Today, Aug. 4, is Barack Obama's fiftieth birthday. It is not a very happy one, because, as Democratic congressman Gary Ackerman said, Obama has just come from a strip poker game in which he started wearing only half his clothes. The congressman was, of course, referring to Obama’s leadership in the debt ceiling settlement where he abandoned his primary position that revenues had to be raised from the wealthy and subsidies ceased to oil and gas companies. Even before that, he was in deep doo doo with the American people, although whether that was due to some fault of his own is open to question.
There can be no doubt Obama is a brilliant, contemplative, articulate man who has an intense concentration on doing his very best for the American people as he sees it. He became president despite, not because of, the color of his skin. He is devoted to social justice.
