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Our President is having a cynical morning. So here's a story of the 10 most hopeful days I ever saw in politics, capped off 2 yrs ago today.
They began in the darkest way imaginable...a mass shooting in the basement of a Charleston church. But they unfolded in unexpected ways.
44 was asked to eulogize Reverend Pinckney and the victims. He'd done a dozen of these already, and I was short on ideas.
But the victims had invited a stranger to join their prayer circle. The families, in their unimaginable grief, forgave the killer in court.
That's grace.
Meanwhile, @nikkihaley, a Republican governor, led South Carolina to lower the Confederate flag. No one saw that coming, either.
The whole @nikkihaley speech is powerful and worth a watch.
So 44 said he wanted to talk about the concept of unearned grace. Not something I would have thought of. And we got to work.
Meanwhile, it was "SCOTUS Week," which means it can rule on any case, any morning, and the White House gets no heads up.
So while we drafted eulogy, we were busy drafting several other statements in case @BarackObama had to speak quickly.
Thursday morning, wham! ACA upheld.
"Someday, our grandkids will ask us if there was really a time when America discriminated against people who get sick."
"That’s when America soars: when we look out for one another. When we take care of each other. When we root for one another’s success."
That night, 44 rewrote half the eulogy himself. Annoying/awesome/par for the course.
Friday morning, BOOM! Marriage equality! Was sitting at desk working on his eulogy rewrite, but couldn't stop watching this: 
So he spoke in the Rose Garden for the second time in 24 hours.
"Progress on this journey often comes in small increments...propelled by the persistent effort of dedicated citizens."
"And then sometimes, there are days like this -- when that slow, steady effort is rewarded with justice that arrives like a thunderbolt."
And a great adlib off RFK's pebbles quote: "What a vindication of the belief that ordinary people can do extraordinary things..."
"...Those countless, often anonymous heroes -- they deserve our thanks. They should be very proud. America should be very proud."
Then, we take off for Charleston, with the eulogy not quite finished. He'd added the lyrics to "Amazing Grace" overnight.
People often ask if we wrote [SING AMAZING GRACE HERE] or something. No way. That's not something you can manufacture.
But on the helicopter that morning, he said "You know, if it feels right, I might sing it."
So we fly to Charleston, still working on speech, but still mostly watching happy people celebrate.
Not long into eulogy, there's an organ playing, a guitarist, and a preacher in shades. Of course he's going to sing.
"That reservoir of goodness, beyond, and of another kind, that we are able to do each other in the ordinary cause of things.”
"That reservoir of goodness. If we can find that grace, anything is possible. If we can tap that grace, everything can change."
And the President of the United States led the congregation in "Amazing Grace."
And then, in maybe my favorite tweet of all time, @questlove said 44 hit "the blackest blues note ever."
Then we flew back to the White House, and as the sky grew darker, the rainbow grew brighter. A young man named @Tiller44 made that happen.
Ten days in America that I think about all the time. It felt like we were breaking free of the past into something new.
And here's the thing: that was only two years ago. The levers of power may have changed, but America is still big, generous, and optimistic.
Americans are still hopeful, compassionate, brave, and forward-looking. You see it all the time. We are still in charge of our own fate.
"People of goodwill will...debate the merits of various policies, as our democracy requires. This is a big, raucous place, America."
"But it would be a betrayal...if we allowed ourselves to slip into a comfortable silence again."
"To settle for symbolic gestures without following up with the hard work of more lasting change -- that’s how we lose our way again."
I'll always remember how that week felt. To see so many people engaged in the hard work of citizenship right now reminds me of it every day.
