T.I.’s Open Letter To Obama Will Provide A Measure Of Hope

Barack Obama's exit has inspired some truly amazing writing. The best piece, obviously, is Ta-Nehisi Coates' doorbusting piece "My President Was Black". (The worst is our incoming President's Twitter feed, please do not @ me.) Now, T.I. (given name Tip Harris) has gotten into the game with this open letter to our departing President, published in The New York Times. And he's delivered a typically thoughtful response that also offers a measure of hope. "As you transition out of office, we continue to watch you carry out your final agenda with precision, integrity and purpose," Harris writes. "That is what we will remember as signature Obama." Harris nails one of the underrated thing about Obama: He's really good at his job. Unlike, say, George W. Bush, who bungled high profile moments like Hurricane Katrina and, you know, the Iraq War, Obama never blinked. I told a friend recently who had a romantic disaster that she should be like Obama. That means, smiling, being the picture of composure, and when you get the chance, kick all the Russians out of Washington. And Harris also succeeds in offering a way forward. "We cannot afford to live in a prolonged state of grief, but must remember that we have no choice but to dust ourselves off, wipe off our wounds and move beyond this barren state of shock."