One of my favorite White House traditions was telling Thanksgiving jokes – which at least I thought were funny.
Here’s a look back at some of my favorites: pic.twitter.com/t2azgScNau
— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) November 24, 2022
Vanity Fair:
… Noah has interviewed President Obama twice before on The Daily Show: once virtually during the pandemic to discuss Obama’s memoir, A Promised Land, and then again for one of Obama’s final interviews at the White House. But until yesterday, the 44th president of the United States had never been interviewed by Noah in studio at The Daily Show. It’s no surprise, then, that a line wrapped around West 52nd Street to grab a free seat to watch the show’s taping…
… “The funny thing is, President Obama, he’s loose and funny and he’s got swag and everything,” he continued. “And then when he’ll talk to you he’ll make jokes and everything, and you’ll be all stiff.” Noah then broke into his very accurate Obama impersonation, “Trevor, what’s going on. How it do, baby?” causing the audience to break out into applause. But Noah said calibrating the level of reverence with the level of of casualness can be tricky when talking to a politician as cool as Obama.“But if you’re not careful, you’ll get carried away and be like, ‘You’re damn straight I’m doing well,’” he said, in perhaps too casual a tone. Noah then compared their relationship to one of a nephew and a “cool uncle” who talks trash with his nephews, but the trash talk only goes one way. “You’ll be like, ‘Look at your haircut,’ and they’ll say, ‘Don’t speak to your elders like that. Don’t forget.’”
Obama demonstrated this dynamic when he came out onstage for his half-hour interview with Noah. After a lengthy standing ovation (“I should have brought Michelle here. This is how I’d like to be greeted when I come home”), Noah dove in, “Do you miss your name, by the way?” Noah asked. “Because everyone calls you Mr. President. If people called me Mr. Daily, I would miss Trevor.”
“My best friends call me Barack,” the president replied. “You should call me Mr. President.”…
After Obama praised young people for rocking the vote a few weeks ago, Noah pointed out that the percentage of young voters turning up for elections seems to have actually declined over time. “What is always true is that young people are going to vote at slightly lower rates than old people like me,” Obama said. “Because they’ve got better things to do. Michelle and I are sitting at home eating dinner. We’ve kind of run out of things to say. Well, let’s go vote,” he said, garnering a big laugh. “Young people—Malia and Sasha—they’re out. They’ve got all kinds of stuff.” …
From the Washington Post‘s review of “The Light We Carry: Overcoming in Uncertain Times” :
… The title refers to the importance of recognizing one’s own light and becoming empowered by it. The book emerged, in part, from admirers’ queries, and while Obama readily admits she doesn’t have all the answers, she can offer her “toolbox,” the techniques and strategies she uses to manage her self-doubt and anxieties, and ward against hovering cynicism and low-grade depression.
Her strategies include the support of family and friends (particularly a group of women she calls her Kitchen Table) and hobbies such as knitting, which she picked up during the coronavirus pandemic. It allows her to focus on the “power of small actions, small gestures, small ways you might allow yourself to reset and restore.”…
Despite her extraordinary gifts and accomplishments, Obama acknowledges that she worries about her looks; finds the label “angry Black woman” reductive; and is still pursued by the nagging question: “Am I good enough?,” especially in spaces that prize straight White maleness over our myriad differences. Her father often told her, “No one can make you feel bad if you feel good about yourself.” To that, she responds: “It took me years to absorb my dad’s maxim more fully into my own life. I grew into my confidence slowly, in fits and starts. Only gradually did I learn to carry my differentness with pride.”…
Obama doesn’t hold back about her anger and frustration at former president Donald Trump and the way he handled the pandemic and the assault on the Capitol. She talks about the sadness she felt after the 2016 election and about the fact that so many Americans viewed Trump as a sort of corrective to her husband. It made her question whether the Obama years had meant anything:
“It still hurts. It shook me profoundly to hear the man who’d replaced my husband as president openly and unapologetically using ethnic slurs, making selfishness and hate somehow acceptable, refusing to condemn white supremacists or to support people demonstrating for racial justice. It shocked me to hear him speaking about differentness as if it were a threat,” she writes…
‘Is everyone doing this perfectly but me?’ Michelle Obama on the guilt and anxiety of being a mother – and her golden parenting rules https://t.co/9VEAxlrYWW
— The Guardian (@guardian) November 12, 2022
… By her own measure, my mom is nothing special. She also likes to say that while she loves us dearly, my brother and I are not special, either. We’re just two kids who had enough love and a good amount of luck and happened to do well as a result. She tries to remind people that neighbourhoods like the South Side of Chicago are packed full of “little Michelles and little Craigs”. They’re in every school, on every block. It’s just that too many of them get overlooked and underestimated. This would probably count as the foundational point of my mom’s larger philosophy: “All children are great children.”
