Elections Have Consequences

By James Banakis

November 15th, 2024

He came onto the American political landscape at the Democratic Convention in 2004. His message was transitional. He said there were no red states or blue states, but only the Unites States. It remains one of the most memorable and impactful political speeches in American history. It propelled a lowly state senator in two years to the United States Senate, and in two more years to the presidency.

Those Americans like me who did not vote for him still thought that his election could be a good thing. Maybe we thought it could put an end to racial discord and political infighting. His oratorical skills were mystic, “This was the moment when the rise of the oceans began to slow, and our planet began to heal …” His inauguration speech was full of hope and change, and quotes of scripture.

“On this day, we gather because we have chosen hope over fear, unity of purpose over conflict and discord. On this day, we come to proclaim an end to the petty grievances and false promises, the recriminations, and worn-out dogmas that for far too long have strangled our politics.  We remain a young nation. But in the words of Scripture, the time has come to set aside childish things. The time has come to reaffirm our enduring spirit; to choose our better history; to carry forward that precious gift, that noble idea passed on from generation to generation:  the God-given promise that all are equal, all are free, and all deserve a chance to pursue their full measure of happiness.” 

The speech was delivered much like a sermon from a prophet. Just three days later, January 23, 2009, Barack Obama met with Congressional members and began the meeting arrogantly reminding republican members, “Elections have consequences, and at the end of the day, I WON. So, I think I trump you.” Despite the unfortunate, unintended, prophetic trump reference; our then new president made a declaration of war against the opposition party.

The man most Americans thought was going to bring us together as a nation. The man they thought whether they voted for him or not, would heal racial discord and class warfare, bitch slapped his opposition at the first opportunity, and has since never looked back or wavered. His political opposition was always the only enemy he recognized. So much for bringing us all together. So much for scripture quotes. So much for

“Hope and Change.”

He then went on an extended international apology tour bowing and scraping, asking foreign leaders to forgive America for its many sins. This is where he really lost me, but he did receive the Noble Peace Prize. Awarded for the first time for potential.  It was like the Bears receiving the Superbowl trophy after drafting Michell Trubisky. When asked if America in his opinion was exceptional, His answer? “I believe in

American exceptionalism, just as I suspect that the Brits believe in British exceptionalism and the Greeks believe in Greek exceptionalism.” Get it? If everyone is exceptional, no one is.  Obama’s hope and change was and always has been for a world without borders, without national identities.

His real, openly stated purpose was and always has been to fundamentally change America without telling us exactly how.

To truly understand Barack Obama, you need to understand Saul Alinsky.  Alinsky was Obama’s socialist mentor whose Rules for Radicals was his guidebook.

Among Alinsky’s rules for gaining and keeping power

  • “Pick the target, freeze it, personalize it, and polarize it.”
  • “Whenever possible go outside the expertise of the enemy. Look for ways to increase insecurity, anxiety, and uncertainty.”
  • “Keep the pressure on. Never let up.”
  • And the piece de resistance, “The ends justify almost any means.”

When most Presidents leave office, they return to their ranch and paint bad watercolors like George Bush or take 80+ trips to Epstein Island like Bill Clinton. Barack Obama decided to continue remaking America in his image behind the scenes. Journalist David Samuels pointed out recently:

As leader of the Democratic Party, Obama was hardly a pretender to power in Washington. Rather, between 2008 and 5 November 2024, he was usually the foremost power in the land. After serving two elected terms in the White House, Obama captained the so-called “Resistance” to Trump and became the shadow president to the advertised Biden Presidency.

Enter Donald Trump 2016 edition.  At a Washington Press Corp Dinner in 2011 Obama openly and without mercy mocked Donald Trump for promoting the “birther” movement.

Rodger Stone said at the time, “I think that Trump is kind of motivated by it.” Recounting a conversation Stone had at the time with Trump, Stone shared, ‘Maybe I’ll just run. Maybe I’ll show them all.’ Ultimately of course he did run and became an antidote to Obama.  He astonished the nation, and beat a condescending, election denying Hillary Clinton.

Obama working behind the scenes, immediately labeled Trump’s ascendancy as illegitimate. We all know all the endless attacks on Trump, Alinsky style. Utilizing the deep state to “never let up.” They began as Trump descended on the escalator and announced his candidacy, reaching a crescendo just last week.

