Ali ibn Abi-Talib, the seventh-century figure central to Shiite Islam, is said to have predicted when the world will end, columnist Amir Taheri points out. A "tall black man" commanding "the strongest army on earth" will take power "in the west." He will carry "a clear sign" from the third imam, Hussein. Ali says of the tall black man: "Shiites should have no doubt that he is with us."
Barack Hussein in Arabic means "the blessing of Hussein." In Persian, Obama translates as "He [is] with us." Thus does the name of the presumptive American president-elect, when combined with his physical attributes and geography, suggest that the End of Times is nigh – precisely what Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has been predicting.
It is sort of interesting that "Barack" supposedly means "blessing," like Benedict, and Obama means "he is with us" while Emanuel means "God with us." But that's a little too Nostradamus to me, especially since I put no stock in Shi-ite prophets.
If Obama is the twelfth imam sent to destroy us, God has sent an immensely likable Agent of his Almighty Wrath. Did you catch his interview on 60 Minutes last night? We tuned in late, after the policy questions, so if he mentioned rounding up us Catholics and sending us to the gulag I missed that part. But he and Michele are just so cute together. Their discussion of what it is to be parents and defense, particularly, of Michele's putting motherhood first, was utterly wholesome. I really liked his description of his girls --none of the usual they're so smart and gifted and I learn from them smarmy stuff (remember Jimmy Carter talking about nuclear policy with Amy? Gag me). He described them as unspoiled:
One of the great joys of this campaign is the seeing how the girls have adjusted to this thing. They have stayed their normal, cheerful, happy, courteous, curious selves. And that was one of my biggest worries. And remains one of my biggest worries. You know, when we think about, I know Michelle and I have talked about this a lot. How do we just maintain that precious normalcy in our two girls? And, you know, 'cause right now they're not self-conscious. They're. you know, they don't have an attitude.Bravo! Here's the portion on putting the girls first --with a nice allusion to Sarah Palin, by the way. They're asked about the First Lady role:
Mr. Obama: I think Michelle is gonna design her own role. I think she's gonna set her own path. But I here's one thing I know about Michelle she's serious when she talks about being a mom. That's why our girls are so wonderful. I'd love to take credit for it. But this is the one who deserves most of the credit. And…
Michelle Obama: Well, the thing we've learned, you know, as we've watched this campaign, is that people, women, are capable of doing more than one thing well at the same time. And I've, you know, had to juggle being mom in chief and having a career for a long time. The primary focus for the first year will be making sure that the kids make it through the transition. But there are many issues that I care deeply about. I care about military families and the work/family balance issue. I care about education. I, both Barack and I, believe that we can have an impact in the D.C. area. You know, in terms of making sure we're contributing to the community that we immediately live in. That's always been something that we try to do. Whether it's in our own neighborhoods or in the schools that we've attended. So there's plenty to do.
That's nice --the idea of helping locally. It strikes me they are probably sincere about trying to help people wherever they are. If only they were attached to policies that actually help.
Update: Doing it for the healing? I am starting to really respect Michelle.
Barack, Michelle and eight others were in Axelrod’s office in downtown Chicago. If Barack was going to run, he had to decide quickly, a point the group made by laying out primary schedules and game plans for fund-raising and building an organization. Insights were offered from around the room.It was Michelle, Axelrod remembers, who stopped the show. “You need to ask yourself, Why do you want to do this?” she said directly. “What are hoping to uniquely accomplish, Barack?”
Obama sat quietly for a moment, and everyone waited. “This I know: When I raise my hand and take that oath of office, I think the world will look at us differently,” he said. “And millions of kids across this country will look at themselves differently.”
If that's all he's after, he can put on the Mission Accomplished flak jacket right now. It gives legs to the extraordinarily weak presidency computer model.