My mother is now 85. She operates with a quiet and mirthful grace. Glamour and gravitas mean nothing to her. She sees right through it, believing that all people should be treated the same. I’ve seen her talk to the pope and to the postman, approaching them both with the same mild-mannered, unflappable demeanour. If someone asks her a question, she responds in plain and direct terms, never catering her answers to suit a particular audience. This is another thing about my mother: she doesn’t believe in fudging the truth.
What this meant as we transitioned into the White House was that any time a reporter posed a question to my mom, she would answer it candidly rather than soft-pedalling her thoughts or hewing to any set of talking points generated by nervous communications staffers.
Which is how she surfaced in the national news, describing how she’d been dragged kicking and screaming from her quiet little bungalow on Euclid Avenue and more or less forced to live at the nation’s most famous address. She was not being ungracious; she was just being real. How my mom expressed herself to the reporters on this matter was no different than how she’d expressed herself to me. She had not wanted to come to Washington, but I had flat-out begged her. My mother was the rock of our family. Since the time our daughters were babies, she’d helped us out around the edges of our regular childcare arrangements, filling the gaps as Barack and I often improvised and occasionally flailed our way through different career transitions, heavy workload cycles, and the ever-burgeoning after-school lives of our two young girls…
As a parent, you are always fighting your own desperation not to fail at the job you’ve been given. There are whole industries built to feed and capitalise on this very desperation, from baby brain gyms and ergonomic strollers to SAT coaches. It’s like a hole that can’t ever be filled.
I’m sorry to say that this doesn’t end with any one milestone, either. The desperation doesn’t go away when your kid learns to sleep or walk, or graduates from high school, or even moves into their first apartment and buys a set of steak knives. You will still worry! You will still be afraid for them! Even now, my husband, the former commander-in-chief, can’t help but to text cautionary news stories to our daughters – about the dangers of highway driving or walking alone at night. When they moved to California, he emailed them a lengthy article about earthquake preparedness and offered to have Secret Service give them a natural-disaster-response briefing. (This was met with a polite “No thanks”.)
Caring for your kids and watching them grow is one of the most rewarding endeavours on Earth, and at the same time it can drive you nuts…
TaMara, I think, already posted an extract from this interview, but here’s the whole thing if you want to watch it:
2023 Pet Calendar – Check Your Info Today!
twbrandt (formerly tom)
Man, I miss them being in the White House.
Baud
@twbrandt (formerly tom):
👍
Dan B
We saw Obama on the Daily Show. Obama has an incredible wit. His emotional intelligence is off the charts in addition to his IQ – May not be Jimmy Carter IQ but it’s close and combined with the EQ is killer. And the audience reaction reflected that. It was one of the most over the top reactions we’d ever seen.
OzarkHillbilly
I could say a thing or 4, but it would take a whole lot more time than I have now. So I’ll settle for this:
I have dived into rush hour traffic to save my eldest’s life (and been dragged the rest of the way out of the street by a passing black man). I have also set on top of a mountain pumping albuterol into my asthmatic youngster’s lungs at 2 AM.
