Obama says 'yes we did' in emotive farewell address

Yahoo – AFP, Andrew Beatty, January 11, 2017

Capping his eight years in office, US President Barack Obama returned to his
adoptive hometown of Chicago to recast his "yes we can" campaign credo
as "yes we did" (AFP Photo/Joshua LOTT)

Chicago (AFP) - Barack Obama addressed America and the world for the last time as US president Tuesday, in a speech that was both a tearful goodbye and a call to arms.

Capping eight years in the White House, Obama returned to his adopted hometown of Chicago to recast his "yes we can" campaign credo as "yes we did."

Surveying the staging posts of his presidency -- from the Iran nuclear deal to reforming healthcare -- the speech sought to lift supporters shaken by Donald Trump's shock election.

Obama urged them to pick up the torch, fight for democracy and forge a new, fairer, "social compact."

"For all our outward differences, we are all in this together," he said, warning that naked partisanship, racism, and inequality all threaten democracy. "We rise or fall as one."

"All of us, regardless of party, should throw ourselves into the task of rebuilding our democratic institutions."

The incoming Republican president has smashed convention, vowed to efface Obama's legacy and hurled personal insults left and right, while in a virtually unprecedented move US intelligence has accused the Kremlin of seeking to tip the election in Trump's favor.

Democrats, cast into the political wilderness with the loss of the White House, the Senate and the House of Representatives plus a majority of statehouses, are struggling to regroup.

Obama painted the task ahead as a generational challenge.

US President Barack Obama paid tribute to First Lady Michelle Obama (C) 

and addressed his daughters, praising the "two amazing young women" they 

had become (AFP Photo/Joshua LOTT)

Emotional finale

"A faith in reason and enterprise and the primacy of right over might," he said, had allowed the United States to "resist the lure of fascism and tyranny during the Great Depression, and build a post-World War II order with other democracies."

"That order is now being challenged," said Obama in comments that resonate as Americans ponder whether Russia helped to put Trump in the White House.

"First by violent fanatics who claim to speak for Islam; more recently by autocrats in foreign capitals who see free markets, open democracies, and civil society itself as a threat to their power."

"The peril each poses to our democracy is more far-reaching than a car bomb or a missile. "

Obama's last trip on Air Force One was a pilgrimage to Chicago, where he addressed a sell-out crowd of some 18,000 not far from where he delivered his victory speech eight years ago.

Diehard fans -- many African Americans -- braved Chicago's frigid winter to collect free tickets, which were selling for upwards of $1,000 a piece on Craigslist.

They were joined by First Lady Michelle Obama, Vice President Joe Biden and his wife Jill -- who the president described as "family" in an emotional finale to his speech.

Wiping a tear from his eye, Obama paid a poignant tribute to his own family, his daughter Malia who was present and Sasha who stayed in Washington because of an exam, and the first lady who he addressed as his best friend.

"You took on a role you didn't ask for and made it your own with grace and grit and style and good humor," he said. "A new generation sets its sights higher because it has you as a role model. You've made me proud. You've made the country proud."

Obama also acknowledged that his historic presidency was not a panacea for the country's racist past.

"After my election, there was talk of a post-racial America," he said. "Such a vision, however well-intended, was never realistic. Race remains a potent and often divisive force in our society."

Then Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama addresses supporters

 during his election night rally at Grant Park in Chicago, Illinois, on November 5, 

2008 (AFP Photo/Jewel Samad)

Life after White House

With an approval rating hovering around 55 percent, according to a Quinnipiac University poll, Obama still carries considerable political weight.

Some 51 percent of Americans polled believe that Trump is doing a bad job as president-elect.

Trump's unorthodox politics have thrown the 55-year-old Obama's transition and post-presidency plans into flux.

Having vowed a smooth handover of power, Obama has found himself being increasingly critical of Trump as he prepares to leave office on January 20.

