Tag: Barack Obama

A Promised Land – Barack Obama

On By Genyc79In Autobiography, Political Memoirs8 Comments

20210101_134744I believe that we can all agree that 2020 was a year unlike any other in modern history.  The coronavirus, officially known as Covid-19, brought the world to a grinding halt and disrupted our lives in ways we could have never imagined.  Here in the United States, we saw the pandemic take hold, social unrest erupt and the election of Joe Biden, Jr., as the next President of the United States of America. His swearing in on January 20, will mark the final stage in the transition between administrations. For some, it signals the return of politics largely void of the more extreme rhetoric that has gripped the country in recent years.  Former President Barack Obama, will undoubtedly be called on for support and advice.  I have often thought back to the Obama administration and the decisions that were made on a range of issues. But in particular, I have become even more interested in what life is really like as the Commander-In-Chief.   This book, by the 44th President of the United States is exactly what I had been looking for. Not only does it provide an insider’s view into life within the White House, it is also a sobering account of life as a politician.  There are highs and lows with a lot in between.  

The book is in part an autobiography, with Obama reflecting on his childhood in both Hawaii and Indonesia.  However, the more mundane aspects of his life story are not included.  In fact, his early life is fairly compressed into a small section of the book.  The story picks up the pace when he meets his future wife Michelle, at the law firm of Sidley & Austin in Chicago, IL.  And this description of his first impression of her is one of the highlights in the book: 

Michelle Lavaughn Robinson was already practicing will when we met. She was 25 years old and an associate at Sidley & Austin, the Chicago law firm where I worked the summer after my first year of law school. She was tall, beautiful, funny, outgoing, generous and wickedly smart-and I was smitten almost from the second I saw her.

For Michelle, the story is a little different as she explains in her own book Becoming, which has become one of my favorites for its honesty and ease at which it can put an interested reader.  Curiously, when I have asked my own parents of how they came together, their versions also slightly differ.  Perhaps it is the passage of time or the way in which men and women view their shared history that results in varying versions of the romance between them.  Regardless, the required component of love that is built upon a strong foundation, can be found here and the journey they embark on with two daughters, is nothing short of incredible. 

What I found to be appealing about the book is that Obama does not avoid discussing his own mistakes, transgressions and administrative policies that did not work out.  And like other world leaders, he experienced self-doubt, not in a prohibitive way but as a young politician questioning whether he can make his mark against established political juggernauts.  With the benefit of hindsight, we know today that fate was on his side.  The campaign and the election itself are covered with particular detail paid to the mission his team faced in getting most of America to vote for a largely unknown bi-racial candidate with a Muslim name.  The story reveals a lot about America while showing how far we have come and how far we still have to go.  I am aware that those who do not like the former president will have their opinions formed before reading the book if they choose to do so. And others will have the opposite mindset and possibly be blinded to his faults due to their admiration of him.  Regardless of your political affiliation, if you decide to read this book, you must do so with an open mind.  

Although I remember clearly when he was elected, I still found myself reading with suspense as the primary results came in followed by the general election.  In the wake of his victory, he begins to put together his cabinet and this part of the book will be of high interest to those who are curious as to how presidents assemble their teams.  It is an exhaustive process and the amount of tasks that have to be completed the by the new Commander-In-Chief are staggering.  Personally, the Obamas’ lives are changed forever for better and worse.  He discusses this aspect as well, with high focus on the lack of privacy afforded to a high profile public official.  Further, his ethnicity put him under a more focused microscope and for right-wing figures, he was the perfect target for all that they believed was wrong with America. However, it is clear that deep down, he is a human being like the rest of us who loves action films, a pickup game of basketball and spending time with his family.  It will be easy to see why so many voters felt that they could relate to him on a personal level.  And I found one section of the book in which current House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) gives him this advice on being president: 

“Mister President”, Nancy said to me on one call, “I tell my members that what you managed to do in such a short time is historic. I’m just so very proud, really. But right now, the public doesn’t know what you accomplished. They don’t know how awful the Republicans are behaving, just trying to block you and everything. And voters aren’t going to know if you aren’t willing to tell them” 

At times during his presidency, it seemed as Washington was about to go off the rails. But, before that could happen, the country was in dire shape due to a recession in 2008. Obama explains what awaited him as he came into office and how his cabinet tackled the looming financial crisis.  Some readers may be shocked to learn just how close the nation came to financial collapse and why that threat exist today as a pandemic continues to wreak havoc on the American and world’s economies, which are inextricably linked as readers will see.  As Commander-in-Chief, Obama travels the globe and provides us with keen observations of a host of world figures, some of whom remain in power today.  And on the domestic front, the battle with House and Senate Republicans takes center stage with Senator Mitchell McConnell, Jr. (R-KY) filling the role of the antagonist in the story.   Obama never portrays McConnell as being evil and recognizes that the senator from Kentucky is a seasoned veteran of politics.  Also, he makes it a point to keep the focus on legislation and avoids personal attacks and scrutiny of the personal lives of those opposing him.  I felt that this approach was correct and provided the book with the touch of class needed for it be well-received.  Although he is honest about his feelings with regards to their actions, he also acknowledges their strengths and accomplishments.  

