12 Comments

Beautifully written, and spot on. Thank you Michael. I believe this is the language and the ethos of the silent majority. More need to speak out- from the smallest of places.

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Well said. One point; in the Jim Crow south, race based discrimination was not permitted. It was mandatory. The distinction is worth remembering.

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This is a great essay and a great example of speaking to those who disagree with you along with those who like you.

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It’s sad the state of affairs in your country. It’s also unbelievable re the polling for TFG. Unbelievable.

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founding

This is an amazing essay. Thank you.

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Somewhere, today as we write, there is an MLK, Jr. who could save, or at least move us in the right path forward. There's no telling who it could be. They could be anywhere. But who could blame such a visionary for NOT WANTING TO ACTUALLY BE PRESIDENT, and I have to believe one exists (i.e. I know one exists and her name is Michelle) because we recently had such a man, a good and decent man, as our President, and he was Michelle's husband. I can surely understand why Michelle Obama would seek peace and serenity after living through her husband's eight year tenure. But there is a nation here worth saving, and it's not looking good for the most acceptable decent candidate (intentionally left singular), and I'm thinking that Michelle Obama might be our best hope.

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Who am I kidding? She's our only hope...

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No, she is not. She was the wife of a president; that was why we loved her, not because of any political prowess or ability to repair a severely divided country. There is no politician or non-politician that should be seen as “our only hope.”

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Jan 16·edited Jan 16

We will have to agree to disagree. She is a lawyer, she spent 8 years as his confidant, and most importantly, she has more personal and professional integrity than any current candidate on the slate for any side. I'm not sure that we need another Bush, Clinton, Bush II, Nixon, Johnson, JFK et al. My confidence in career politicos has vanished. With each passing year, we learn of more misdeeds (and I don't mean tawdry affairs but I mean coups, murders, all kinds of bad things that are not supposed to happen in the USA) they committed against the world at large.

Maybe having to rise through political ranks is a bad way to select a president.

Trump broke the mold but he is crazy af. Let's try it a different way. The sole reason I say she is our only hope IS because the Dem party Would likely rally behind her rather than any other wannabe because, well, she is highly intelligent. And she'd have her husband around.,..he's got a bit of experience, although I seriously think Michelle could handle the hardest of decisions herself. It's not like she's Matt McConaughey, an actor with no real world experience.

Joe is old and showing bad signs, and I'm a Joe fan. I don't wanna say anything bad about Joe but Joe is way past his prime, meaning Jill is running the country. Kamala is in no shape politically to become anything but an also ran, and I'm blanking out when it comes to other Dems who could actually win.

Likewise, the entire Rep group is a fail. From Trump down. And even though many of us didn't need the Iowans weighing in our the future to tell this, he will be the candidate. That race is over. If somehow he's ruled ineligible to be on ballots, he will be written in. His base has that determination. It is cultural war for his followers.

Name me a dem who can plausibly have a chance to beat trump, other than Ms. Michelle Obama, Esq. Because I am afraid Biden cannot do it. When even a diehard Biden fan like me realizes this term has aged him where he won't complete another. We know being President ages people exponentially. The stress.

Let's put a more reasonable non-politician in the office. Someone is who not a clown and narcissist and a crazed wannabe dictator. An esteemed attorney who also has "human being feelings" that our current and former slates mostly lacked substantially

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Peace and reconciliation (IMHO) is the only path forward for our country and the world. That was the greatest gift from Martin. Put down your weapons and join hands.

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Sorry to be pedantic in my first comment. I love your writing, and the 90s. But prophesy is a verb only

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Thank you for the thoughtful essay, too.

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