After that there will still be a holiday and an autobiography, but Obama could find himself dragged backed into the political fray if Trump were to enact a Muslim registry or deport adults brought to the United States years ago by their parents.

Having vowed to take a backseat in politics, Obama's second act could yet be as politically engaged as Jimmy Carter -- whose post-presidency remade his image as an elder statesman.

Many Obama aides who had planned exotic holidays or coffer-replenishing forays into the private sector are also reassessing their future and mulling a return to the political trenches.

Obama's foundation is already gearing up for a quasi-political role -- funneling idealistic youngsters into public life.

Many aides were in the crowd, having flown into Chicago for celebratory parties.

Supporters who had earlier shouted "Four more years! Four more years!" -- lingered in the hall until long after Obama had left.

Obama tears up during tribute to Michelle, daughters pic.twitter.com/bjGMyrk52h

— AFP news agency (@AFP) January 11, 2017

President Barack Obama surprises Vice President Joe Biden with Presidential Medal of Freedom https://t.co/mM7CZxL02e pic.twitter.com/raVj6yAveg

— AFP news agency (@AFP) January 12, 2017

"Wild Cards" (3) - Nov 19 - 20, 2016 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll)- (Text version) - New

"".... The Wild Card of 2016

Remember: No emotion now. You have come from another planet and you’re looking at the end of 2016 – and there is the election. Understand without bias.

So for 2016, let’s do the numerology. You add the numbers and get nine. Nine is completion in simple numerology, and when you see a nine it often means the completion of something. Often it is of a time cycle, an energy or the completion of a paradigm. But it’s very strong.

The nines are stronger than many of the other numerological aspects and you feel them. The president-elect (at this writing) is a strong wild card. He is scheduled to become the 45th president. What a coincidence! Forty-five is a nine. A nine and a nine together are more than significant. They tell a story about what is happening. I will tell you something else. This story is not finished yet and there is more coming. You don’t know what you don’t know, so don’t make up your mind in advance about any outcomes. You’re from another planet, remember? There’s no emotion, no bias, no politics and nothing to judge. Look at it for what it is.

A big stick has just been inserted into what is normal and it’s going to be turned. As the big stick turns, other things will respond that never would have responded otherwise. I wish to tell you, dear one, old soul, relax with upcoming wild cards. They do what they do on purpose so that you will have a better civilization in the future. Sometimes they show you what won’t work, and sometimes they change paradigms that would have never changed otherwise. But what you have now is a profound wild card. That is the message.

It’s so common for you to respond certain ways when you are invested in the process. The knee-jerk reaction is expected or you wouldn’t be a Human. However, for this lesson, you’re from another planet and you’re looking down and you’re seeing it. Pretend.

Isn’t that interesting about a nine and a nine together? It means that truly the end of something is here. Perhaps it’s the end of the old way things were done? Perhaps it’s a shake-up of the system so it can correct itself? Don’t dare make up your mind where it’s going, because it’s not finished yet. However, wait a moment. Did you also realize that 2017 is a “one” year? Not only is the energy one of completion with a double nine, but it moves into “a new beginning” (the definition of a one in numerology).

I have more to tell you about numerology, and also something that will be clearer about this whole situation. I will give this to you in the next channelling.

Can you relax in the face of uncertainty when it’s your own country? Can you relax in the face of not knowing what’s next? When you’re so involved, can you disengage from either side of the fray? That is the test of a Lightworker.

There’s something else coming. Dear ones, this is beautiful. No matter what you think and no matter what your reaction is to this channelling, what is happening is correct for your time and needed for your immediate future. I will speak of this later. The beauty is when you step away and see how grand it is, that Spirit cares enough that it would allow a big stick to occur that would stir your complacency at this time. The real reason? The shift is here.

How do you feel? I want you to relax and smile at what the shift has brought you. For those of you who felt all the “shift talk” was nonsense, this may be your wake-up call. It’s real. Here it comes.

This is the message of the day. I am Kryon, in love with humanity, and for good reason.

And so it is.

KRYON