{"id":853,"date":"2026-06-06T13:07:47","date_gmt":"2026-06-06T13:07:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/interstatelogisticshubs.com\/?p=853"},"modified":"2026-06-06T13:07:47","modified_gmt":"2026-06-06T13:07:47","slug":"the-obama-library-that-isnt-isnt-drawing-rave-reviews","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/interstatelogisticshubs.com\/?p=853","title":{"rendered":"The Obama library that isn’t, isn’t drawing rave reviews"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Reportedly, Barack Obama\u2014is there no end to his god-like talents?\u2014all but designed every inch of his library, which isn\u2019t really a library, himself.\u00a0\u00a0It\u2019s actually called the \u201cObama Presidential Center.\u201d How could we expect less of \u201cThe Lightbringer,\u201d \u201cThe One?\u201d<\/p>

Read more New SPLC revelations are even worse<\/a><\/p>\n

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\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/p>\n

Graphic: X Post<\/p>\n

The oddly shaped monolith has been controversial from the start. DEI hiring led to labor confrontations and construction faults that delayed the project and increased the cost of the building and surrounding complex to $850 million, and public condemnation of the design has been near-universal. One would expect The Guardian, a left-wing publication, to be complimentary. It\u2019s not, and when you\u2019ve lost the Guardian\u2026\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Guardian notes it was FDR who began the tradition of presidential libraries in 1940. Since then, every POTUS has tried to outdo the others in size and expense, a tradition that will likely be interrupted with Joe Biden. The grandly titled Biden Library Foundation\u00a0has admitted it expects to raise only about $11.3 million of its $200 million goal by 2027. Perhaps Obama was hoping to overshadow the eventual library of the man who has done so much to undo the damage he caused? If so, trying to outdo Donald Trump will be a fools\u2019 errand.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Guardian\u2019s tone is evident early in its article:<\/p>\n

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\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/p>\n

Graphic: X Post<\/p>\n

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Above us, sheer walls of granite erupt from the ground at a steep angle, before tapering to form a chiselled 70-metre-high monolith. It looks hewn and cleft, towering over the 19-acre campus like a stocky, truncated obelisk. Rising above the low-rise, low-income neighbourhood, the building has an ominous presence, its mostly windowless heft recalling a menacing sci-fi headquarters, with small chamfered openings suggesting portals from where drones might be launched, or lasers fired. Some have compared it to a flak tower,\u00a0others to a \u201cKlingon prison\u201d. If it is a beacon of hope, it seems to be one that has been fortified at all costs against the present regime, a defensive bunker to protect its fragile values from siege.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

K\u2019plah! Fortunately, for hordes of worshipful patrons, plastic models of the edifice will be available in the gift center for a mere $40 dollars.<\/p>\n

Chicago locals aren\u2019t impressed with the confusing text wrapped around the top levels of the building:<\/p>\n

\n

The lines, from his speech commemorating the 50th anniversary of the marches from Selma to Montgomery, now form a\u00a0sun-shading screen at the top of the tower\u2019s south-west corner. \u201cYOU ARE AMERICA,\u201d you can just about make out, before the words dissolve into an illegible sea of letters. \u201cI don\u2019t know why it\u2019s in Latin,\u201d one confused local resident told me.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

I\u2019m sure this is true:<\/p>\n

\n

At some points, the Obamamania gets a bit much \u2013 there is even an Obama tulip variety in the garden, a gift from the Dutch.\u00a0Numerous art commissions\u00a0help to relieve the pervasive greyness, from Mark Bradford\u2019s riotous map of Chicago in the atrium, to Julie Mehretu\u2019s colourful stained glass window, which beams out from the northern facade at night.<\/p>

Read more The monstrous policies and legacy of Barack Obama<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The Guardian isn\u2019t particularly impressed with the \u201cSky Room:\u201d<\/p>\n

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An elevator finally whisks you past a private presidential suite to the \u201csky room\u201d at the tower\u2019s summit, where panoramic windows frame the city, beneath a momentous white pyramid-shaped ceiling \u2013 the pharaonic chamber at last! It was intended to have a celestial quality, with\u00a0blue words by artist Idris Khan tumbling from the sky. But, in a major blunder, the pyramid doesn\u2019t culminate in a skylight, but a solid white plasterboard ceiling \u2013 perhaps an unintended metaphor for barriers that must still be overcome.<\/p>\n

From this elevated eyrie, looking out through the big concrete letters, you get a good sense of how the Obama centre fits into the neighbourhood, and why it has been quite so controversial. Down below stretches Jackson Park, laid out in 1871 by Frederick Law Olmsted, designer of New York\u2019s Central Park, part of which was ceded for the presidential complex. The decision to build on a public park\u00a0sparked furious lawsuits, but the foundation insists that the project has resulted in more parkland and more trees, thanks to the removal of a road. Still, the symbolic land-grab struck a nerve, when there are so many vacant lots nearby.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Perhaps that vacancy is symbolic of Obama\u2019s presidency and Obama himself? Google \u201cObama halo\u201d and one finds innumerable photos of Obama in divine poses replete with halos. Drooled over for his \u201csoaring rhetoric,\u201d virtually no one can recall anything he said\u2014thus the letters?–and The Affordable Care Act\u2014Obamacare\u2014quickly turned out to be anything but.<\/p>\n

He clearly wanted something that said: \u201clook upon me ye mighty and despair,\u201d something that could not be ignored because it jars the eye and sensibilities of unsuspecting viewers. In that, he has succeeded, but I suspect Americans will be able to stay away in droves. Even the Guardian, it seems, has had quite enough of Barack Obama, as Americans have had enough of both Obamas.\u00a0<\/p>\n

How can we miss them, in their post-presidential years, if they won\u2019t go away?<\/p>\n

Become a subscriber and get our weekly Friday newsletter with unique content from our editors.\u00a0These essays alone are worth\u00a0<\/em>the cost of the subscription.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Mike McDaniel is a USAF veteran, classically trained musician, Japanese and European fencer, lifelong athlete, firearm instructor, retired police officer, and high school and college English teacher. He is a published author and blogger. His home blog is<\/em>\u00a0Stately McDaniel Manor.<\/em>\u00a0<\/p>

Read more CBS cruelly fires heroic combat veteran<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Reportedly, Barack Obama\u2014is there no end to his god-like talents?\u2014all but designed every inch of his library, which isn\u2019t really a library, himself.\u00a0\u00a0It\u2019s actually called the \u201cObama Presidential Center.\u201d How could we expect less of \u201cThe Lightbringer,\u201d \u201cThe One?\u201d Read more New SPLC revelations are even worse Graphic: X Post The oddly shaped monolith has […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":850,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[402,2],"tags":[403],"class_list":["post-853","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-obama-presidential-center","category-politics","tag-related-topics-obama-presidential-center"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Obama library that isn't, isn't drawing rave reviews - Interstate Logistics Hub<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/interstatelogisticshubs.com\/?p=853\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Obama library that isn't, isn't drawing rave reviews - 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