Parenting is not for the weak.
Baud
@OzarkHillbilly:
That’s why I’m not a parent.
oldgold
Assume in 2018 the 22nd Amendment was repealed, would Obama have beaten Trump in 2020? And, if so, by how much?
Is the 22nd Amendment, limiting a President to two terms, a good Amendment?
gwangung
@Baud: Amen.
geg6
Obama doing dad jokes about turkeys.❤️ You know he did it just to make Sasha and Malia embarrassed. Just love them all.
The interview Michelle did with Robin Roberts really centered me at election time when I was full of anxiety. Her “Kitchen Table” reminded me of my sisters and friends get together almost every Saturday, even during the height of COVID (outdoors and masked, weather permitting) and just talk and laugh and watch home remodeling shows or documentaries or whatever. We call it Sister Saturday and it’s essential in my life. And her talk of knitting inspired me to take up cross stitch again, something I haven’t done in decades. It is such a soothing thing to do. Lots of details and precision involved and it keeps my mind calm. I owe her one for reminding that I have a skill that can help my mental health.
Ruckus
@twbrandt (formerly tom):
Absolutely!
I wish that more people actually liked humans, other than that imaginary thing they see in the mirror. Maybe they might actually act more human if they weren’t seeing a mirage in that mirror. We come in all shapes and sizes, colors of skin/hair, amount of hair…, ages, temperaments, levels of intelligence or lack thereof…
So while we are all human, not all of us act like it or see others as the same animal. But we all live on this planet, we all could survive a hell of a lot better when we recognize that being human means you don’t have to like all the variations, but that if you would like some respect that you have to have respect for the entire milieu of human variations/ages/genders.
trollhattan
@OzarkHillbilly: Holy crap, so very sorry to hear this and here’s hoping the docs do their jobs perfectly, and your eldest pulls out.
OzarkHillbilly
@Baud: It is not a job for the weak. Many times I didn’t think I had it in me, and prayed for death. It is pure luck that I am still here.
Mind you. there is not a second of time I had with them that I would trade for… peace. They mean that much to me.
evap
I miss them so much. Joe is great, but you never forget your first love, and for me that was Obama. We did not deserve them.
Mai Naem mobile
This country was really lucky to have Barack and Michelle Obama in the WH for 8 years especially during the Great Recession and we are lucky to have Joe and Jill Biden cleaning up after two Russian assets. It’s a pity the Magat Morons don’t realize that.
Elizabelle
@evap:
Yes we did. And we still do.
WaterGirl
@OzarkHillbilly: What a life. Neither of those is recent, right?
dww44
@oldgold: Yes, it is. Would that we had something similar for the Senate.
OzarkHillbilly
@trollhattan: No worries, it was a long time ago. He was 4 and I was a…. lot younger than I am now. But I can never forget the sight of his head silhouetted against the lights of the oncoming cars, diving for him while screaming his name. I can not forget praying for death because I knew I could never reach him in time.
And yet I did.
I remember throwing my son towards the curb when I thought I was close enough, I remember the mail man dragging me the rest of the way out of 7th street because I had nothing left, I remember the pumpkin seller saying, “I thought he was gone, I thought he was gone….” I remember looking at my son and saying, “If you ever do that again… I will… KILL YOU!!!”
Memories.
West of the Rockies
@Baud:
Well, also no woman would have you.
(Please tell me your snark meter is on and that you know I jest.)
WaterGirl
@OzarkHillbilly: Oh, Ozark, I am in tears just thinking of that. Sometimes “what if” can haunt us, I hope it hasn’t haunted you.
WaterGirl
@West of the Rockies:
Unless you count most of us on Balloon Juice.
OzarkHillbilly
@WaterGirl: Both a long time ago. My youngest has given me several scares over his life, his asthma was always a concern. There was also the time he got got run over by a car when he was 5, and then when he was 11 and they were thinking about amputating his leg because of a MRSA, then there was the most recent where he got run over by a truck on the Pontchartrain bridge in an ice storm.
