I’m listening to a podcast with Barack Obama.
He did an interview with Mark Maron.
Mark is a comedian who does a podcast in his garage.
This is interesting on many levels:
- Garage
- Comedian
- Sitting president
- Podcast
Even 6 years ago, when Obama started his presidency, those 4 things coming together would have never been conceivable.
People were shocked when Obama went on a late night talk show.
“That’s very unpresidential.”
Presidents were not meant to be so “common.”
I’m not sure how you feel about it. But today I feel like Of Course presidents should speak to common people.
It’s a really interesting, non traditional interview. I highly recommend it:
http://www.wtfpod.com/podcast/episodes/episode_613_-_president_barack_obama
You can hear Obama’s independent side in the interview.
He mentions that the one thing that has really been emphasized during his presidency is this:
His faith in the American people is stronger than ever.
It’s the politics and the media that splinter us.
Mention any trigger word:
- Obama
- Clinton
- Bush
- Guns
- Abortion
- Democrats
- Republicans
And BAM!
We all instantly line up on our appropriate sides of the isle. Let the games begin. Watch the sparks fly.
It’s like we have been hypnotized and trained to bark like a dog whenever someone says the magic word.
But these aren’t the issues of our every day lives:
- House prices in our neighborhood
- Local property taxes
- The price of gas
- The weather
- Our kids
We have way more in common than not.
Mark sits right next to Orlando in our office.
Mark is a middle class white guy who is a devout fundamental Christian who has pretty strict conservative values.
Orlando is an inner city African American liberal. I don’t really have any idea what his religious views are. I’d say he probably doesn’t think much of religion.
I can’t really imagine two different people. They are literally black and white.
They get along great. They never argue about anything. They are both startup entrepreneurs. They both have kids. Money is tight for both of them.
They have much more in common than not.
This is what America truly is.
The media divides us for money. Politicians divide us for power.
They are divisive. They are the unnatural force of negativity in our society.
The amount of damage the media and politicians have inflicted among us is tragic.
Running for mayor of Akron has let me clearly see that the political parties are a matrix construct meant to control us and do their bidding.
I am through with political parties.