Once again, astonishingly, I am penning paeans of praise for our former president, Barack Obama.
Obama made last-ditch attempts to unify a sharply divided country.
Given the divisive nature of his past performance, who’d have thought that he was secretly a uniter instead of a divider?
Like, who knew?
For instance, he recently directed that our country abstain from a United Nations vote condemning Israeli settlement construction, knowing full well that this dictate would be unpopular with many of us.
This action, in one fell swoop, brought normally disparate persona such as Democrat Chuck Schumer and Republican Paul Ryan onto the same page — nearly an unthinkable feat.
In fact, he singlehandedly brought 342 House members together in a bipartisan effort to condemn this shameful insult to our staunch ally and the only democracy in the Middle East — what a selfless leader.
Another example is the freeing of Army Sgt. Bradley — now Chelsea — Manning, who was imprisoned for leaking classified information that I believe may have put American lives at risk.
Again, Obama knowingly took an unpopular position.
This self-sacrificing act brought Democratic Sen. Robert Menendez and Republican Sen. John McCain — two politicians who would normally hold distinctly opposing views — together in jointly criticizing Obama.
Wow, talk about leadership.
In recognition of his leadership and his willingness to place the welfare of the country ahead of his popularity, I have no option other than to salute him. And, when rendering the salute, I will, this time, use all of my fingers.
Dick Pilling,
Port Angeles
EDITOR’S NOTE: Pilling is a former Clallam County Republican Party chairman.