Many people who continuously saw the bad within former President Barack Obama constantly ask why people believe Obama was such a great president.
And for them, we have two words: forward thinking.
The greatest misconception of many people’s views on government is the idea that our government is working for the current generation.
This is not the case.
Governmental administrations that we see within our lifetimes ultimately affect those behind us. Younger generations whom we will be passing this country on to whenever we are dead and gone.
Those are the ones who benefit, or reap the consequences of, our actions now.
The open support and promotion of gay marriage was not centered around those who wished to get married now. It was about bringing this way of life into the public eye so generations beyond us would not have to struggle with the issues of being denied a basic way of life simply because of whom they choose to love.
The attempted veto of a bill that would have made it possible for families of the slain in terror attacks to sue those countries responsible was not vetoed because Obama did not believe in repercussions, but because he understood the doors that would potentially open for the U.S. because of its own history.
Obama made moves to protect Planned Parenthood because not only did he understand its true value today, but he understood its potential value for many years to come. He understood that Planned Parenthood was not just a “quick stop abortion clinic” and saw the impact it had on both current generations and would have on future generations.
And then, he continued to prove his forward thinking by compiling a list of document serial numbers that were being utilized to prove Russian interference within the 2016 U.S. general elections.
He understood that by making these documents known to someone high on Capitol Hill, that it would be harder to bury and easier to bring into the light whenever the intelligence committee assigned to this investigation finally got to this point. Obama was not simply protecting his own behind, he was protecting this forward-progressing country from something potentially damaging.
And we are currently watching executive order after executive order completely gut progress we established over the past eight years.
Barack Obama made these waves in history because he thought, and looked, towards the future. President Donald Trump’s administration is ripping this progress apart simply because it is not what they believe. The decisions being made are no longer based on what is good for this country, but simply what reflects the beliefs of the Republican Party.
Defunding Planned Parenthood, lack of access to contraceptives, and curtailing LGBT rights are just a few steps taken to shape this country into a Republican bulls-eye, rather than thinking towards the future and how these decisions, such as advancing the work on the Keystone Pipeline, will affect future generations to come.
We are not the only ones who will inhabit this planet, and it is not ours to destroy or oppress. No presidential administration that you witness will be to your benefit, it will be to the benefit of your children, and your children’s children.
We owe them a better future than this.
Miss Obama? Watch his final Correspondence Dinner speech and reminisce:
Featured image courtesy of YouTube video.
