{"id":40689,"date":"2020-01-08T21:04:10","date_gmt":"2020-01-08T21:04:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/highplainsblogger.com\/?p=40689"},"modified":"2020-01-08T21:04:10","modified_gmt":"2020-01-08T21:04:10","slug":"such-wisdom-from-a-past-president","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/highplainsblogger.com\/?p=40689","title":{"rendered":"Such wisdom from a past president"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Social media is chock full of instant reference material \u2026 such as YouTube videos that ricochet around in cyberspace.<\/p>\n

So, I found such a video of President Obama’s press conference as president. He took a question from a reporter he knew from his days as a state senior in Illinois. The question dealt with the lessons the Obamas’ daughters, Malia and Sasha, learned during their eight years living in the White House and the lessons they learned from the 2016 presidential election.<\/p>\n

The president’s response was quite stunning. He talked about how he believes his daughters will seek to do good work, to make a difference; he said he doesn’t anticipate they will enter politics.<\/p>\n

He then said he believes the world is full of many more good people than bad people. The good-over-bad ratio, said the president, gives him hope for the future that his daughter’s will inherit.<\/p>\n

It’s a lesson worth heeding. Barack Obama turned over the presidency to a man, Donald Trump, who has sought to appeal to many Americans’ baser instincts. The national mood, in my mind, clearly has deteriorated during Trump’s tenure in office.<\/p>\n

Still, his immediate predecessor — the fellow Trump cannot stop criticizing — expressed hope that Americans’ basic goodness will help shepherd us all through this difficult time.<\/p>\n

Here is the video of the president’s final news conference. It’s lengthy. The operative question comes at around the 52-minute mark. Take a look.<\/p>\n