The Obamas’ new house

LARRY ANDERSON
Larry Anderson

I want to state up front Barack Obama has been a lot quieter than I expected since leaving the White House in January.

Too quiet.

I have to wonder what he is up to because a person that politicized and that accustomed to being the center attraction surely can’t be silent for long. He isn’t built that way.

Obama’s most recent predecessors, say Jimmy Carter thru George W. Bush, went quietly into the political dusk content to write their books, pedal their bikes, and serve as emissaries to various causes. New presidents, in this case, Donald Trump, do not need to be shadowed by ghosts of presidents past.

I hope Obama continues down the quiet path. While he certainly has every right to express his views in any forum that he wants, it would be better for America if he kept his opinions on the down low. The impulse to criticize or analyze should be kept to privacy behind oaken doors. That is our presidential tradition, and it is a good one.

So far, I have no complaints about the former president’s behavior regarding his successor or concerning issues that have emerged since the inauguration, but let’s wait a while. Liberals in general have made it clear they care little about tradition and even less about respect.

Barack Obama, being the liberals’ liberal, requires a wait and see.

After Trump took office, the Obamas took a much needed vacation before settling into a life quieter than they had experienced for nearly a decade. Presumably, the former president has begun writing the books for which he has been contracted and has made at least one speech for which he was reportedly paid $400,000. This put him on a path similar to that of Hillary and Bill Clinton who have become fabulously wealthy cashing in their political chips with the glee of Silicon Valley upstarts.

Most presidents leaving office head for the security of family homes long neglected by the many demands of one of the world’s most challenging jobs. LBJ went back to his Texas ranch. Jimmy Carter returned to Georgia, and Ronald Reagan rushed back to California as they and others saw fit.

Bill Clinton, by contrast, didn’t bother with Arkansas, his home state, instead moving the Clinton industry to NYC so he could nurture his wife’s career. You may recall Senator Hillary wasn’t actually from New York.

Now Barack Obama has followed a similar pattern, having decided not to return to his shallow roots in Chicago but setting up residency in Washington, D. C. instead.

There’s nothing wrong with either example, of course. People in America can live wherever they want as long as they can afford it, but I do wonder what people from home states think when those whom they helped elect and find fortune rush to greener pastures. Loyalty and gratitude appear to be missing; opportunism seems to rule.

The Obamas have purchased a house in D. C. but not just any ol’ house. They bought the manse they had been renting briefly for who knows how much. The purchase price, $8.1 million, however, is a matter of record.

The house has eight bedrooms and 91/2 bathrooms. It is in what a report called a “tony” neighborhood.

Of course no one wants former presidents to struggle financially as Harry Truman did when he left office, and I want the Obamas to have good experiences, robust health, and great and long lives.

But while they are doing that, I don’t want to hear about the awful one per cent. Not any more.

Not if the purpose of retirement from the nation’s highest honor is to turn millions into luxury. That is what capitalists do, and I see no difference here between a corporate fat cat and a political one if the ultimate goal is wealth and its trappings.

Obama’s defenders have said he should be left alone to enjoy his retirement in a house he richly deserves.

Ok.

But it is time now for high-minded liberals to leave the rest of us alone with their talk about the evils of capitalism, the horrors of uneven distribution, and the disgusting greed that accompanies privilege.

That doesn’t wash, liberals. Not when those who represent your view most obviously rush with arms open toward untold wealth and mansions equal to castles.

So! Either knock off the hypocrisy or provide better role models.

Larry W. Anderson is a retired educator, author and Bearcat.