A former president heading up the resistance to his successor was contrary to all American norms. He succeeded because he controlled much of the intelligence agencies, and he was able to avoid inquiry from a malleable press.

Enter Joe Biden 2020 edition. Biden supposedly a moderate was merely a puppet with cognitive issues. Obama was free to advance his agenda once again.

  • Americans now had to recognize multiple genders and pronouns.
  • Millions of people entered the country illegally each year.
  • The 2020 election with 65 percent mail-in ballots.
  • Lawfare against political opponents.
  • No primary opponents allowed to run against Biden 2024.
  • Marxists appointed to the judiciary.
  • The culture of attacking and cancelling anyone who opposes party line.
  • Attacks on the first amendment and the Bill of Rights.
  • Defunding the police nationwide.
  • Soros funded DAs in all major cities.

I could continue, but you get the idea.  Historian Victor Davis Hanson claims we find ourselves in the middle of a cultural revolution against traditional American norms and values. All our institutions are under siege by Marxist tactics.

Obama was now serving his third term as the shadow president. He held power, made policy, controlled the Justice Department, and issued talking points with no personal public responsibility.

Enter Kamala Harris 2024 edition. She was a candidate without policy. She offered only platitudes and word salads. I think purposely to deflect from the unpopular completion of Obama’s cultural revolution. She had the corporate media giving her 90 percent positive coverage and assistance. She had unlimited money. Kamala’s team was Obama’s team. Kamala was the perfect DEI candidate. Her campaign of “Joy” was a rerun of Obama’s “Hope and Change” campaign. Obama’s crew wrote the speeches, and she regurgitated them off the teleprompter. She offered no policy, no press conferences, or insight into who she really was.  Most of the American public recognized the Obama DEI puppet and the puppet master.  The Harris/Obama campaign then morphed into what author Scott McKay labeled:

“Radicalism and leftist cultural, economic, and political aggressions nobody really asked for while denouncing detractors as racists, sexists, and bigots. What they found though is that after 16 years people are sick of it.”

Yes, the economy is terrible with sky high prices due to inflation. Open borders are destroying our sacred citizenship. There are constant wars, but what America is most sick of is the Obama virtue signaling. His world view, lectures and smug oozing moral superiority have reached the tipping point.

American men of every race and creed are nauseous of the labels and reprimands.  Personally, I knew Obama’s dream of his brave new world was toast when he scolded African American men for being misogynistic, and they slapped him back. Oprah was also unable to seal the deal. Most American women who once revered her, are sick of her retro 1980 dramatic hyperbole.

Most Americans feel like they’ve been living in a bizzarro world controlled by the person unseen behind the curtain. After the Obama inspired Marx Bros./Duck Soup like coup, they wondered, who was running the country?

All the talking points issued from Obama’s Washington lair told corporate media that Harris was going to win. I think talking heads felt betrayed and thrown under the bus, but they continue to accept his talking points.

It’s too bad Obama wasn’t the person he presented himself to be in that 2004 convention speech and first inaugural address. The promise of his message is one Americans are still searching for.

Many thought he was a prophet of enlightenment, but he was a charlatan, a false prophet. The public is exhausted with being censored, shamed, scolded, canceled, and Alinsky-ized.

One thing many now realize is that Obama inspired woke followers who cancel all the impure believers, at some point cannibalize themselves. Let’s hope the prophet of Martha’s Vineyard will at long last be cancelled.  In his playbook, it’s time for The Resistance Part II. Let’s see how that plays out.

To those who are crafting Trump’s Inaugural Address, I have a suggestion on how to end it.

In closing to Barack Obama, elections have consequences, and at the end of the day, I WON. You’ve been TRUMPED. The people have spoken. Our country has begun to heal. May God Always Continue to Bless the United States America!

-30-

Jimmy Banakis is a life-long restaurateur.  He was an honorary batboy for the White Sox in 1964. He attended Oak Park River Forest High School, Nebraska Wesleyan University, and Chicago-Kent Law School.  He claims the kitchen is the room he’s most comfortable in anywhere in the world. He published an extremely limited-edition family cookbook. He’s a father and grandfather, and lives in Downers Grove Il.

Comments 71

    4. Terrific article and it sure is on target. So many people seem to adore Obama, because he easily fools them with his oratory and big smile. Hopefully more people will see him for what he is, but I won’t get my hopes too high.