Some readers might be expecting a long discussion regarding the current president but Obama only dedicates a short section to Trump, which focuses mainly on the birther conspiracy that gained traction during his first term.  Interestingly, Obama points out something in Trump’s actions that readers will pick up on as they move through that section.  It will make one wonder whether Trump really believes what he says or is simply a master at manipulation and riding the waves of conservative sentiments. 

Towards the end of the book, Obama moves on to the Middle East and the final mission to locate and eliminate Osama Bin Laden (1957-2011).  The reasons for greenlighting the mission and how it developed are explained and left to readers to decide whether it was the right call.   What is clear is that by all accounts, it was the success that had been hoped for.  And while it did not eliminate Islamic terror, it did satisfy one promise he made before getting elected that if he had Bin Laden in the cross-hairs, he would authorize the mission. The book closes after the Bin Laden raid and I had expected more to follow regarding his second term in office. However, if he had included a discussion of the next four years, the book would have grown to a staggering amount of pages and tuned even the most die-hard readers off.  Perhaps there will be another book but only time will tell.  However, for the present time, we have this memoir of a ground-breaking time in United States history. 

ISBN-10: 1524763160
ISBN-13: 978-1524763169

 

 

Fantasy Island: Colonialism, Exploitation, and the Betrayal of Puerto Rico – Ed Morales

On By Genyc79In Latin America, UncategorizedLeave a comment

MoralesThose of us who have traveled to Puerto Rico and have seen the island outside of San Juan, known why it is called the island of enchantment.  There is no one word explanation for Puerto Rico and I firmly believe that it is a place you have to see to truly understand.  Several years have passed since my last visit to the island but upon resolution of Covid-19, I do plan on returning to the place that holds a special place in my heart.  Hurricane Maria arrived in Puerto Rico on September 20, 2017, and the devastation was nothing short catastrophic.  The storm’s wake revealed the underlying infrastructure in dire need of upgrade that was unable to cope with the hurricane’s power.  The electrical grid began to collapse, roads became blocked and residents had to rely on each other to survive each day.  Currently, the island is still recovering from the storm’s effects and the Trump Administration’s response to the storm is seen by many as subpar.  Some might call that a euphemism but I always refrain from coming as political in any posts.  Further, a political discussion can be found within the pages of this incredible book that explains clearly and thoroughly what went wrong with Puerto Rico from the moment the United States launched its invasion in 1989.  And I believe that the book will leave you with a very different view of the island’s problems and a range of emotions about how it reached its current state.

The book is not a history of the island itself but it does provide valuable information on important events in the island’s history. Readers who are in search of an explanation of Puerto Rico’s history should read Rudolph Adams Van Middeldyk’s The History of Puerto Rico: From the Spanish Discovery to the American Occupation, which provides a concise discussion of its origins and development.  The book is tainted only by the author’s bigoted views towards the end.  And if you feel the need to go back even further in time, Irving Rouse wrote a phenomenal account of the island’s original natives called The Tainos: The Rise and Fall of the People who Greeted Columbus.  The story here begins after Puerto Rico is invaded by the U.S. Military.  Puerto Ricans could not have imagined at the time that the occupation would last to this very day.  In 1917, Congress enacted a piece of legislation that permanently changed the history of Puerto Rico.  Three years prior, the Puerto Rican House of Delegates demanded independence and in 1917, a bipartisan bill in Congress called the Jones Act was passed. As relayed by the author, one of its key components was that:

“The Jones Act also provided for the triple-tax exemption from the sale of government bonds that helped create the current debt crisis. This was the crucial moment that presaged the future debt crisis: the exemption meant that no federal, local, or state taxes could be collected on the bonds, making them more attractive than those issued by the vast majority of US municipalities.” 