I swear, that boy (all 34 years of him) will be the death of me.
zhena gogolia
@WaterGirl: baud’s Sister Wives
Baud
This thread is going to sink my campaign.
eclare
@OzarkHillbilly: That last accident…I remember. Is he still in NOLA?
JPL
@OzarkHillbilly: Wow. Although we had the asthma scares, nothing like that. There was the time that I had to drive my ten year old to Children’s Hospital in Dallas at midnight. It was either that or an ambulance. Anyway they said when you arrive at the emergency entrance go in and ring the bell. You enter and it’s empty. Totally empty and find a desk with the bell and all of a sudden, the elevator doors open, and nurses appear. The procedure was because of crime in the area. Then they take your son and ask you to move your car.
JPL
@eclare: Yup. Same here and now he has grandchildren for Ozark to pamper over.
OzarkHillbilly
@WaterGirl: It does. It always will. Somethings one just can’t forget. You just make your peace with it. When my eldest was 2, they thought he had cystic fibrosis. His sweat chloride tests kept coming back borderline. I had a cousin who died at the age of 14 from it. (not pretty) I also had a little brother who died shortly after birth because he couldn’t breathe. The docs thought there might be a connection and wanted to look at my brother’s Med records.
My mother said, “No.” Point. Period. Paragraph. Would not budge.
At the time, I could not wrap my head around it, but as time passed by I realized my mother had always felt guilty about my brother’s death, like it was her fault.
I had a lot of nightmares about my son during that time. I usually want to finish my nightmares. I never wanted to finish any of those nightmares.
Dangerman
@oldgold: Terrible amendment. The most important position in the U.S. and you are a lame duck your first day in Term 2. I submit Obama beats Trump easily in 2016 and the world would look massively different.
ARoomWithAMoose
@Baud: “This thread is going to sink my campaign.”
There’s always 2028!
OzarkHillbilly
@eclare: Yep, and making really good money. I still want him to come home tho.
JPL
@OzarkHillbilly: Where is your DIL from?
WaterGirl
@zhena gogolia: Yes.
OzarkHillbilly
@JPL: Yeah, that was a really bad night.
eta: Then there was the evening at my parent’s where his breathing got worse and worse until finally I said, “I’m calling an ambulance.” At which point his breathing problems kicked into over drive and I wondered if he would make it to the hospital.
WaterGirl
@OzarkHillbilly: 💕
Mr. Bemused Senior
Oh, yes, Michelle, you are good enough. Way good enough. Never doubt it.
JPL
@Mr. Bemused Senior: My first instinct was to say holy shit, if she isn’t who is. Then I realized that we all are, except for the nasty, hateful, and ugly trump voters.
WaterGirl
@JPL: In case you’re wondering, I deleted your duplicate. :-)
ian
@oldgold: Yes. Replace the word Obama with the word Trump and think about the 22nd Amendment.
JPL
@OzarkHillbilly: You’re a good dad!
Interesting the story I told is about my oldest, who was in the hospital for four days, and his dad didn’t have time to visit him until after two days. He still goes to see his dad knowing all his faults. The younger son not so much
The accident with your son was the worse. We were all driving to NOLO with you.
mrmoshpotato
@ARoomWithAMoose: Silly Moose, delayed campaigns are for kids.
OzarkHillbilly
@JPL: They met growing up in Crawford County, MO, but her family is all down there.
He loves her, always has and will do almost anything for her.
Who am I to say anything at all.
Mai Naem mobile
I am getting several emails from Warnock’s campaign daily. Texts too. I thought Mark Kelly’s were bad. This is 10x worse.
JPL
@OzarkHillbilly: I wondered if that was the case. One of the reasons I won’t move from here is because of the boys.
