The New Obama

Larry Wilmore noticed that Rand Paul is the new Obama: Paul  has curly hair and a white momma.

I have noticed Bill Clinton is repeatedly cited as the great political genius of our times.  He's the "Big Dog." Yet Clinton signed the Defense of Marriage Act, an attack on gays. He won the Presidency but without getting a majority of the votes. He set up the Don't Ask, Don't Tell rules for the military, an attempt to help gays that backfired. He failed in his attempt to extend health insurance coverage to the poor. He necked (so to speak) with a young and immature intern. He was impeached. He helped deregulate the New Deal, and then the swanky types wrecked the economy. When his wife ran for President in 2008, they botched the strategy, did not contest the small states and lost to an underdog.

In contrast, Barack Obama salvaged a failing economy, got something approaching universal health insurance passed, turned down the heat on two wars, integrated gays into the military, ended the cold war with Cuba, and was elected twice with majority votes, He did this despite being an African-American in a country whose central personal sin has always been racism. Nevertheless, Clinton is the great politician of our times because he isn't Barack Obama.

 I wonder what history will say about this. After many generations were taught that President Grant was a total failure, we today can see that he was a vigorous and successful fighter for civil rights. Historians have moved him from failure to moderately successful. President Obama, I predict, will eventually win history's praise.