Essentially the Jones Act, with its restriction of foreign vessels near Puerto Rican shores, placed the island under the yoke of U.S. business interests which enjoyed exemption from income tax on all levels. The corporations now had no other goal but to reap as many profits as possible while Puerto Ricans suffered in the most difficult of ways.  And although U.S. Citizenship was granted to Puerto Ricans born after 1917, they are still legally restricted from freedoms that mainland Americans are granted at birth.  The exclusion of Puerto Rico from Chapter 9 Bankruptcy protection further sealed its fate as debt continued to climb, immune to restructuring under bankruptcy protection.  These key pieces of legislation are critical to understanding how Puerto Rico was set up to fail.  These things did not go without notice and nationalism began to rise on the island. It eventually gave way to the discussion on complete independence or statehood, a conversation that continues today.

Morales takes us down memory lane to bear witness to the growing independence movement under figures such as Pedro Abizu Campos (1891-1965) whose struggle for Puerto Rican independence is well-known and documented.  I do recommend that readers pick up Armando Pacheo Matos’s Biography of Dr. Ramón Emeterio Betances Alacan: Father of the Puerto Rican Motherland, a good read on the leader of the Lares uprising. Here the discussion focuses on the leaders who represented the Boricuas in search of true freedom.  Others who struck a more conciliatory tone with Washington are also discussed such as Luis Muñoz Marín (1898-1980), whose name was given to the San Juan International Airport. Marin’s father, Luis Muñoz Rivera (1859-1916) is also discussed but took a slightly different approach than his son.  Regardless, both remained committed to a Puerto Rico left to manage its own affairs.

Washington is never far away in the story and as financial interests increased on the island largely through the passage of Section 936 of the Internal Revenue Tax Code which gave corporations a glaring loophole to exploit the island even further while keeping the profits safely on mainland soil.  Hauntingly, Congress never seems to know what to do with Puerto Rico.  As Morales points out, the inability or refusal of Washington to actually fix Puerto Rico’s financial issues, is based in large part on racist beliefs and monetary gain.  The island has been seen as a land mass of inferior people who should be dependent upon the graces of its U.S. overseer. The attitude is immoral, condescending and as we see in the book, tragic for it placed Puerto in an unwinnable position. And unlike Greece and Argentina which had the option of turning to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Puerto Rico has no such option, leaving creditors salivating at the thought of recouping millions of dollars in foreign debt on the island.

Readers may be surprised to learn of the decisions taken by several presidential administrations.  No single administration deserves all of the blame for the current state of Puerto Rico. However, the mistakes made along the way are clearly evident in the book.  Yes, Donald Trump is central part of the story but so are Bill Clinton and Barack Obama.  Conservatism and Liberalism clash and neither produces the desired effect for the people of Puerto Rico, except for those in positions of power eager to remain in the good graces of Washington.  Morales does not shy away from calling them out and this part of the story is just as shocking as the actions by the U.S. Government in 1917 and later. Their actions, compounded by the formation of the Corporación del Fondo de Interés Apremiante (COFINA) and the Fiscal Oversight and Management Board (FOMB), only served to deepen the issues. And even the passing of the Puerto Rico Oversight, Management, and Economic Stability Act comes under scrutiny for its insufficient tools to actually help the people of Puerto Rico.  In the wake of Hurricane Maria, the Puerto Rican Electric Power Authority (PREPA) came into focus as the horrendous state of the island’s power grid came to the surface.  A discussion on the issue is included, showing the precarious state of the islands infrastructure still in dire need of complete overhaul and how nepotism creeped into the discussion of the restoration of the power grid.

There is far more to be found in the book than what I have discussed here. The story is simply unbelievable at times but the harsh reality of the exploitation employed by the United States against a small island that remains in an uncertain states.  The question America needs to ask itself is what are we going to do with Puerto Rico? Its status as a commonwealth continues to keep it in limbo with a bleak financial outlook and restrictions not enforced on those born on the mainland. Whether Puerto Rico will eventually become a state or become independent remains to be seen but there are growing calls for action to be taken. And if in fact Donald Trump is no longer president in 2021, then it will be up to Joe Biden to take the ball and run with it.  For the people of Puerto Rico, the president may change but the island’s problems do not and they can no longer afford to wait for Washington to truly help their island the way it helps the states in the union.  Action is needed and the Puerto Rican people are mobilizing in the goal of one day living in a truly self-sufficient Puerto Rico.  Highly recommended.