    5. Thank you!!!!!!!!! This is an excellent review of the past 16 years!!! I can only hope TRUE historians someday write the legacy of “Hope and Change.”
      Or, just publish this essay!!!!

  2. Hey John, I don’t think Bill ever told you this story. He should have. It’s a good one. Bill had a customer who grew up in Park Ridge and was acquainted with Rodman family from elementary school. His childhood association with them got him invited to democrat boondoggles from time to time. It was at one of these self congratulatory type events that this gentleman had the opportunity to meet then US senator Barrack Obama. At that time, this man was running a forge in northern Illinois that had been operated by his family for three generations. Having been raised under the influence of a manufacturing family, he was acutely aware of the negative impacts China was having on US manufacturing and could envision worse things happening if the US government refused to do anything about it.

    So he did what any patriotic American should do. He politely and respectfully expressed his concerns about China to his senator and asked if he could please do what he could in the senate to help US manufacturing. According to him, the conversation went something like this.
    Hey, China is having a terrible impact on manufacturing in the United States. We’re losing jobs and revenue and manufacturing is the backbone of our economy. There must be something the federal government can do to help safeguard independent businesses like my family’s.
    He was flabbergasted by Obama’s response.
    “Well, I guess today’s your lucky day!”
    “Really? How so?”
    “Most people would have to pay a lot of money to get to get a few moments with their senator.”
    That tells you everything you need to know about Obama.

  7. This is the silk!

    “Most Americans feel like they’ve been living in a bizzarro world controlled by the person unseen behind the curtain. After the Obama inspired Marx Bros./Duck Soup like coup, they wondered, who was running the country?”

    Would Audie Murphy recognize the Obama America?

    I donlt think so. Great work, Mr. Banakis!

  8. Man, that was spot on! I only pray that the message in your proposed inaugural address will be given at the end of President Trump’s term, not just at the beginning. You correctly noted that we need to brace ourselves for an onslaught of Deep State and leftist resistance to America’s 2024 choice.

    (Note to JK: please give us more from this guy, he is the one ‘J.B.’ I want to hear from.)

  10. Banakis columns in JKN have come to seem a gift from the blue (though of course they’re actually a gift from John). Commentary from “a life-long restaurateur” that provides more original thinking and insight than all the solemn lecturers in Times Square? How about that!

    And Banakis enlarged that gift today. I’d thought my own impression of Obama was as low as it could be. He’s smug, shallow, not as smart as his worshippers think, a man preaching that America must “spread the wealth around,” when his stealthier goal is plutocratic Marxism.

    Well, this magnificent Banakis column persuaded me that Obama is even worse than I’d thought. Elaborated by Martha Strawbridge’s chilling story, Obama is revealed as an absolute phony. He’s not just a shadow president. He remains a shadow beneficiary of Tony Rezko . . . now with a much fancier home.

  12. While I didn’t vote for OBummer I had such high hopes our that our country had finally gotten past the race issue. Boy was I wrong. Racial division grew and was fertilized by this empty suit and his mean spirited,wife who has a BIG CHIP on her shoulder!

  13. Wonderful column!

    In reviewing BHO’s history, you reminded me of a few more things: Michelle’s “For the first time I’m proud of my county”, and the Beer Summit.

    I never knew I was a racist until a family member told me I was, because I didn’t vote for Obama in 2008. My reply? I would not have voted for Hillary Clinton – a white woman – either (remember that she was supposed to be the candidate that year) because I don’t support what the democratic party stands for.

    I was always suspicious of the Obamas staying in DC after he left office, instead of going quietly into his retirement. But the last eight years have shown me why he needed to stay close. How convenient to retain his power base.

    Goodbye to all of them, and I really hope that President Trump can drain the swamp completely.

  14. Jimmy,
    Most of us all knew Obama was a fake, but the media ate his prose up and we suffered for years with his influence in every branch of government. At long last we’ve had enough of his “hope and change” subterfuge! Finally, a new day has dawned. I can’t wait to see the draining of the swamp!

  15. I met Obama in 1993 at a “New Faculty Meet Recent Alumni” gathering at U of C. He asked me my opinion of abortion, I’m pro-life and he immediately denounced me as “a racist” and refused to speak to me further. Three levels of university deans overheard our exchange and, although none agreed with me, apologized for his behavior. Two stated “He’ll learn what a teachable moment is.” IMO, he never has and he never earned my voting support since.

