I was dumbstruck by something I saw online on Saturday.
There is actually nothing all that unusual about hearing someone singing 'Amazing Grace' at a funeral service.
Except this was not just anyone.
This was the president of the United States.
I posted a video clip of President Obama's impromptu version of the old spiritual, which he delivered while offering the eulogy for one of the victims of the mass shooting inside the Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, S.C.
I prefaced that post with something I will repeat here. I understand that some people will call Obama's performance calculated, or a political stunt, or playing to the audience. You are welcome to that opinion. Be my guest.
I will disagree.
In fact, I will go so far as to ask if anyone can tell me when a president had a week as astounding as the one President Obama delivered last week.
First, he had to console the nation in the immediate aftermath of the Charleston shooting. To be honest, I thought he was too quick to draw a link to the battle over gun control in this nation.
A few days later, he was handed a second major victory on his health care bill when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the federal subsidies that are crucial to the Affordable Care Act are constitutional.
Then, on Friday morning, the high court followed that ruling with another, declaring that same-sex marriage is a constitutional right in all 50 states.
In each instance, the president's words perfectly framed the debate. He talked about freedom, and how when one of us becomes more free, we are all better for it.
Then on Friday he went to Charleston. He talked about grace, and how this tragic event still had the power to infuse us with grace.
And that's when he broke into song.
As I watched it, I could think of only one word. Wow, just wow.
Then I thought back to the front page I created for Obama's first inauguration. It was led with a simple, two-word hed: Mr. President.
I know this is not going to change the minds of anyone. But the man has a knack for rising to the occasion.
I can think of no president who has had to endure the kind of divisive - even hate-filled - rhetoric that has been hurled at this leader. And I think we all know why.
This comes from someone who thought too many did a huge disservice to then-President George W. Bush. I can see why Republicans and conservatives developed a true dislike for the media in those years. We gave them them plenty of ammunition.
But nothing comes close to what has been heaped on President Obama.
All of which makes a week like last week only that much more meaningful.
The guy had a helluva week.
"Amazing," you might say.
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