Tag Archives: Barack Obama

national news, political news

Trump faces steep learning curve

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Donald J. Trump’s election as president has put me in a bit of a bind.

I live in a part of the country — the Texas Panhandle — that is steeped in Republican Party political tradition. Thus, this region voted overwhelmingly for Trump.

I’ve been fielding questions for most of the past two days from people with whom I have a good personal relationship about the election. “What do you think about the result?” they ask, knowing full well what my answer would be.

“Well,” I reply, “it didn’t turn out the way I wanted,” Then we talk about the challenges the president-elect faces.

The conversation turns inevitably to the h-u–u-u-u-g-e learning curve that Trump must confront. I don’t want to damage my relationships with my many friendly acquaintances, so I am careful to avoid getting too crass in my assessments of their candidate.

Thus, the bind.

You see, the man has no government experience … at any level! He didn’t serve in the military — which is no disqualifier; after all,  neither did Barack Obama, Bill Clinton or FDR, correct?

What’s more, he’s never served in any public service capacity. No school board, city council, county commission. Nothing, man! The first office he ever sought was the presidency of the United States of America.

So, here he is. He’s getting a lesson on governance at the highest level imaginable.

Trump met today with President Barack Obama in the Oval Office. The men supposedly were to meet for about 15 or 20 minutes, but I understand they huddled for more than an hour. I don’t know what the president told his successor, but it’s a good bet he began schooling him on the nuance that will be required to do a fraction of the things he said he would do while he was campaigning for the office.

One man I spoke with today, someone I respect greatly, noted that Trump “is going to surround himself with individuals who know the system.” Uh, yeah! Do you think?

“He’d better find the best and the brightest,” I said, “and he’d better listen to every word of advice they have to offer.” If he doesn’t, then Trump is going to be in a serious world of hurt.

Among the many ridiculous statements Trump made on the campaign trail, one of them stands out at this moment.

“I have a good brain,” he said.

He’s going to have to absorb a lot of information that until this very week was foreign to him. We are about to find out just how good Donald Trump’s brain really is.

national news, political news

No president can act ‘alone’

capitol-hill11

“I alone can fix it,” Donald J. Trump told us while he accepted the Republican Party’s presidential nomination this past summer.

Surely you remember that pearl of wisdom.

The comment revealed a tremendous ignorance of how the presidency works and how the individual who holds the office is supposed to conduct the nation’s business.

Did it matter to American voters who this week elected a new president? Not in the least.

The very same ignorant GOP nominee won the election and today is going to meet with the man he will succeed as president. Perhaps the incumbent, Barack H. Obama, can remind the new guy of a concept that appears foreign to him: teamwork.

The president-elect is going to get a serious crash course in civics as he prepares to assume the first political office he’s ever sought.

The founders devised a system of government that requires compromise among those who run it. Over time since the founding of the republic, we developed political parties. The system is now run by people representing two major political organizations: the Democratic and Republican parties. They differ on policy and principle.

The trick, then, becomes at times dicey. Politicians on both sides of the divide need to find some common ground to fix the problems that confront them. Sometimes they succeed; sometimes they fail. As President Obama learned early in his administration, cooperation wasn’t always a given as he reached out to Republicans to find solutions to the serious problems afflicting the nation when he took office.

The Senate GOP leader, Mitch McConnell, laid down the marker early in Obama’s administration by saying his No. 1 priority would be to make Barack Obama a “one-term president.” It didn’t work out for McConnell.

Still, the new president enters this strange new world (for him, at least) with some kind of notion that “I alone” can repair what he believes is wrong with the nation.

He’s got 535 individuals on Capitol Hill — many of whom have egos that match the new president’s — who will have different views of what needs to be done.  Moreover, they wield collectively just as much power as the individual who sits in the Oval Office.

Lesson No. 1 is as clear as it gets. Effective governance requires teamwork, Mr. President-elect.

national news, political news

Oh, to be a fly on the Oval Office wall

U.S. President Barack Obama pauses while speaking about immigration reform during a visit to Del Sol High School in Las Vegas, Nevada November 21, 2014. Obama imposed the most sweeping immigration reform in a generation on Thursday, easing the threat of deportation for some 4.7 million undocumented immigrants and setting up a clash with Republicans who vow to fight his moves. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque (UNITED STATES - Tags: POLITICS SOCIETY IMMIGRATION HEADSHOT) - RTR4F3RB

I only can imagine how many others out there are thinking the same thing I am.

If only I could be a fly on the wall Thursday in the White House Oval Office when the president-elect walks in to meet with the fellow who’s president until Jan. 20.

Donald Trump and Barack Obama are going to meet, I presume to start preliminary discussions about the transition from one administration to the other.

Why the intense interest? I guess it has to do with the things Trump said about the president while he was campaigning for the office.

Worst president in history; corrupt; disaster; commander in chief of a “decimated” military machine? Oh, and let’s not forget how Trump fomented the “birther” myth that Obama wasn’t a legitimate citizen of the United States.

Trump said all of that — and much, much more — while waging a victorious campaign for the presidency.

And didn’t Barack Obama declare that Trump is “unfit” to be president? Didn’t he ridicule his temperament? Didn’t he suggest Trump curries favor with our adversaries, such as Vladimir Putin?

How does the president deal with the things Trump said? How does he set all that aside?

For that matter, how does the president-elect act as if he never made those amazing statements about the president?

How does the president turn the page from the criticism he leveled at Trump, particularly in the closing weeks of a bruising campaign?

Let the healing begin in the Oval Office … if it’s possible after the campaign we’ve all just endured.

national news, political news

This is how you treat political protest

President Barack Obama has given us all a lesson on how you treat political protesters.

