The “inconvenient truth”of Trump’s White House, a Republican-led Congress, and their supporters is that “support of Donald Trump is clearly less about Trump and more about former President Obama. It’s a guttural reaction. As hard as Republicans may have tried, they have been completely unable to erase our first black president from the history books.”
The Huffington Post’s Michael Starr Hopkins appropriately addresses this very real political fact.
Here are excerpts:
“As a Democrat, I have no reservation saying that America needs a strong Republican Party. We live in a two-party system and there are very real policy debates that we should be having.
“With that said, this Republican Party is failing themselves and failing Americans as a whole at resembling anything close to a major political party.
“Let’s be honest for a minute. Republican support of Donald Trump is clearly less about Trump and more about former President Obama. It’s a guttural reaction. As hard as Republicans may have tried, they have been completely unable to erase our first black president from the history books.
“It tears them up inside that a smart, cocky, black man beat them at their own game, twice. He stopped the world economy from crashing. He eased our fears during national tragedies, and whether we liked everything about the ACA or not, he tried his best to give more people access to health care. All with a smile. Not because he was happy with the way it all played out, but because that’s what presidents are supposed to do ― act presidential.
“As president, Obama recognized that he represented all Americans, even the ones who didn’t vote for him. He recognized that he was not bigger than the office of the presidency. He knew that he owed the office a high level of respect. More importantly, though, he realized that our children were watching. A concept unfathomable to the current occupant of the Oval Office.
“President Obama recognized that generations of politicians, teachers, civic leaders, and yes, children, would take their cues from how he behaved as president. Instead of engaging in Twitter battles or attacking the character of his detractors, he gracefully ignored their criticism and stood tall against a party determined to beat HIM. He acted presidential, imagine that.
“My Republican friends should take note because what they’re supporting, either directly or indirectly, isn’t just an anti-Obama presidency but an anti-American president. Supporting a president who is uninterested, unprepared, and unwilling to learn from his mistakes isn’t just overtly political, it’s immoral. At some point, you are the company you keep.”
"If Republicans can’t figure out a way to lead, it’s time for Americans to replace them with someone who can. Someone who can restore faith in government and civility into our national dialogue. Someone respectable. Someone other than the current group of politicians who can’t get over 2008."
There is no tax break in the world that can justify supporting a man who continues to lie to the American people with no hesitation.
By Michael Starr Hopkins
