Barack Obama Goes Full Obama
Last night, Barack Obama gave a speech in Atlanta at a campaign rally for Sen. Jon Ossoff running for re-election and former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, who has also served as a senior advisor to President Joe Biden. All the speeches were excellent, particularly Ossoff's who has been on a long roll of terrific, blunt speeches. But Barack Obama was on another level, and we're going to turn things over to him this morning. Because nothing I could write could top it. It was a tour-de-force.
The speech is vibrant and engaging. Full of details, analysis and great humor. It's just ethereally enthusiastic. But as impactful, substantive, thoughtful, and involving as it is, to quote a friend of mine, "what’s so irresistible is the joy he takes in humiliating the moron who you know cannot stand this."
And because the event took place when Trump was himself giving a speech in Ohio at the same time, what a joy it was that MS NOW had the wisdom to show his speech and President Obama's together on split screen. They only carried the sound sound for Obama, and it was only for a few minutes, but just visually alone the contrast of an energetic, upbeat, enthused former President to a tired, sullen, 80-year-old man was palpable. Not that the two were running against one another, but it helped reveal noticeably what Trump and circle try so hard to hide.
This is the video of the full event. President Obama's speech starts at the 2:50:45 mark, so you can jump to it. He speaks for 43 minutes -- but it flies by. If you're rushed, however, or just don't want to watch 43 minutes, scrolling through is fine, but at the very least watch his five minutes on the Cheesecake Factory. It's spectacular. If this was a few years earlier, the clip would have gotten him a comedy spot on David Letterman's show. But as funny and shredding as it is, the point underneath it all, which he actually addresses, is serious and meaningful. And I most-especially loved it because after Trump and MAGOP officials all went faux-ballistic about his Cheesecake Factory joke a few days earlier (a joke which, of course, was not about the Cheesecake Factory in the slightest, but about Trump, his gaudy taste and comparison to Saddam Hussein), every time a MAGOP official wrote "faux outraged" posts about it online, I thanked them for making the Cheesecake Factory their closing argument for the Mid-Terms and keeping the story alive. And that's essentially a point President Obama was so joyfully and rousingly making, as well.
So, sit back, appreciate and enjoy.
Nothing more is needed. It's really a "drop the mic" speech and then get off the stage to the cheers of the crowd. But -- well, Barack Obama truly is so superb at this, and last night was a pinnacle example which I don't think it can be left at that.
So, although it's not needed, I think a proper encore is too well-earned.
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