I’m not sure if you’ve seen the updates about Barack Obama’s presidential center. If not, he posted about it on Saturday.
He wrote in his post: “When the Obama Presidential Center opens next year, it will be a hub for change — a place for people from all over the world to come together, get inspired, and take what they learn back to their own communities.”
‘Change…’ He never explains what he means by “change.” Change…what? From what to what? As if America needed to be…changed. In any event…
This library of his, hideous as it is, has been a boondoggle now for some time. It is, in fact, the perfect representation of Barack Obama.
Here’s a Newsweek headline on the project: “Behind Schedule, Over Budget, and Mired in Lawsuits.”
The surrounding Chicago community is also unhappy with it and has had concerns:
The Obama Center – which has faced years of delays and lawsuits since breaking ground in September 2021 – will cover nearly 20 acres of the 540-acre Jackson Park and feature a museum, public library branch, athletic center, gardens and children’s play area.
While the privately funded project’s price tag has ballooned from its original $500 million budget, residents said they’ve also seen rents and property taxes skyrocket as construction nears completion.
“Rents are going up fast,” Kyana Butler of Southside Together, one of at least three local activist groups that lobbied the Obama Foundation to better integrate the project into the surrounding neighborhood, told the Daily Mail.
“A two-bedroom apartment that used to rent for $800 a month has already jumped to $1,800. Property taxes are going up so much that the owner of my building is saying she might just walk away.”
One local resident called it a “monstrosity,” saying it destroyed the beauty of what used to be there. But of course, the opinions of nearby residents seem irrelevant — brushed aside in favor of Obama’s own self-congratulation.
The irony is hard to miss: Obama and Michelle standing proudly before a massive slab of concrete and glass, pretending it’s an architectural triumph. In reality, it looks more like a relic from a failed socialist state than a presidential monument — cold, gray, and joyless. His promotional video ends with the line, “Let’s bring change home.” Well, it’s certainly a change — and much like the “change” Obama brought to America, it’s not for the better:
Some posted videos with “Star Wars” X-wing fighters closing in on the library building, while others Photoshopped the structure sideways to replace the torsos of the massive AT-AT walkers from “The Empire Strikes Back.”
Others superimposed the Eye of Sauron from the “Lord of the Rings” movies on its roof, and others simply posted photos of Easter Island heads.
Kitty litter boxes were also included in the comparisons, as were common trash bins, dumpsters, and ephemera from “Star Trek” and “A Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.”
“It’s an ‘obamanation’! Just like his presidency!” one person wrote.
“It’s like someone built a Lego set without the instructions,” said another.
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) remarked that it was a “bold move” to locate the “Death Star” in Chicago.
“Dilbert” cartoonist Scott Adams mentioned a North Korean guard tower.
Honestly, spending $830 million on something like this says everything you need to know about why the Obama presidency fell short. It’s the perfect symbol of his tenure — bloated, overhyped, and detached from reality. While everyday Americans struggle with rising costs, the former president is busy celebrating a monument to his own legacy that looks more like a bunker than a beacon.