So your politics have evolved since high school, you’ve become disillusioned with the Democratic Party, and you realize there’s never been a “good” Commander in Chief. This awareness is necessary, but also fraught for those who went from childhood to sexual maturation during Barack Obama’s administration. Here are some tools to help you form a detached and rational critique of 44 even though you came of age sexually during his second term.
Focus on the facts.
Barack Obama deported more people than any other US president. He concealed Bush’s war crimes, and he sanctioned drone attacks that killed civilians. The fact that he was the first handsome president since JFK whose silky smooth oration served as the cultural soundscape for your sexual awakening is totally irrelevant. You would have figured out masturbation regardless of who the POTUS was, so try to separate the two as much as possible.
Do your own research.
If Obama’s vague but well packaged messages of change and hope washed over you in elementary school or junior high, then remained as a steadily unexamined backdrop during his second term, in which you explored your sexuality and body alone and/or with another horny Obama-era teen, then it might be time to hold this political epoch under a harsher light. Do your own research to learn what the fuck was actually going on while you sent flirty Snapchats to your crush as you both watched the State of the Union as US Government homework.
Forgive yourself.
An important but under-acknowledged step in forming a detached leftist critique of Obama is forgiving yourself for the fact that you were a hormonal teen during his second term, and he really knew how to wear a suit. It doesn’t make him a good man, it doesn’t make you a lib, it’s just the truth. Yes We Can (evolve our opinions over the course of our lives while acknowledging the role emotional factors play in constructing our worldview)!
You’re a grown adult who stans no politician, so use these tips to critically understand Obama’s legacy despite the fact that you lost your virginity under a HOPE poster. Oh my god, did you? Okay, you may have more unpacking to do than we can help you with. Good luck!
