By Judi McLeod ——Bio and Archives--September 2, 2015
Cover Story | CFP Comments | Reader Friendly | Subscribe | Email Us
“The prospector had another idea: name the peak after a Republican from Ohio who was running for president on a platform that included linking American currency to the value of gold. “His name was William McKinley. “The future president had never been to Alaska, and never would go. But the name somehow stuck. “That is how America's tallest peak became Mount McKinley. And after all these years, the flimsy historical connection between man and mountain has officially unraveled. “On Sunday, Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell signed an order renaming the mountain Denali. "The mountain was originally named after President William McKinley of Ohio, but President McKinley never visited, nor did he have any significant historical connection to, the mountain or to Alaska," Jewell wrote. “President Barack Obama, about to embark on a trip to Alaska to urge action against global warming, supported the move. “The only voluble recent opposition to the renaming came, predictably, from Ohio Republicans. They said Obama was insulting the work of the 25th president, who was assassinated in 1901, a couple of months into his second term. “But even McKinley scholars admit that naming a mountain in Alaska after him was kind of ridiculous."The president, it could be said could already see Denali from the White House. For the first time in, lo, seven long years, there were no pictures of Obama slurping a shaved ice sent out from Martha’s Vineyard this time. The picture that grabbed most attention this vacation was a bored looking Malia on a family bicycle outing. It’s been some time since the fashion media has raved on about Michelle Obama’s latest attention-grabbing get-up and not since 2009 that she’s been photographed preening over her pearls. True, school children will return to skimpy, non-nourishing lunches next week, but their mothers will likely fuel them up with big breakfasts before getting them off in the morning. Stingy Michelle lunches are kind of old hat now. Michelle will go down in history everywhere but in the Obama Presidential Library as the first president’s wife whose overbearing nutrition legacy kept school children hungry. Sure, folk can still find zillions of iconic Obama pictures online, such as the one of Michelle climbing out of the limo dropping her off to the runway of Air force 1. The photo where she’s sporting shorts, running shoes and the pulled back hair that made her look like anything other than a First Lady; or the one of Barack riding what appeared to be that “girly” bike. But now those pictures have to be looked up instead of them being perpetually in your face. Best of all: The clock on the Kardashian-style Obama family is ticking away towards their imminent departure from the White House, even with imminent hypocrisies already on the way. Many folk are bracing themselves for the sermonizing bound to come when Obama-booster Pope Francis is addressing Congress and touting Global Warming at the U.N., later this month. But when will the pontiff come this way again? The groupies and selfies who dominate the celebrity industry will soon return to Kim Kardashian, to Bruce “I am Caitlyn” Jenner, and the longer running than Papal visit reality TV shows. Beyond all the hoopla the time is coming when people will preface their anecdotes... “When Obama was president”... Millions are waiting to tell the Obamas in that not-so-long-ahead day in January 2017, “Get out of our White House. Take Valerie Jarrett with you and don’t let the door bump your cabooses on the way out.” Thank You, Donald Trump, for forcing the in-your-face Obamas into the back seat of the mainstream media-led Public Relations vehicle. Long live the AD era.
View Comments