There are many of my friends who are rejoicing at the results of this election and many of my friends who are afraid and hurting. It’s time for something a bit lighter and fun. And we can all agree to pray for our new President and our country- together.

This meme is a way to think about what is true and/or funny (or… be free to be creative…) about the man who will be our next President. I saw it on this site and thought it was funny and thought provoking. The task is simply to list 44 things about our 44th President. (We are also supposed to tag 4 other bloggers to do it as well. Hmmmm…)

For my part, after what seemed like decades of campaigning to impress enough voters with lush and gilded fig leaves (see my previous post for what that means) I believe that there are plenty of true and substantive qualities to be found underneath all the hype. (Caveat: There are a few ideas that I blatantly and unapologetically stole from Rick because I liked them.)

So here’s my list:

  1. Barack Obama is a great and funny name (blatantly lifted from Rick’s list). But it is!
  2. We can make cool songs and rhymes with his name – Obama-llama-duck, and Gobama, yomama.
  3. He is not the anti-Christ.
  4. He’s younger than me. That freaks me out a bit – not about him, but me!
  5. His words often echo Jesus’ words – how we need to look at our own evil- not just those out there, how we are to trust God for provision and not hoard it, etc.
  6. The fact that he’s the first black president is far more important than many of us can fully know. Pastor Rufus Smith, a black conservative pastor in Houston says that “a national curse has been broken.”
  7. Not only that, but he carries diversity within himself (half black, half white) which is much more representative of our nation and world today.
  8. He is good to his grandmas.
  9. He is not threatened by having a smart, beautiful and strong wife who is her own person.
  10. He is not afraid to show affection to his wife and daughters.
  11. He’s a little bit nerdy which empowers all of us nerds.
  12. He didn’t disown anyone to be popular, not his Muslim father nor his white grandparents. He did disown Jeremiah Wright’s racism, but not his friendship.
  13. He is able to laugh at himself.
  14. He’s also a bit uptight which makes me want to put a whoopee cushion on his chair or give him a noogie which I would expect the Secret Service to frown upon.
  15. He understood how difficult campaigning would be on his kids so he gave them the promise of a puppy. And he’s keeping his promise.
  16. He caused lots of people on Facebook to temporarily change their middle names to Hussein to make a point about prejudice.
  17. Colin Powell, who himself is a man of extreme coolness, endorsed him.
  18. He reminded the world about what is really good about America.
  19. Much of the world rejoiced at his election.
  20. The world likes us again.
  21. He has almost the same logo as Oprah. A big “O” :-)
  22. Oprah endorsed him but he didn’t take advantage of the Hollywood celebrity thing.
  23. He likes dogs. Extra points for being an animal lover.
  24. He is the President-elect of Awesome. (this was added by my daughter.)
  25. He can leap tall buildings in a single bound – but I admit I have not verified this fact.
  26. He is really good at basketball.
  27. He has brought some healing to this nation. Pastor Rufus says, “Whether you agree with the election results or not, on Tuesday something happened in the minds and hearts of a significant percentage of African Americans in your cities, towns and churches.”
  28. He uses unifying language.
  29. He must be arrogant to have gotten as far as he has at such a young age, and arrogance is usually a turn-off for me, but he’s very likeable.
  30. He has the audacity to hope. And we are discovering that true hope does require audacious leaps of faith.
  31. He is actually our first Hawaiian President! (audaciously stolen from both Steven Colbert and Rick.)
  32. It was my son’s first election to vote in ever, and he voted for Obama. This generation is finding something to believe in.
  33. He understands the difference between postmodernism and postmodernity.
  34. He understands how the postmodern generation(s) thinks and what is important to them, and not only that, he sees their strengths. (see Rick’s list for more about how postmoderns think, numbers 3-16.)
  35. He has experienced being both poor and rich, and what it is like to be the excluded “other”.
  36. He values dialogue and bridge building.
  37. He admitted inhaling when he was younger.
  38. He is well-spoken and quotable. Be honest – we haven’t had that in a President in a while.
  39. He will draw attention to areas of the world that need attention (such as Africa) that don’t have oil as a leverage.
  40. He is reminding us that we do indeed have the courage to change.
  41. He helped America triumph over fear.
  42. He has pierced through my political cynicism, which is no small thing.
  43. In his first speech after becoming President-elect, he could have whipped the crowd into a frenzy but instead he was able to remind them of the gravity of the problems that America faces, without deflating their hope.
  44. He has class. Class is something that even my staunchly Republican father admires.

Ok, I tag Amy, Jenny, Becky and Kathy.