“Puerto Rico is, then, in a privileged position by virtue of our growing skepticism of the American Dream, one that was never really granted to us, that grows ever new tentacles of corruption, where human bodies are just vessels for capital expansion, feeding on themselves and betraying sacred human trusts. By being both on the inside of pseudo-citizenship and outside of sovereignty, Puerto Ricans have a unique incentive to explore new ways to get free.” – Ed Morales

ASIN : B07M77X12S

Prisoner: My 544 Days in an Iranian Prison—Solitary Confinement, a Sham Trial, High-Stakes Diplomacy, and the Extraordinary Efforts It Took to Get Me Out – Jason Rezaian

On By Genyc79In BiographiesLeave a comment

Jason RezaianThe United States and Iran share a long and storied past, defined in moments that changed world history.   The removal of Mohammad Mossadegh in 1953, followed by the reinstatement of the Shah and the Iran Hostage Crisis in 1979, set the stage for decades of tension between the two nations.  And incredibly, it was under this tension that the administration of U.S. President Barack H. Obama engaged in talks that resulted in the The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, simply known as the Iran Nuclear Deal.  The deal was both heralded as a landmark achievement and a kowtow of the worst kind.  But what many Americans did not know, was that there was far more taking place behind the scenes, including the release of U.S. prisoners held in Iranian jails.  Among those prisoners, was American born  journalist Jason Rezaian, of The Washington Post.  You may remember him from his appearance on Anthony Bourdain’s (1956-2018) hit show No Reservations.  The episode was beautifully done and Rezaian and his wife Yeganeh, appear as voices of insight into Iranian culture.  At the conclusion of the episode, there is a message on the screen that they both had been taken by Iranian intelligence.  The episode is my second favorite, the first is Vietnam in which President Obama makes a surprise appearance and enjoys a meal with Bourdain in Ho Chih Minh City.  On January 16, 2016, Rezaian was released was repatriated to the United States. Joining him were his Iranian born wife and his mother who never stopped fighting for her son’s release.

The book came to me as a recommendation from Amazon and I have to say, it was right on the money with this one.  I easily recognized Rezaian and was curious to know exactly what did take place during his incarceration.  The goods are all here and at times, I had to shake my head at the words and actions of his captors.   The Twilight Zone atmosphere, as Rezaian once describes it, is periodically broken by his recollections of his early life and his family’s history.  He explains his reasons for leaving America in his early thirties and moving to Iran, the place of his late father’s birth.  At first, the book reads like a typical story of a young man who found a home away from home.   He meets the love of his life, Yeganeh and the two begin to build their life together as a married couple. But on July 22, 2014, that all changed when they were arrested, blindfolded and transported to the Evin Prison in Tehran.

Authorities are convinced Rezaian is conduction “spionage”, as they call it and have labeled him a master spy who has come to spread revolution in Iran, through the import of “avocados”.   At first I could not believe my eyes but the insanity only increases.   Interrogators employ endless mind tricks in order to get Rezaian to “cooperate” and “admit” his wrongdoings, even without being able to say for certain what they were.  They assure him that they are there to “help”.  Rezaian’s sharp wit, adds a level of comedy to the story that lightens the mood and keeps the reader glued to the book, anticipating the next page. But the reality is that the charges were serious, in fact, deadly serious.  More than once he is threatened with execution.  The jury is still out whether the Iranians ever intended to actually commit such an act or if it was strictly a scare tactic that they knew would have backfired publicly and politically.   Their attempts to interrogate him and their obsession with American films and politics, has the effect of turning the affair into a three-ring circus in which Rezaian is the only one with a sane mind.  How he kept his sanity, sense or humor and composure, many of us will never truly know.  Perhaps it is the human will to survive which at times can be stronger than most would expect.  Rezaian admits that he nearly gave in on more than one occasion but the world was rooting for him and the support of his family, in particular his brother, help provide the inspiration he needed to remain stoic and defiant, until he once again walked the streets as a free man.

As to be expected, the Iran Nuclear Deal is a significant back story to the book and integral to his eventual release.  As a prison inside Iran, Rezaian was given an insider’s view into Iranian society and the mood in Tehran as its leaders and Washington hammered out an agreement that had been reached with the hope that the two nations could begin open dialogue which could eventually end in peace that has eluded both for nearly forty years.  Rezaian discusses the process and the difficulties of reaching an agreement which also included himself and other prisoners.  But even he admits that at the time, he had no idea of how many people were at work, doing everything in their power to secure his release and several others.   The ending of the book plays out as if Hollywood sent its best writers but this is not fiction.  It was a show of diplomatic power at its finest and a story in which the good guy does win.

Sadly, hopes of peace between Iran and America faded with the announcement of President Donald J. Trump that the United States would withdraw from the Iran Nuclear Deal.  On May 8, 2018, the withdrawal went into effect and only time will tell what will happen but I sincerely hope that peace does prevail.  For Jason Rezaian, peace came in a different form and his freedom from the Evin Prison, has given him an even deeper perspective of where Iran continues to go wrong.  He also explains the many areas in which non-Iranians fail in understanding how and why its society  operates in the manner that it does.  But make no mistake, this is his story and how he survived incarceration in the Islamic Republic of Iran.

