Obama Comes to Texas A&M

This week passed by fast, even though nothing really exciting happened except for probably the third round of tug-o'-war between hot, humid weather and another cool front since the start of autumn.

Oh, and the sitting president of the United States of America visited my school.

The cooler weather wasn't the only thing to arrive on Friday morning; today was finally the day everyone has been talking about for the past month. At the invitation of former President George H.W. Bush, President Barack Obama visited Texas A&M University to commend community service and volunteerism at a forum hosted by the Thousand Points of Light Institute founded by the former President Bush during his term.

When I initially learned about the president's visit to our campus, I had planned to attend the speech in Rudder Auditorium until I found out it was an invitation-only event, open to about 2,500 people. I wasn't too happy about the exclusivity of the event; after all, it seems pointless for a sitting president to visit a college campus if the students can't see him. But, actually, it may have worked out for the better this way, as I was free to wander about the activities taking place and enjoy the beautiful weather.

Almost forgetting to take my camera with me as I walked out the door this morning, I fortunately remembered to grab it just in time. Just across the street from where my fencing class is, some metal fences had been erected along the sidewalks near Rudder Tower, where the president would be speaking, and many news crews had already arrived.

(Click pictures for larger image)
I had received an email informing the campus that the security perimeter around Rudder Tower would be established at 11:00 AM, so I was curious about how I'd get back to the north side of campus after fencing, which ended at around 11:30. I came out of my building and overheard some girls talking about the event and ended up joining their conversation (that's one of the neat things about Texas A&M-- you can talk to almost anyone-- and one of the girls was actually in my French class). Anyway, while we were talking, the protesters' rally was getting set up in Spence Park across the street (although it was well out of the way of Rudder), and we saw a group of police on bikes arrive (which brought back memories of Paris for me particularly).

I was slightly annoyed that the rather brusque, outsider community personnel forced me (and several other people) to take a much longer detour around the campus to get to my French class. But it gave me a reason to go out of my way and see more of parts of the campus I hardly visit, not to mention see just how large of a barrier had been set up. Basically, the entire block that the Rudder Tower complex sits on was surrounded by metal fences and wherever a street led towards the building, several yellow-jacketed security personnel would ward away curious-- or oblivious-- pedestrians.

I was in classes until about 4:00, when the president was scheduled to deliver his speech. I had figured if I couldn't see it in person, I'd at least watch it via streaming, so I went to the nearby library and tried to do so, but the buffer stream was too slow, and what it did show was not the president, but a bunch of other people discussing community service at the forum. Out of boredom and curiosity (and the fact that the library was empty on a beautiful Friday afternoon), I decided to head back over to the park to see how the rally was coming along.

Ironically, I ran into the same girl from my French class waiting with a friend along the side of one of the roads (which would later be where the motorcade left the campus, but more about that later). Going across the street to the rally turned out to be a time-wasting diversion, but at least it was pleasant outside-- and there were dogs.

Personally, I can't stand most of President Obama's policies, but the rally was rather out of place today, as his presence on the campus was mainly to promote community service, not politics. Even though I myself am fairly conservative, I had intended to attend the president's speech anyway, and I felt, at the worst, embarrassed by the protesters and at best, bemused by their campaigning. Most of the content of the signs and speeches denounced big government, socialism, and Obamacare, all of which I can empathise with, but I wandered away from the gathering feeling bored, indifferent, and slightly annoyed (even though I thought these posters were amusing).

I ended up standing with my writer friend, Lauren, along the street and had an interesting, enlightening, and-- blessedly-- civil conversation with her about the whole affair. She's black and identifies herself as falling to the liberal end of the spectrum, though only moderately, just as I feel that I fall moderately to the right of the spectrum. But the most fortunate thing I learned is that we both agree that abortion is wrong (having no conservative shirts, I wore my 40 Days for Life t-shirt today, just in case Obama happened to see me).

Well, he just might have seen me, if only for a split second as the motorcade passed. More exciting, though, was that I actually saw him through the window of one of the black suburbans. I was pretty astonished, actually, because I had only just learned less than an hour before where to stand to see the cars pass and I thought it would be impossible to pick out which vehicle he was riding in. That's the whole point of having several identical vehicles in a line anyway, or so I thought. Still, I only just managed to realize that it was indeed him waving through the window of the third suburban (which, interestingly, passed on the far side of the road from where we were allowed to stand.)

Even though, like I said, I'm not a terrible supporter of ol' B. Hussein Obama, it was still exciting being that close to the sitting president and actually seeing him in person for the first time, although, honestly, I felt a little unsettled hearing the enthusiastic cheers of some of the people down the street. You'd think we were witnessing Jesus entering Jerusalem sitting on an ass. Well, the analogy can only stretch so far... Anyway, the closest I've probably been to a sitting president (no, not on an ass-- whether one conscripted by the state in the name of socialism or on his own-- or in a nondescript, black suburban, smart aleck) was when I was in Washington, D.C. several years ago and I saw the White House from a distance.

Long after the procession had passed, I made my way back to the library with Lauren, but on the way, I spied what could only have been the attendees of the forum all congregated around the entrance to Rudder, as well as the KVUE News van from Austin.

Later, I looked up some news articles about the event; I haven't yet had a chance to watch the entirety of the president's speech, but I'm not sure what I make of his remarks (here, taken from the Associated Press' report):

“While there’s plenty that government can and must do ... there’s a lot that government can’t and shouldn’t do and that’s where active, engaged citizens come in.”

Of course, in this instance, he was leading into a commendation, even a commissioning, one might daresay, of community service. But I think the president would do well to reflect upon his words here in light of his political agenda, as well.

After witnessing the pithy protest on campus today, then beholding Barack himself in person, then reading the (depressingly) volatile comments beneath any political news story, I come away from today not quite sure what I feel:

Disgust at the petty, emotional divisions that separate us as people blindly (and lazily) seek to identify with something larger than themselves instead of trying to be larger than any one political party, excitement at the prospect of seeing a sitting U.S. President and having the honor of the office on our campus, relief that it is still possible to find and discuss civilly with people who may not be exactly like you but share a common revulsion for extremism and willingness to work for what is good, and pride for my country and state as I see people actively engaged in the political life of their nation.

I may have felt a bit adrift, as I couldn't fully identify with either hysteric groups-- either the president's detractors or his groupies-- but I feel like I will remember this experience for a long time to come. And hey, at least they didn't throw eggs this time.