JPL
@Mai Naem mobile:Warnock has money, so block them. He needs boots on the ground which Water Girl promoted. Turnout was good in Warnock counties today, so fingers crossed.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Mai Naem mobile: Now that you mention it, I’m not getting any texts from Warnock, which is good, I hate them. They seem to have stopped on Election Day. I’m getting about three emails a day, some make it through to my inbox, most go to the junk folder
Now let’s see what happens since I’ve put that out into he World Wide Web
JPL
@Mai Naem mobile: The hour I had the local news on, Warnock ads were running 3 or 4 times more than Walkers. I know ads don’t vote, but let’s hope. He has done outstanding work for GA
Baud
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
My email and text junk folders work really well.
OzarkHillbilly
@JPL: When CJ had his MRSA, I couldn’t drag his mother out of Bourbon, MO. Every procedure he went thru I was there, praying to a god I didn’t believe in. I won’t say I was a good father, but when ever my sons needed me, I was there . Even when the only thing they wanted from me was to go away.
JPL
@OzarkHillbilly: It’s okay if I’m still green with envy with the number of grandchildren you have. I wouldn’t trade my two imps for the world though.
eclare
@OzarkHillbilly: My dad told me he loved me once. Other than that he fixed everything I needed on my house, always put in more safety lights, etc. I recognize different ways of saying things.
OzarkHillbilly
@JPL: And yeah. My sons have forgiven their mother. I can’t. Too many times I woke up at 2 AM with my eldest having a drunken conversation with her about how he abandoned her.
And then I spent the next 3 hours explaining to him that a child can not abandon their parent.
There was the the night I returned from work when my youngest refused to open the bathroom door and I knew his mother had been there, and when I finally got him to open the door (after threatening to kick it in) he told me how he wanted to slit his wrists and I was more terrified than I had ever been before.
I am so grateful, to have navigated my sons thru these trials and tribulations. I am also grateful that their mother finally went to prison, because if she hadn’t, I probably wouldn’t have succeeded.
zhena gogolia
@OzarkHillbilly: Wow.
JPL
@OzarkHillbilly: You did and they are succeeding because of you.
lowtechcyclist
@OzarkHillbilly:
My son is 15, and that’s pretty much what he wants from me these days. I think back to the more than a decade when we were practically inseparable, and while I miss it, I know that he’s got to become his own person, and this is his clumsy first step in that direction.
lowtechcyclist
@OzarkHillbilly:
Holy shit.
I’m glad you and your sons all somehow made it through all that.
OzarkHillbilly
@eclare: I can not lie. I don’t think I ever heard my father say he loved me, I know he did, but only because I am still here. My mother always said, that we (kids) needed to remember that he had just got off the boat.
I can say that I am proud of my father, I brag about his accomplishments, But the only time I remember him ever being happy to see me was at 11,000 feet after he had lost the trail.
OzarkHillbilly
@lowtechcyclist: Be there. Don’t ever go away. I remember looking at my son in group counseling and saying. “I know you hate me. I know you want nothing more than for me to go away. I won’t. No matter what you do, I will always be there for you.”
And seeing a dawning realization in his eyes
I’m pretty sure that your situation is far different than mine and my sons, but they need to know that no matter what, you are there, and that you always will be.
David 🦃The Establishment🥧 Koch
Hail! to the victors valiant
Hail! to the conquering heroes
Hail! Hail! to Michigan
the leaders and best
🏈
OzarkHillbilly
@JPL Just now saw this, wanted to say GC make it all worthwhile.
Raoul Paste
@OzarkHillbilly: Dead thread at this point I suppose, but I just wanted to wish you well
mrmoshpotato
@David 🦃The Establishment🥧 Koch:
Crazy quoting format!
Anyways, boil some boilermakers!
Citizen Alan
@OzarkHillbilly: I’m quite certain my father never told me he loved me, or was proud of me, or even gave me any sign that he liked me very much. I’m also quite certain that I was in no sense what he wanted as a son, but despite that, he was a decent father. Just not one I would have ever called “Dad.”