ISBN-10: 0062691570
ISBN-13: 978-0062691576

Becoming – Michelle Obama

On By Genyc79In BiographiesLeave a comment

Books-Michelle ObamaAny former First Lady of the United States will tell you that there is nothing “easy” about that lifestyle.  As the wife of the most powerful man on the planet, there is a high demand on appearance, initiatives and unwavering support for the policies that originate from the White House. Michelle Obama is an alumnus of this world, serving as the nation’s First Lady from January, 2009 to January, 2017.  Her style, look and presence is unmistakable and she will be remembered in time as one of the most dynamic to have lived in the White House. Almost two years have passed since Donald J. Trump took office and the where the United States is headed seems at times uncertain.  There exist a political climate built on division and hate, which will require many years ahead for healing and understanding. As the first Black-American woman to be a First Lady, she has unique perspective on Washington, D.C., and the country she calls home.  Her views and life story are presented here in this phenomenal autobiography of the life of Michelle Robinson who went on to become Mrs. Barack Obama.

As I purchased this book, I satisfied a growing curiosity about the story the former First Lady.  As an American citizen at times dismayed, but I believed that the book could take me back to time in which a sense of normalcy was found at the highest levels of government.  Not only was I completely engulfed in the book, having read it in three days, but it reminded me that it was less than two years ago that the Obamas were in the White House and America seemed to be moving forward in the right direction.  Today it seems like an eternity has passed and only time will tell who will occupy the oval office next.  But this is Michelle’s story and to understand the former First Lady, it is necessary to hear her story as a young girl from the South Side of Chicago who commits to hard work, dedication and supporting the presidential campaign of one of America’s most popular political figures.  In many ways, her story is the epitome of the American Dream supplemented by the added variable of her being a Black-American.

On January 17, 1964, Fraser and Marian Robinson welcomed Michelle LaVaughn Robinson into the world, but I do not believe anyone could have imagined then, the heights she would reach in less than fifty years on earth.  As the product of a hard-working blue-collar home, her story reminded me of my own upbringing.  My father worked for General Electric and my mother for what is now J.P. Morgan Chase.  Both are retired now and I am fortunate to have both of them present each day.   In my neighborhood of East New York, diversity was lacking after New York City endured its own “white flight” to the suburbs.  Over time East New York became one of the worst ghettos in the country with a murder rate that was astronomical.  But our parents and extended family members refused to let my brother and I slack on anything.  And just like Michelle’s grandfather, affectionately called “Southside”,  we had my grandparents and great-parents there to remind us the importance of an education in life.

From the start, the story is seductive as the reader becomes eager to learn about the life of the former First Lady.   Her teen and college years are pretty typical for most young ladies and after graduation from Princeton, she earns a position at the law firm of Sidley Austin, LLP, where fate intervened and she met the man who would change her life forever. It is at this part of the book that the story kicks into high gear and the ride never lets up.  To say that her story is incredible is an understatement.  But what makes it even more special is her humbleness and firm grip on reality.  While I read the book, I never detected any sense of arrogance or entitlement nor was it her chance to brag about herself.   She never loses touch with the fact that at the core, she is still the same Michelle Robinson from the South Side of Chicago., only now older and wiser. Her time as the First Lady has left her with a veteran’s seasoned view of Washington, politics and life.

Some readers might be wondering where Barack Obama fits in to the story.   After their initial courtship, he is as integral to the story as one could imagine.  In fact, it would have been virtually impossible to separate their stories for obvious reasons.  His decision to enter politics was the point at which their lives forever changed in ways they could have never imagined.  And as he ascends to higher office before winning the 2008 Presidential Election, we are given a rare inside view of what was transpiring behind the scenes in his campaign and the changes that took place in the lives of the Obamas.  Following his inauguration in January, 2009, the young couple were placed into an entirely new world in which learning is always constant and surprise around the corner.   And although the focus is always on “Mr. President’ ,  her story is equally interesting even as she settles in to the role of the First Lady while trying to be a good mother, friend, daughter and sister.

There are many highs in the book and also some lows,  but throughout, her story remains inspiring and I recommend that every woman and young woman read this book.  Her story is yet another example that women that achieve great things in this world regardless of what any misogynist may think.  This is a former First Lady of the United States, who personifies class, intelligence and many other things that young women all over the world can aspire to achieve.

ASIN: B079ZYWJJ8
ISBN-10: 0525633758
ISBN-13: 978-0525633754