The Audacity of Hope, by Barak Obama. Book quotes [and Opinions]

President Obama describes the “denial, anger, bargaining, despair” of meeting his limits early in his journey into politics. [Transcending limits is the natural outcome of wrestling honorably with those honest emotions.] He acknowledges being “angry about policies that consistently favor the wealthy and powerful over average Americans.” [When anger is as well-handled as it appears to be in Mr. Obama’s hands, it is THE precision tool of change.] He cites how in recent years Democrats have felt increasing drive to “match the Republican right in stridency and hardball tactics” and points also to the national pastime of maligning our politicians and  politics…and then counters those perceptions with the observation that voters consistently like their own politicians…because most politicians are “pretty likeable folks…intelligent thoughtful and hard-working.” [In fact, all of daily life is “political.” When you refrain from saying something, you have judged it “impolitic.” When you strive not to offend in speaking, you are “polite.” Whenever we rail at someone distant from ourselves, we are mostly displacing our anger onto a “safer” target than difficult issues in our own lives. So examine your own “denial, anger, bargaining, despair” closely, and honorably, and your anger, to get the direction you need to make healthy change in the politics of your own life.]

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