Objections to this Blog
Things I’ve read on Twitter and would like to address:
“feelgood tumblr blog showing pics of Obama with children doesn’t mention the 160-odd he’s drone bombed to death.”
“We are all many people, but war crimes cannot be deflected with sweetness or goofiness.”
“when you make a blog of cute pictures about a person involved in state sponsored murder, and that turns a tummy…”
Consider this “President Obama and Kids” mentioning that Obama has bombed children to death via drones.
This blog doesn’t exist to deflect away from the bad that Obama has done or to, in any way, shut down criticism of him; that was never the intent.
I like how good Obama is with kids. I think it speaks to him as a person versus him as a President. I hope that doesn’t flatten the complexities of him. For those who already have genuine problems with Obama the President, I can’t imagine this blog would ever serve to assuage or mitigate those. Again, that isn’t the point of this anyhow.
Our political climate is full of a lot of terrible bullshit. Not that these pictures are antidotes to those terrible things (obviously not because for some they serve as reminders of what Obama’s orders have done to children in other country). But they make me smile. That is all.
I am now going to quote Melissa McEwan who highlighted this blog at Shakesville and said this:
I am aware, as are we all, that President Obama supports some policies that are actually not all that great for kids, especially when it comes to US foreign policy, which is an endless garbage nightmare. It’s my estimation that celebrating positive interactions with children is central to the objective of humane policies.
If you fundamentally dislike this blog and it turns your stomach, I want to say that I recognize and accept your criticisms. I apologize for causing you discomfort (though I imagine that apology is cold comfort if it is anything at all).
But if the only acceptable answer for you is for me to kill this blog, well, I don’t think there is a middle ground for us on this.
