Adonis Diaries

Michelle and Barack Obama; (Jan. 26, 2010)

            The journalist Peter Nicolas of the Los Angeles Times followed Barack Obama on the Presidential campaign trails and wrote: “I cannot say with any certainty who is Obama.”  Law professor Mark Sawyer who once attended Obama’s law classes said: “Barack is how you see he is.  Barack is enigmatic in his positions, brilliant, able to defend the positions of opponents, and he is distant (as if called somewhere else).”

            Barack planned for his presidency since 2002, even before being elected Senator to Illinois: Anthony Lake (Bill Clinton’s National Security advisor) aided Barack forming his “diplomatic team”.  Obama knew in the minute details George W. Bush 2004 campaign. Obama has no need to prove (like Clinton) that he is the smartest among his team members and counselors: he has the capacity to dominate without provoking.  The few instances of weariness are results of experts expounding indefinitely on issues Barack knows about.

            A young lady wrote an article saying “we are fed up of drama”.  Obama picked up the message for his slogan “Obama- No drama” and then the next slogan “Changes we can believe in”.  Obama said on CBS: “I tolerate no ego trips in the team for personal promotions.  I tolerate no back stabbing to go ahead.  A few warnings and then you are out of the team”.  With Obama the crux of the matter is “Problems are complex: There is no unique resolution.”  Obama is very conscious that he is a public figure and thus, “What I say or do is what I mean”.

            Michelle Robinson Obama was a successful lawyer and a Harvard graduate when she married Barack in 1992.  Michelle focused her energy, as recommended by the campaign advisors, submitting to interviews for family magazines.  Mark Sawyer stated “People were not yet ready to admit that highly educated black women have potentials to make any difference in society: they are accepted as assistants and dedicated to family.”  Michelle is fundamentally a sarcastic person and skeptical that black personalities are taken seriously: she frightens audience when she looks serious.

            Michelle’s brother Craig was basketball star in Princeton when she applied and admitted in 1981.  Her sociology thesis was on how black students integrated in white socio-cultural structure and how blacks ended up feeling alienated of their community of origin after graduation.  The skeptical tone of her thesis was that Michelle felt that she will always be relegated to the peripheries of the successful elites.

            In 1989, Michelle was a lawyer at a firm and she was asked to take care of new recruit from Harvard.  She and barrack had their first kiss at Baskin-Robins on 53^rd Street: they had first seen a Spike Lee movie.  Michelle quits private practice and joined Chicago’s Mayor Office. She was Vice-president of external relations at the university hospital in Chicago when Obama was elected Senator in 2004.  Michelle’s salary climbed from $121,000 to $317,000 in 2005.  The couple was living in a single family home worth $1.65 million: the two published books of Barack Obama were best sellers at the time.

            “Do you want to know how Barack prepares for debates? He spends a few minutes with me and Barack is set and ready” said Michelle.