  21. What a great column! Thank you, and this one will be saved to refer back to as time goes on. Obama never hid his hate for our great country and will go down in history as the leader of this massive division we are now facing. Hoping it will heal over time but as Jimmy says above, they will never let up.

    1. Excellent column Mr. Banakis. Putting into words so clearly what many of us have thought all along. I’m saving this column. I only wish I could share it with my blinded Democratic friends who refuse to see what has always been right in front of them.

      1. In your dreams Ms. Janet. Since before 2012 I voted with the democrats except in 1994 for Gov. Edgar who’s a real nice gentleman. Now since 2012 my entire family is against me and refuse to hear one word about or against them! Some times I wonder why I am trying very hard to live for them!

  23. Jimmy, SPOT ON.

    All my grandparents immigrated to the USA; my dad’s father was a bricklayer and my mom’s father worked in the mines of Upper Peninsula, MI. They instilled in their children to work hard. Neither of my parents went to college, but they instilled in their children a work ethic and to get an education. Doing either of these two things are the surest way to middle class. Doing both gets one there quicker. My brother has a high school education and through 40 years of shear hard work built his own highly successful company from nothing.

    I don’t recall Barack Obama, or any of the other race baiters, ever telling children to stay in school, get good grades, work hard. Shame on them all.

    Obama’s purpose to “fundamentally change America” will be thrown on the ash-heap of our history, but only if Donald Trump accomplishes what he ran on AND the GOP majority in Congress helps him. It’s time to give our President-Elect a chance. If it doesn’t work, Americans can choose another direction.

  25. Great summation of what just happened in this election. Sometimes the universe DOES right itself. I only have a minor nit though. Most senators are millionaires when they get there. Not exactly what I would call lowly. If they’re not millionaires when they get there, they certainly are when they leave. Obama is the ultimate success story for a Chicago politician. Grifted his way to the ultimate pinnacle. Untouchable and well on his way to becoming a BILLIONAIRE.

  26. Brilliant, Mr. Banakis! You hit every note. Long time Kass readers will recall his coverage of Illinois’ own Kjellander and Cellini clearing Fitzgerald out of the Senate re-election he was sure to win.
    Giving candidate Obama a lane to lawfare Blair Hull (D) and Ryan (R) with leaked sealed divorce filings of an embarrassing nature. The mold was cast early.

  27. Looks like Barry O is on schedule to join the ranks of the oxy moron communist billionaires i.e. Fidel Castro…Putin…et al. What about their belief of “from each according to ability and to each according to need”?

  30. Thank you Mr. Banakis. Your words express exactly what I have been thinking for years.
    The chosen picture for this column seems to show the pure disdain and hate that the former President
    has for President trump.

  32. As usual, Mr. Banakis is spot on! An excellent article for those who were not aware of the truth
    concerning Obama. He was always a fox in sheep’s clothing. How do you think he goes from rags to riches without George Soros? Not ethically or morally!

  33. I voted for Obama in 2008. I was aged 38 and still left of center. The Henry Louis Gates arrest happened 6 months into his first term. I believed the narrative, which is white racist cop abusing his power. But I just learned that one of the arresting officers was black, also a Sergeant, like white Sergeant Crowley. The black officer is in the arrest picture on Wikipedia. But this was not reported by our awful media nor Obama.

  34. Excellent Mr. Banakis. Thank you JK.

    Barrack lost me after the beer summit, blaming the police from another municipality for responding to a “Burglary in Progress.” How did responding to a burglary call become racist, did the police get up that day and decide let’s violate some dudes rights. The man they encountered escalated the situation he could have produced his license and cooperated instead of arguing. The cops were from another town, mutual aid responding to an address and person they never encountered before.

    The other thing was when he stated; “If I had a son he would look like Travon.”

    Travon should not have died it was a tragedy. Now if Barrack and Michele had a mythical son, he would have been raised in well to do Hyde PARK, attended the University of Chicago Lab School, with the CAUCASIAN wasp culture.
    His son would only assimilate with African American people who provided the maid service, cooking, security or lawn care.

    He would not be a improvised person such as poor Travon, Barracks’s off spring be treated as Chicago royalty, chauffeured thru out the city and state with armed security..

  35. Oprah was paid $1 million for campaigning with Kamala. All the while lecturing Americans that they should pay more taxes. Money is all she ever cared about.

    I do not believe her story that she was molested by an uncle as a child. The uncle was long gone when she made that allegation. This really propelled her to fame and fortune.

