{"id":279,"date":"2017-01-19T15:52:19","date_gmt":"2017-01-19T20:52:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kimberlyyavorski.com\/inandout\/?p=279"},"modified":"2017-01-20T08:51:26","modified_gmt":"2017-01-20T13:51:26","slug":"final-hail-chief","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kimberlyyavorski.com\/inandout\/final-hail-chief\/","title":{"rendered":"A Final Hail to the Chief"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"100_1078-1ed\"You know that list of top people you would want to invite for dinner? The Obamas (and the Bidens as well) would certainly make my list. As we prepare to say farewell to someone who will certainly have more than a brief mention in future history books, I feel compelled to offer a thank you. I have never been prouder of my country than I was that day in November 2008 that a black man was elected to the presidency. I believed in his message, but honestly I wasn\u2019t sure that our country was at the point that they could look past color and see just a man. I consider the nation fortunate that they did.<\/p>\n

It is not my job to record his legacy; that I will leave for the historians, but I am confident that future generations will see him in a favorable light, even though his critics are in abundance today.<\/p>\n

What I will remember most about the past eight years is the image presented to the world. President Obama has been well respected in other countries and has shown grace in the face of opposition at home. He has a dedication to family that I greatly admire and a willingness to be real, in a city that often isn\u2019t.\u00a0 He demonstrates a willingness to hear other people\u2019s views and is not above meeting them at their level (even those who are too young to vot<\/span>e<\/a>) His love and respect for his wife and daughters is obvious as is his genuine concern for all people.<\/p>\n

Also unlike many in Washington, he shows respect for others, even when he holds opposing views.\u00a0 When he spoke on behalf of Hillary Clinton, he was quick to suppress boos or derogatory comments, defending the rights of those who were there to voice their opposition. Likewise, our First Lady refused to trash talk, insisting that \u201cWe go high.\u201d Throughout a divisive and at times very ugly campaign, Barack and Michelle Obama maintained standards of decency and showed class and grace.<\/p>\n

There has not been a family in the White House in my memory that has had such a complete absence of scandal or for that matter any tinge of social impropriety. After the past few decades, it has been refreshing to have the confidence, especially in this day and age, that our president would not embarrass us on the world stage. It also has been a pleasure to watch the \u201cDad-in-Chief\u201d interact with his children as well as the antics of the most high-profile bromance in our country.<\/p>\n

President Obama has been true to his role, right to the end. He has worked to encourage those who are discouraged or fearful and has continued to express the vision of hope which came to the forefront of our nation almost a decade ago. He has committed to the principles our nation was founded on, calling for a peaceful transition, while reminding us that we are a government \u201cof the people.\u201d<\/p>\n

Change is never easy. Dramatic change is even more difficult. To say that I will miss this president is an understatement. President Obama and his family have shown us how those in power can and should behave. They have served as role models for those in public office and hopefully some of our elected representatives are paying attention.<\/p>\n

President Obama, thank you, not only for being a good president, but also for being a shining example of a good man.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Click here<\/a><\/span> to watch the video of President Obama’s meeting with Kid President.<\/em><\/p>\n

Save<\/span><\/p>\n

Save<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

You know that list of top people you would want to invite for dinner? The Obamas (and the Bidens as well) would certainly make my list. As we prepare to say farewell to someone who will certainly have more than a brief mention in future history books, I feel compelled to offer a thank you. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[63],"tags":[71],"class_list":["post-279","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","tag-thank-you-president-obama"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7mJoQ-4v","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":66,"url":"https:\/\/kimberlyyavorski.com\/inandout\/irresponsible-preaching-and-irresponsible-journalism\/","url_meta":{"origin":279,"position":0},"title":"Irresponsible Preaching and Irresponsible Journalism","author":"Kimberly Yavorski","date":"March 16, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Today I am breaking rules. I am talking about politics and religion (okay, not exactly, but politics and religion are both tangentially related to my story). I believe in rules for the common good, but also in tolerance. 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People compliment me on how polite they are. Though I appreciate hearing good things about them, this always puzzles me. They are not doing anything special, they behave in a way that I would expect everyone to. They say please and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "social mores"","block_context":{"text":"social mores","link":"https:\/\/kimberlyyavorski.com\/inandout\/category\/social-mores\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"IMG_7477","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/kimberlyyavorski.com\/inandout\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2016\/06\/IMG_7477-300x225.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":7,"url":"https:\/\/kimberlyyavorski.com\/inandout\/why-cant-we-all-just-get-along-2\/","url_meta":{"origin":279,"position":2},"title":"Why Can\u2019t We All Just Get Along?","author":"Kimberly Yavorski","date":"February 17, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"In our house, this past weekend was full of politics. We spent part of Friday and much of Saturday watching the live stream of Washington and Lee University\u2019s Mock Republican Convention. 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Yet again, senseless violence has disrupted the lives of Americans. Again, reports have come in, painfully slow, of what happened, what is known, what is suspected. The numbers climb, as they always do. First 20 dead, then 50. With an even higher number injured, will that number\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "politics"","block_context":{"text":"politics","link":"https:\/\/kimberlyyavorski.com\/inandout\/category\/politics\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"guns","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/kimberlyyavorski.com\/inandout\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2016\/06\/guns-300x232.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":252,"url":"https:\/\/kimberlyyavorski.com\/inandout\/purple-united-states\/","url_meta":{"origin":279,"position":4},"title":"We Have a Problem to Solve – Not Every Vote Is Equal","author":"Kimberly Yavorski","date":"November 15, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"\u00a0 Purple is the most powerful visible wavelength. It is a color associated with wisdom, dignity, creativity and independence. It is the color our nation has chosen to indicate bravery. I have seen too many gloating posts, proclaiming that the voters have spoken, that we have a consensus, that we\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "politics"","block_context":{"text":"politics","link":"https:\/\/kimberlyyavorski.com\/inandout\/category\/politics\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"purple-us-election-map-2","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/kimberlyyavorski.com\/inandout\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2016\/11\/purple-us-election-map-2-300x232.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":151,"url":"https:\/\/kimberlyyavorski.com\/inandout\/new-sexual-revolution\/","url_meta":{"origin":279,"position":5},"title":"Are We on the Cusp of a New Sexual Revolution?","author":"Kimberly Yavorski","date":"June 7, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"The viral reactions to recent news has been unusual to say the least, resulting in a an uproar across the internet. Last week the big story was the child who ended up in a gorilla enclosure at a zoo. People were quick to blame: the mom and the zoo were\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "feminism"","block_context":{"text":"feminism","link":"https:\/\/kimberlyyavorski.com\/inandout\/category\/feminism\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"100_7698","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/kimberlyyavorski.com\/inandout\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2016\/06\/100_7698-300x225.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kimberlyyavorski.com\/inandout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/279","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kimberlyyavorski.com\/inandout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kimberlyyavorski.com\/inandout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kimberlyyavorski.com\/inandout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kimberlyyavorski.com\/inandout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=279"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/kimberlyyavorski.com\/inandout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/279\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":287,"href":"https:\/\/kimberlyyavorski.com\/inandout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/279\/revisions\/287"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kimberlyyavorski.com\/inandout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=279"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kimberlyyavorski.com\/inandout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=279"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kimberlyyavorski.com\/inandout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=279"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}