Notes from the Obama household

I apologize for the silence here, we’ve had some poor sad idiot target the site with what Google calls malware (sounds like something out of Tolkein) that gave everyone’s computers the heebie jeebies when they tried to see the blog, so I thought it kindest to wait (and wait) until Google’s bots got around to checking us out. Should be fine now, thanks for asking.

In the meantime, we have had an explosion of satire on the nation’s news. No, this blog is not going to talk about the New Yorker cover, other than to say that I agree, some people at both ends of the political spectrum will, unfortunately, take it seriously.

But I do want to say something about the Obamas.

When you look at the various everyday aspects of a person’s life—be it food preparation, driving a car, handling finances, interacting with colleagues—you see that all those different activities tend to reflect the same personality. A man who doesn’t bother with ironing probably takes similar shortcuts in making his bed and keeping his checkbook; a woman who cooks a meal by scrupulously following every direction will tend to be as scrupulous in details of her daily job. A person who deceives at small things tends to be untrustworthy in the bigger things as well.

Politicians no less. So, I put before you two small everyday facts of life in the Obama household.

In an interview some months ago, Michelle Obama talked about how, while campaigning for her husband’s presidency, she would nonetheless fly home each and every night in time to put their children to bed.

And recently, in answer to an unscripted question about what he would say to young writers, Barack Obama talked about the need for writing skills, the fact that he keeps a journal, and how “Over the course of four years I made time to read all of the Harry Potter books out loud to my daughters. If I can do that and run for president, then you can find time to read to your kids. That’s some of the most special time you have with your children.”

A man and a woman who take the responsibility of raising children seriously just might do the same with the responsibility of running the country.