Please ignore my addressing
the former President in an overly familiar manner. Stay with me. I will
endeavor to make this brief. The central point here is that #45 has said or
done too many things to count that would have disqualified candidate Obama, or
resulted in the summary termination of an Obama Presidency.
I don’t have enough time to
write about, and no one has enough endurance to read about all the things that
could be included in a post such as this. Recognizing that the ground is so
fertile, one can always revisit, collect, and introduce new material, I am
going to select 10 items, just to make the case. Without further ado, let’s do
this.
1. “When Mexico sends its people, they’re not sending
their best. They’re sending people that have lots of problems. They’re bringing
drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists.” – June 16, 2015
2. “I will build a great wall. – And nobody builds walls
better than me, believe me – And I’ll build them very inexpensively. I will
build a great wall, great wall on our southern border, and I will make Mexico
pay for that wall. Mark my words.”
3. “An ‘extremely credible source’ has called my office
and told me that Barack Obama’s Birth Certificate is a fraud.” – August 6, 2012
4. “According to Bill O’Reilly, 80% of all the shootings
in New York City are blacks – if you add Hispanics, that figure goes to 98%, 1%
white.” – June 5, 2013
5. “Grab them by the pussy.” – 2005 tape
6. Visited his own private properties for golf outings
during 10 of his first 11 weekends in office, after complaining frequently
during the campaign about President Obama’s golfing outings.
7. Promoted the narrative that his Inauguration crowd
was the largest in history.
8. Claimed Barack Obama wiretapped him in Trump Tower
9. Banned American media while inviting in Russia media
to a White House meeting
10. Shared classified Israeli intelligence with Russia
(which is an ally of Iran, which is an enemy of Israel, with which Trump claims
interest in having the best relationship ever).
Let me be perfectly clear. I
am not suggesting these five statements and five actions constitute the worst
assertions or acts that #45 has made or engaged in during or before his
Presidency. In fact, they are a mere sample, and a small one at that of the
limited filter for his comments and actions. Indeed, also a window into his
character.
The simple premise of this
post is this President has been given incredibly broad latitude, in general,
but specifically, an immeasurably greater amount than would have been granted
to President Obama. In a highly partisan world, I understand how and why that
is perfectly acceptable with people who supported Mr. Trump, and who are
delighted that, as a result of his efforts, they have “taken their country
back.” However, for everyone else, and even for those Trump supporters who
presumably want to see this nation live up to its Creed, this double standard,
or possible refutation of standards altogether, should be a source of grave
concern.
Of all things related to the
current administration, nothing that I can think of is more antithetical to
historic American values and political policy positions than our newfound ease
with the coziness Team Trump has not only demonstrated, but also insisted upon,
vis-à-vis Russia. Yes, President Obama’s administration attempted the infamous
“Russian reset.” But let’s face it. That was not in the wake of the fallout and
feedback of Russian hacking, as apprised by our national intelligence
apparatus. It actually appears that #45, his surrogates, and many of his
supporters favor Moscow’s version of events over that of our own national security
community.
Just think about that.
Suppose for a moment that the FBI, or the CIA, or Homeland Security, or the
NSA, or all of them, plus the other 12 agencies that form our security
community posited that President Obama won an election that Russia conspired to
affect on his behalf. How about if the FBI Director indicated that there was an
on-going investigation that intended to at least look to see if there was a
possibility Obama appointees were somehow tied to Russia’s attempts to
interfere with our election? How would the GOP Congress respond to that? How
would the media in general, and Fox News in particular react? What would be the
collective response of the American electorate? More interestingly, what would
those Trump supporters, who blithely dismiss so much about all this, be saying?
“What If Barack Had Said or Done…? OMG!” Enough said…you already know. I’m done; holla back!
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Consult the links below for more
detailed information on a variety of aspects relating to this post:
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2017/01/24/fact-check-inauguration-crowd-size/96984496/
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