MLK once famously said that we should judge a man not by the quality of his skin, but the quality of his character. Well, if the following story doesn't vouch for the quality of that for Obama (in Norwegian), I don't know what would (here's the blog story that broke/translated it into English):
ÅSGÅRDSTRAND (VG): Mary was a newlywed and ready to move to Norway, but was stopped at the airport because she didn’t have enough money for the trip. Then a stranger turned up and paid for her.
Mary Menth Andersen was 31 years old at the time and had just married Norwegian Dag Andersen. She was looking forward to starting a new life in Åsgårdstrand in Vestfold with him. But first she had to get all of her belongings across to Norway. The date was November 2nd, 1988.
At the airport in Miami things were hectic as usual, with long lines at the check-in counters. When it was finally Mary’s turn and she had placed her luggage on the baggage line, she got the message that would crush her bubbling feeling of happiness.
-You’ll have to pay a 103 dollar surcharge if you want to bring both those suitcases to Norway, the man behind the counter said.
Mary had no money. Her new husband had travelled ahead of her to Norway, and she had no one else to call.
-I was completely desperate and tried to think which of my things I could manage without. But I had already made such a careful selection of my most prized possessions, says Mary.
Although she explained the situation to the man behind the counter, he showed no signs of mercy.
-I started to cry, tears were pouring down my face and I had no idea what to do. Then I heard a gentle and friendly voice behind me saying, That’s OK, I’ll pay for her.
Mary turned around to see a tall man whom she had never seen before.
-He had a gentle and kind voice that was still firm and decisive. The first thing I thought was, Who is this man?
Although this happened 20 years ago, Mary still remembers the authority that radiated from the man.
-He was nicely dressed, fashionably dressed with brown leather shoes, a cotton shirt open at the throat and khaki pants, says Mary.
She was thrilled to be able to bring both her suitcases to Norway and assured the stranger that he would get his money back. The man wrote his name and address on a piece of paper that he gave to Mary. She thanked him repeatedly. When she finally walked off towards the security checkpoint, he waved goodbye to her.
Guess who?
Now, it seems that people tend to call "bullshit" on stories such as these, but as far as I can tell, it's real. I don't read Norwegian newspapers much (umm, ever!), nor do I know what one is supposed to look like, but unless that entire site was spoofed and the picture faked, it seems pretty legit to me. From what I can tell, it looks like the equivalent of a "sports newspaper" or something akin to a New York Post with slightly worse web design. But a real newspaper, nevertheless. Unless I hear otherwise, and that everything in the story was faked, the burden of proof is on those asserting the fakery, not the other way around. Unless we're going to start picking and choosing -- for no reason in particular -- which stories in media to believe and which to completely dismiss based solely on what one WANTS to believe is true.
To me, it seemed in character with the man, in terms of his overall life's work and its humanitarian basis. And it's a heart-warming story, of a man potentially giving up $103 at a time in his life when he could ill-afford to lose it, well before doing so could have resulted in any conceivable benefit to him.
In the end, if Barack Obama is the sum of small acts of kindness and morality such as this, he deserves any of our votes. One thing I have always liked about him is the different nature of his ambition. People sometimes say, "Well, he's the same as any of 'em. He wants power, too. He craves it, too. He has ambition."
True, but I think the nature of his ambition is truly unique. I think he has a thirst for wanting to make a name for himself in the world, and in the history books. I also think that he has been calculating and aiming his life in this general direction for years. But the goal, I think is to make a legacy, for himself, his name, and for the country. I really think that's what makes the man tick.
And that's the kind of ambition that we can all benefit from. Most presidents do better things as they think about their "legacy" on their ways out; I think that the nature of Barack's ambition is that he has been thinking about his legacy from day 1, in terms of the impact he wants to leave upon the world, in terms of how much he can truly change it.
I'm not being idealistic here -- I'm talking about raw ambition. But his is not for money or power per se. I actually think he's eggheaded enough to be actually thinking about his name being a Lincoln or Roosevelt or some such. And along the way, famous presidents or other people get money and power and fame and all that. But I think he thinks of those as inevitable side benefits, as opposed to goals in an of themselves.
I want a president who can give a total stranger $103 when he's a poor community organizer in Chicago, when there was no political benefit in doing so. That seems to be the kind of man Barack Obama is.
(And I'll keep an eye on this story, naysayers, in the event that it turns out to be an elaborate hoax, all planted material to make Obama look even better than he already does.)
