I'd like to take a moment to send good thoughts and prayers to the Obama family as they deal with the serious illness of Barack's grandmother, Madelyn Dunham.
As has been well documented, Barack's grandmother was one of the most stable and important influences on Barack's young life. This summer, while reading Dreams From My Father, I was moved the closeness of their relationship and the sacrifices she made to give her grandson opportunties he might not have otherwise had.
In case you're not yet aware, Barack is leaving the campaign trail for two days, with less than 14 days left in the campaign, to fly to Hawaii and be with her. I pray, for his sake, that she can hang on until November 5th so she see can her grandson win election as the first African-American President of the United States. I can't imagine losing my own grandmother during such an emotionally and physically exhausting time in my life.
On a Fox News website, unsurprisingly, commenters have already taken the opportunity to tear into Obama for taking time out to deal with a family crisis. That's shameful. Despite my strong distate for both John McCain and Sarah Palin, as a human being, I would feel some compassion if either of them had a family emergency such as this.
Barack should take this time to go to his grandmother's bedside and to me, this makes him a better candidate. My thoughts and prayers are with him and his family during this difficult time.
Update 10/21/08 12:15pm: For more on Obama's grandmother, click here. Click here for a slideshow on Huffington Post of Madelyn Dunham.
And here's the Obama ad from April 2008 that featured the entire Obama family, including Barack's grandmother.
I could not agree more. I'll wager the right wing hate mongers will make fun of him for going to be with her and like most everything else they have done this election year, it will back fire on them.
ReplyDeleteI have been sending my good thoughts and prayers.
ReplyDeleteAnd like you, I am disgusted by the negativity, at a time like this, from the ugliest parts of the right.
Deep sigh.
I agree with both of you. It says a lot about Barack's character that he can say, with 14 days left in this campaign, that sometimes there are more important things than work. Family is more important than work and it's a great example to us all.
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely agree - it is not like he is taking a break from telling us how his is going to fix the economy to get interviewed by Katie Couric. :) Sorry, the devil made me say it!
ReplyDeletePrayers to the Obama's and all with ill family members.