    1. Thomas: You make some great points. As you said Alinsky died in 1972, so Obama was 11 then and likely still in Hawaii. Although as an eventual community organizer, I am sure he read Alinksy’s tome. After all Alinsky was the Godfather of community organizers.

      And as you point out the irony is that Alinsky’s rules were successfully used by conservatives. But the real irony or ironies, is that Donald Trump himself, in 2016, used Alinsky’s cardinal rule (#5) like no other nominee in American history and did so very successfully:

      “Ridicule is man’s most potent weapon. There is no defense. It is almost impossible to counterattack ridicule. Also it infuriates the opposition, who then react to your advantage.”

      1. Exactly, Alinsky helped people organize to protect and save their Back of the Yard neighborhood. What is not known well by people who think they know him is that when he worked with neighborhood groups he would only tell them specific points to pursue as to their specific situation. THEN HE WOULD LEAVE THEM TO WORK IT OUT. He was no different than union organizers during the 30s/depression.

        1. Yeah you got to give ole Saul some credit. He did have a sense of humor c/w with one of his rules: “A good tactic is one your people enjoy.” I’m sure “his people” enjoyed the “fart in” threat to Eastman Kodak in Rochester NY ( I was a student at the U of R then so I knew about this) if they did not hire more black workers; or his threat to Richard J Daley that he would conduct a “piss-in” at O’Hare if the city refused to come to the bargaining table. He was not lacking in humor, that’s for sure.

          1. Interesting note about Kodak, because where is Kodak today? At that time, the country had no idea how good things were economically. International business competition did not exist. Perhaps this is why, more than any other age group, Gen X (me) voted for Trump. The Boomers are the hippies. Some of those Hippies were hard Leftists, who later captured academia and public education. The Millennials and Gen Z educated those Leftists. Gen X was educated before that capture. Our concerns are more practical.

  39. What happened to him since Kamala’s lost? Went on self exile to his father’s land? I wanted to see him paraded thru Chicago Avenues , riding on a donkey’s back.

  40. Barry’s licking his wounds and thinking of new ways to derail Trump and continue the destruction of the US from the inside. He’s far from finished folks. I hope the new AG probes DEEPLY into the 2020 election, as well as the 2024 coup d’etat that ousted Brandon. Barry’s fingerprints are all over both events.

  41. superb. Just add one thing. BO is not the guy running things. He’s just a puppet who got a tap on the shoulder when he was tacking posters onto telephone poles — and was told, “want to be rich and famous?” He followed the script — and look now, worth $100 million plus.

    Not to sharp without his script. Hope Mr. Trump finds BO’s writers and roots them out.

    Good days ahead — unless you are a DC Bureaucrat.

  42. Always tell the truth John. The truth will set us all free. We want our Country back the way we found it not this garbage they were feeding the people for Votes. Keep up the good work.

  44. Well stated Jimmy! St Obama is a “charlatan, a false prophet”. Perfect. A charlatan. Hopefully the smartest guy it the room will go east or way west and live a quiet and unassuming, peaceful life. We can only hope.

  48. As the saying goes, “you hit it out of the park” with this one, Jimmy! I may just send this along to all my left leaning friends out there. They deserve to know the truth. Another saying…”the truth will set you free!”

  49. Talk about connecting the dots, an outstanding column. Pinned the tail on that donkey, or should I say ass. One wonders, will someone’s speaking fees soon diminish? Cry me a river.
    Will Title 9 be restored, enforcing its intended purpose? Paramount, will the wizard of bizarre relinquish the ability to cast hells spells? Will boys be boys and girls be girls free from castration? Pray the ungodly, nefarious depravities are vanquished. God save us all.

  50. Very accurate assessment of Obama. The only time I have ever spoke to Mitch McConnell, he had just met with Obama, where they were supposed to be talking about deficit reduction. I was with some fiscal responsibility group, who had proposed some obvious spending reforms. McConnell thanked us and said ‘you know I have been doing this for years. This is the kind of thing I just proposed to the President. He just said ‘I won the election and I will decide what is in the budget, not you’

    The other telling (fiscal) story about Obama was when someone explained how cutting the capital gains tax actually brings in more Federal Revenue (to a point). Obama said something like ‘I am interested in making the tax more fair, not in more revenue’ He was economically illiterate. Socially, he was more adept, but also just wrong on a wide variety of issues.

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