So as we wind down the first week in a post
Donald Trump election world, an interesting phenomenon has emerged. A host of Trump surrogates and supporters
have come forward in a fairly haughty way to dismissively ask what is the
abundance of anti-Trump vitriol all about, and why don’t folks just get over
themselves and their petty opposition to Donald Trump? After all he did win; now he has a mandate to
“Make This Country Great Again.”
President Obama and Hillary Clinton have both
urged America the collective to move ahead and help facilitate the peaceful
transition of power, which is after all, what we do here in these United States. The President and Mrs. Clinton are in a very
real way obligated to do just that.
Obama is obligated because George W. Bush did
the same for him, and also because the forty-two Presidents who preceded
President Bush artfully handed the baton to their successors as well. As for Mrs. Clinton, if her decades of public
service have trained her to do anything, it is, as Kipling said in verse two of
his well-know poem, “If”:
“If you
can dream – and not make dreams your master;
If you
can think – and not make thoughts your aim,
If you
can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And
treat those two impostors just the same;
If you
can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken
Twisted
by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch
the things you gave your life to, broken,
And
stoop and build’em up with worn-out tools;”
As a Governor’s wife, as America’s First Lady,
as the Junior Senator from New York, and as the Secretary of State of the United States,
Hillary Clinton, indeed, has earned her share of kudos, and met with more
Triumph than most. Alas, as one of the
final two candidates vying for the Democratic Party’s Nomination in 2008, and
as the Party Nominee in 2016, she has engendered Disaster on a level the vast
majority of Americans will never know.
In 2008 she gave a gracious concession speech
and subsequently worked with fervor to help Barack Obama secure victory in the
race for the Presidency. She then joined
the Obama Administration and served as Secretary of State during his first term
in office. She has established, I think,
that she has the wherewithal to win, and to lose, and still maintain a laser-like
focus on perfecting our Union. So as we
transition, be it smoothly, or more likely fitfully, into a Trump
Administration, in the grand scheme of things, we will do it peacefully.
But hold on.
I’m not Barack Obama, and I’m certainly not a 69-year-old white
woman. So before we rush to embrace the
suggestion that we just get over ourselves, at least before I do, let me be
crystal clear, I reserve the right to vent.
No, it is not my aim or intent to riot and create mayhem. I repeat, it’s not my aim or intent.
Americans of all stripes have an opinion about
our President. And they should. President Obama has led our nation for 8
years, through tough times, and even though some refuse to admit it, through
increasingly better times. Since 2009 we
have transitioned from a Great Recession economy to:
·
An economy that hemorrhaged
800,000 jobs per month to an economic engine that has added private sector jobs
for 73 consecutive months
·
An economy that has added
over 15 million jobs
·
An economy that fostered the
best over all jobs growth in 18 years
·
An economy that saw unemployment
cut in half (from 9.8% in October 2010 to 4.9% in October 2016)
·
An economy in which his
policies saved the American auto industry
·
An economy that was bolstered
by his policies that reformed the banking system
·
An economy in which his
policies led to the rebound of the housing sector
·
An economy that saw the
strongest dollar in three decades
·
An economy that cut the Bush era deficit by
two-thirds, over a $trillion
·
An economy that saw the Dow
rise from a tepid 7,949 in January 2009 to record levels of over 18,000,
reaching 18,923 yesterday
In addition to all things economy, POTUS pushed through
the historic Affordable Care Act which transported 20 million Americans from
the desert of no health insurance to the Promised Land of Health Care that
included eliminating pre-existing conditions clauses, keeping children under age 26
on their parents policy, preventing discriminatory higher costs for women, adding
an annual free wellness visit, and introducing a feature to hold insurers
accountable for premium increases of 10% or more. In the arena of foreign policy, he wound down
and or decreased America’s level of participation in multiple wars, resumed
formal relations with Cuba, and negotiated a historical accord with Iran that
diminished their nuclear arsenal, and reduced their capacity to produce a
nuclear warhead. Thank you President
Obama.
It is my belief that those accomplishments,
which are by no means part of an exhaustive list, ensure that Mr. Obama will be
viewed among the list of most substantial Presidents. Here is where I must note; his legacy would
be greatly expanded were it not for a concerted pact among Republicans to
obstruct every initiative he proposed.
But the disrespect did not end there, as if that were not enough.
In and out of the halls of government,
President Obama, who won the Presidency twice, clenching both the popular vote
and the Electoral College, was called a lie by Congressman Joe Wilson, of South
Carolina, as he spoke to a joint session of Congress, he had his citizenship
questioned by the Birther Movement, which was for all practical purposes led by
Donald Trump, and he and his wife, First Lady Michelle Obama, were routinely
mocked and called names by normal citizens, and government officials. He was called a Muslim, and a Socialist,
among other things.
Just recently, a West Virginia public official
and a Town Mayor were involved in trading Facebook comments in which one
referred to Mrs. Obama as an “Ape in heels,” while the other co-signed. And this does not stop with little known
individuals of whom you have never heard.
Trump pretty much single-handedly kept the Birther
Movement going long after it was widely accepted that the effort was a bogus
initiative, designed to delegitimize the President. That makes it all the more noteworthy that
Donald Trump did not concede President Obama was born in America until two
months ago, September 16, 2016.
It is in that context I reflect upon the calls
to move forward, to get over it, to accept the outcome of an election in which
the winner said in advance, he would accept the outcome…if he won, and who
claimed in advance of the election that the election was rigged, the media was
biased for his opponent, and that cheaters were trying to steal the election
(from him).
So allow me to summarize quickly. Republicans spent eight years disrespecting,
demonizing, trying to delegitimize, and obstruct President Obama. I believe one conservative radio personality’s
comment as President Obama began his term was, “I hope he fails.” The Senate Majority Leader declared his top
priority was to make President Obama a one term President. But now I’m told we should “Come together to
support our President Trump…because his success is our success.” Really?
It’s been 8 days for Mr. Trump, and 8 years for President Obama. Puhleeze! Let me coin a new term. This is the epitome of “hyper-hypocrisy.”
I have felt for
some time, unlike many of my friends, that I'm glad President Obama and the
First Lady are seeing their tenure in the people's White House come to an end.
I do not wish for even a moment that he could serve a 3rd term. America the exceptional has not earned the
moniker when it comes to its despicable treatment of our President. I do not want the “Hatriots” to have the
opportunity to engage in such reindeer games for even one more moment. “What’sNext? I Can Only Tell You What’s Not!” Appeasement.
I’m done; holla back!
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