possible to set up a photo gallery to display the photos you get?
ReplyDeleteWhat a way to start my day - with happy tears in my coffee!! Love that man!!
ReplyDeletePat Padrnos
Thanks, Gryphen. This made my day.
ReplyDeleteLove those pictures. And I agree with your assessment, being a teacher myself.
ReplyDelete"Gov. Sarah Palin turned Alaska from a Politically and Financially corrupted and nearly Bankrupted State, under Frank Murkowski, with Billions owed in the Deficit, to a State with a 12 Billion Dollar Surplus, with the lowest property taxes, and the highest productivity and revenue income, in America, by the time she left office."
ReplyDeleteOMIGosh this is what Bannon is feeding BOTS. That is too HILARIOUS!!! Cannot wait for Palin to announce so all her executive experience like this gets total exposure.
Babies and animals ... pure souls that know when they are in the company of another pure soul.
ReplyDeleteAnd since the Righteous Right (the only ones that value LIFE) insist that those without a voice (the fetus) have rights - then I say the mother's have the right to cast their unborn's votes - they too also give Obama their vote. How do you like that?
ReplyDeleteI silently thank President Obama every day for taking on the enormous task of governing a broken, divided nation.
ReplyDeleteAm I happy with every decision he has made? No; but I think he is doing the best he can with the tools he has.
America dodged a bullet in 2008 - I can not imagine the wars we would have been involved in had an angry old man and a greedy, ignorant woman been voted into office.
I truly appreciate that he freely admits he hasn't always been there enough for his kids, he doesn't pretend that he's the perfect father of five, 13 or 28 children.
ReplyDeleteHe's a regular man with audacious hope to give his kids and our nation's children an America we can believe in.
4:05 What a wonderful experience you shared with us. I had tears in my eyes reading it. A treasured memory for many, many years to come. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDelete4:05 Thank you for sharing your touching experience about your mother.
ReplyDelete{{{{HUGS}}}} to him and to you for posting this and also for your work with and care for children. Namaste.
ReplyDeleteOh anonymous at 4:05 am, you made me cry ... happy tears. How very special for your mother and for you. Thank you for sharing your experience with us this morning. I need it today.
ReplyDelete4:05 Thank you for sharing your story. I am glad your mother got the opportunity to meet Then Senator Obama.
ReplyDeleteHe is a good man and if the babies trust him I do too!
President Obama, thank you for your amazing leadership in these times fraught with darkness, poverty, and discord. Obama 2012!
ReplyDeleteI haven't seen ONE picture of Sarah with her OWN children that comes even close to the kind of warmth Barak Obama displays with these kids.
ReplyDeleteHere's another winner!
ReplyDeletehttp://www.usnews.com/news/
photos/obamas-behind-the-
scenes/54
and yet a couple more...
ReplyDeletehttp://www.usnews.com/news/
photos/obamas-behind-the-scenes
/5
http://www.usnews.com/news/
photos/obamas-behind-the-scenes
/19
Th man has soul.
ReplyDeleteCAPTION THIS: President Obama's Bumper Car Face
ReplyDeletehttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/07/05/caption-this-
president-obama-bumper-
car-ride_n_890595.html
Thank for this post, Gryphen.
ReplyDeleteA great topic to revisit, if ever there was one !
I especially love the picture with the boy in the white shirt and tie - the expression on his gorgeous face as he looks up at Pres. Obama just says it all.
I have long been adored by children and animals...and often wished it were a more marketable skill (for me)!
Peace.
SunnyVee
Thanks for an excellent post. You're right, he's a "babe" magnet! I saw him in action on the White House lawn at Easter in a film clip, a genuinely amazing thing to see.
ReplyDeleteAnd my heart goes out to 4:05 a.m.
What a touching post. I lost my dad around the same time, he was so grateful to live to see Our President Inaugurated on television and he was a Staunch Republican up to President Nixon.
I wish you the best and thanks for sharing your experience.
Anon@4.05a - I will just echo everyone else's appreciation for your post. Your mother was an astute woman and you and your family was lucky to have her.
ReplyDeleteThe thing I noticed first off on the "Oh Baby" video was not the attraction of the baby to Obama, but the joy and happiness in the faces of the three (or four?) young children who were on that rope line with their parents. THEY got so much out of Obama. They'll remember all their lives that they met Obama and how fabulous he was.
(The baby won't remember!).
And, I do have to say that although I can't stand Bush, I did get a kick out of that picture with him and the baby. It really was cute.
Wonderful. Thanks. Back before the election a snapshot came around of President Obama with his younger daughter having a great time on a bumper car, which you can easily find with the googlemachine. Any leader who can enjoy life as he does has my attention!
ReplyDeleteAnd don't miss the point that this is a very good indication that he has been a hands on dad to his own two babies and toddlers. He is at ease around little kids in a way that a lot of dads aren't because they really weren't involved with the own babies and young children.
ReplyDeleteCompare and contrast with how our last Pres was with the very young.
I'd say he simply likes babies.
ReplyDelete