I expect I’ll be spending a large portion of the next four years critiquing, ridiculing, arguing and rabble-rousing against President Obama.

But if the anecdotes of this story in Saturday’s Washington Post are accurate, and parents of at-risk youth are “invoking his name, words and accomplishments to motivate a dawdling, recalcitrant child . . . ,” and that invocation actually gets results, then it will be a great development for this country:

Parents are weaving the president-elect’s name into speeches of their own as they reach for backup from a man whose life story was anything but perfect.
The Rev. Thomas H. Hagin, pastor of Brightwood Park United Methodist Church in Northwest Washington, use the stories on his children and those in his congregation. “We say: No more excuses. All things are possible. But it comes through hard work. . . . No one can say just because we have been kissed by the sun, we can’t reach the presidency.”
His wife, Tammy, a D.C. social worker, says she has made a more conscious effort to sit down with their daughter, Amber, to go over school assignments. “Even in Amber, I have seen a push to do better because of the reality of Obama.” She turns to her daughter, who is listening with her head in her hand. “I asked you what you wanted to be,” the mother says, “and you said you wanted to be a judge. Does that feel more doable now?”
“Yes,” says Amber, 14, an eighth-grade student, “because Obama can do it. I see myself studying harder. I stay more focused. I take more notes. I am asking a lot more questions.”

Wonderful to hear about. I just hope that when asked, “Why were you and Justin climbing on the table?” that the kids don’t learn to respond, “Dad . . . this is not the Justin I knew.”