On my way home from jogging with Artie this morning, I heard on NPR that today is President Obama’s 50th birthday. While I think it’s 100 percent certain Mr. President does not read this fancy blog, I felt compelled to wish him a HAPPY BIRTHDAY today, since it is a big milestone in the life of a middle-aged man.
No worries, blog faithful. I will not be turning this into a wretched political blog, or even a wretched political post, today.
However, I do have to admit to being a big fan of Mr. President. I find him to be an extremely likable, down-to-earth guy. He’s the best public speaker and orator in my lifetime (Mario Cuomo is a close second), and to me he seems like a remarkably intelligent person.
Now, I’m not going to debate his policies here. The whole debt crisis thing? I’m not smart enough to discuss that at length. I will say this: Mr. President must have compromised quite a bit, because the good gray New York Times editorial pages are very displeased with him at the moment.
Anyway, like I said: I’m a big fan. The dude (wait, can you call the President a dude?) is about my age – I turn 47 in a few weeks. He’s got a young family of school-aged kids, like me. He’s slim, trim and in shape. Mr. President’s got GAME! Have you ever see him play basketball? He could whip up on most of our Marist Runners in a game of one-on-one – NOT THAT I WOULD EVER ALLOW THAT!
One last point: Something I cannot stand with modern political discourse is the vitriol and sometimes downright hatred that is spewed. And, it’s from both sides! I despise the Obama-bashing, because I happen to like him and I voted for him, and I hope he runs again and wins. But I despised the Bush-bashing, and I was never a big fan of W’s policies. Whatever happened to respecting the office and the person in that office?
Like I said, I was never a Bush fan. But he seemed like a pretty good, upstanding fellow – not to mention one of the most fit presidents in history. I didn’t vote for him either time, but I would love to go jogging with President Bush and even have him over for a backyard barbecue.
Same goes for Mr. Obama, who I did vote for, and who today turns 50. Perhaps he will celebrate by sinking 50 free-throws? And while it’s highly unlikely he will celebrate with a 50-mile run (which sounds like a great idea to me), it’s worth wishing him happy birthday here. And many more.
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