Barack Obama has just signed a book deal for over sixty million dollars. The world's most popular author J.K.Rowling who has created a global-spanning, billion-dollar publishing franchise with Harry Potter doesn't command this high a fee. Who knew that the vast reading public was willing to favour the output of  Obama over the likes of George R. Martin and Stephen King? I can only assume that the book deal is a legitimate, upfront way for Obama's backers to pay him for services rendered. If this is what it costs to get Obama to sign on the dotted line for a book, I can only imagine the boatloads of cash that are going to be washed cleanly through the former President's Library. 

Meanwhile, the ship of state rolls on. The media salivates about the latest unspecific, unhelpful, pointless verbiage of a bland, narcissistic, reputation-obsessed Director who believes himself to be a new age Yoda for the digital generation.  A bland, sweetly-spoken, conservative anti-abortion Judge auditions for the Supreme Court by weeping openly when speaking about his mother in an attempt to reassure fearful liberals he is a human being who is in touch with his feelings like them. 

Amongst all this, the memories of Barrack Obama continue to fade quickly away into a strangely dulled and muted insignificance. He feels like someone I sat next to on a plane who I shared too many drinks with, gossiped way too much about my private life, promised to stay in touch, and when the plane landed I did my best to hurry away without giving up my mobile number. 

The common agreement appears to be that Obama restored the dignity of the office he held.

Wow!

Typically whenever Ebony magazine, the long-standing bible of the African-American middle class, promotes an African-American titan of industry upon their front cover they might as well remove all other copy and simply print “Dignity” all over the spread. 

“Dignity above all” is more or less the first commandment of the African-American middle class,  and it’s not surprising that after their man achieved less than sweet  F*& all during his eight years in office his followers are reduced to praising his "great personal dignity" and longing for his "calm manner before the podium"; in other words, Obama is missed because he looked good going up and down the steps of Air Force One. 

This obsequious, stomach-turning love of the African-American First Commandment found its greatest expression in Michelle Obama’s famous exhortation of “When they go low, we go high.” The implication is: “Let’s keep our noses against the stench of white racism and hypocrisy and time will vindicate us by proving we did the right thing.”  The Right Thing as in “The Boss allowed me to take the bundles of grain to the market and I never lost one bag,” or “The Boss handed me control of the entire plantation field staff and no one ran away on my watch,” or “The Boss allowed me into the White House and we didn’t stain any of the drapes. Didn’t we do good!”

The trouble with “We go high, when they go low,” is that it (a) belongs to another bygone era when blacks had to scrape and bow to whites for approval; (b) it’s spoken by someone who historically has never wielded any kind of “Do as I say, when I say” executive power before; (c) reflects the mindset of someone who has bought into the white establishment lie of: “Once you prove you speak and act as well as I do, then I am prepared to accept you as my equal”;  and (d) it’s so awfully 60s! People spoke like this wa-a-y back in the day when the law offered them no protection when they had no effective legal representation, no black majors, senators, Attorney Generals, Secretaries of State or (such) Presidents. 

I’m glad Obama has walked away with his dignity intact. Let’s see the millions of low-income Americans who are about to be worked over by the new administration maintain their dignity against the financial bloodbath that’s coming.

Whatever the respective shortcomings of Bush Jnr. and Donald Trump, both of these men understood the true value of dignity.  True bosses don’t care about keeping the drapes clean for the White House because they own houses bigger than the White House.  They don’t care what the stuck-up Limey visitors to the White House think of their clean floors; they’re richer than all the Limeys and Huns and Frenchies put together.

Can you imagine sitting down with either Bush Jnr. or Trump and trying to have a discussion with either of them about the value of personal dignity

Trump doesn't give a damn about his personal dignity, he cares about winning and about seeing his agenda enacted, whatever the cost

Eight years back when Obama was elected a lot of people believed, finally, after centuries of oppression, that they had actually won something precious and transformative, and that they would soon be holding these winning tangibles within their hands… Now, when Obama's supporters examine their hands and pockets, what  tangible, sustainable, lasting "wins do they find themselves holding? Not a sixty million contract that's for sure.

The former President will surely make many more millions. 

 This is a crazy world we're living in where elected officials  of major liberal democracies around the world fail  their electorate, retire, then go on to make huge fortunes and everyone is supposed to act as if these failures deserve their vast post-leadership benefits. Madness.