Watch the video and you see the president of the United States — speaking at a rally on behalf of Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Rodham Clinton — defend a gentleman who was waving a Donald J. Trump banner.

The crowd booed. It jeered the fellow. The president sought to get the audience’s attention.

Then he said, “We live in a country that honors free speech.”

The video is worth your time. It’s not long.

Once you watch it, think for a moment how Trump has handled similar incidents in which protesters raised a ruckus at his rallies. I believe he said he wished his fans would “knock the crap” out of protesters. He also said something about paying the “legal fees” for anyone sued if they reacted violently to protests.

You’ve got someone who understands the Constitution.

You also have someone who, well, doesn’t seem to understand the liberties the nation’s governing document guarantees to all citizens.

national news, political news

Trump’s ‘record’ demands his defeat

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Donald J. Trump’s reported rally in the closing days of this desultory presidential campaign is relying on the ignorance of those who seem to have forgotten what he’s said throughout his astonishing quest for the nation’s highest office.

He has lied … repeatedly. He has praised dictators. He has declared himself to be above the law. Trump has ignored due process as it relates to his political opponent, Hillary Rodham Clinton. He has mocked disabled Americans, a notable prisoner of war, women, immigrants, a Gold Star family.

Check this out from the Washington Post:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/the-only-way-trump-can-win/2016/11/02/1512d15c-a07c-11e6-a44d-cc2898cfab06_story.html

From the Post: “Most politicians are caught in falsehoods from time to time. Mr. Trump revels in them, and when caught simply repeats the lie, more loudly. Similarly, he trades in conspiracy theories that he must know to be false, the more lurid the better: that President Obama was born in Kenya, that Vincent Foster and Antonin Scalia were murdered, that Ted Cruz’s father was involved in the assassination of President Kennedy.”

In recent days, FBI Director James Comey has said he has uncovered more e-mails involving Clinton. He has presented zero hard evidence of anything untoward. Trump has convicted Clinton of corruption and of committing crimes.

The Trumpkins have bought into it … all of it.

As the Post notes, Americans who have been so critical of President Obama for an alleged lack of love of country have become infatuated with the notion that Trump vows to “make America great again.” More from the Post:

“It is mystifying that so many Republicans, after criticizing Mr. Obama for eight years for showing insufficient pride in the United States, would attach themselves to someone who has such contempt for the country, its institutions and its values. U.S. generals have been ‘reduced to rubble,’ the U.S. Army cannot fight, U.S. cities are ‘hell,”’U.S. wealth has been ‘stripped‘ away by global interests, the electoral system is ‘one big, ugly lie.’ To each of these disasters, Mr. Trump offers phony solutions (Mexico will pay to build a wall) or none at all. He has neither the interest nor the capacity to suggest actual policies.”

I hope Americans haven’t forgotten completely how this clown has behaved, the insults he has hurled in every direction and at everyone who opposes him. Is this the kind of individual we want representing the greatest nation on Earth?

legal news, national news, political news

GOP looking to make Hillary’s service difficult

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Ted Cruz has joined his Senate Republican colleague John McCain in declaring war on a potential — if not probable — new president’s appointment powers.

Cruz, the former GOP presidential candidate, says there is “precedent” for the Supreme Court to operate with only eight members. That is a form of code for saying that it it’s OK for the Senate to block anyone that a President Hillary Clinton would nominate to fill the vacant ninth seat on the nation’s highest court.

https://www.texastribune.org/2016/10/27/cruz-says-theres-precedent-keeping-ninth-supreme-c/

McCain was wrong to say such a thing.  Cruz is equally wrong.

Assuming that Clinton wins the presidency in eight days, the Senate Republicans are digging in as they seek to block any appointment the Democratic president might make.

President Obama already has felt the sting of raw politics in that process. Antonin Scalia died eight months ago while vacationing in Texas. Obama selected federal judge Merrick Garland to replace the late Supreme Court justice — one of the conservative titans on the narrowly divided court.

The reaction from Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell was shameful in its political nature. Within hours of Scalia’s death, he declared that the Senate would block anyone President Obama would nominate; he declared that the nomination should be handled by the next president.

Well, Mr. Majority Leader, the next president is likely to be a Democrat, too. That has prompted Sens. McCain and Cruz to suggest that the next president won’t be able to nominate anyone, either.

Who’s playing politics with the U.S. Constitution? Republicans keep insisting that Democrats are doing it. They are shamefully lacking in self-awareness … as the continuing vacancy on the U.S. Supreme Court has demonstrated all too graphically.

national news, political news

No honeymoon for Hillary

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Let’s play out how many of us believe this presidential election will conclude.

Hillary Rodham Clinton will become the 45th president of the United States. She’ll be the second consecutive history-making president, following immediately the election of the nation’s first African-American; she’ll become the first woman to hold the exalted office.

Will she be granted the “traditional honeymoon period” that Congress grants a newly elected president?

You can stop laughing now. I realize that borders on a stupid question. It’s also a rhetorical one.

She won’t get one any more than President Barack Obama was granted such a period when he was elected in 2008.

I harken back to what Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell declared in 2009, that his “No. 1 priority” was to make Barack Obama “a one-term president.”

Do you remember that? That was Job One. Front-burner stuff. Forget working with the newly elected president to solve the economic crisis that was destroying our nation’s well-being. McConnell’s primary mission ended in failure when Obama was re-elected in 2012.

Hillary Clinton is likely to face the same level of hostility — if not a greater level — from congressional Republicans, many of whom she worked with while she served in the Senate from 2001 to 2009.

The leader of the peanut-gallery jeering section well might be the guy she’s going to defeat — Donald J. Trump, someone who has zero public service history, zero commitment to fighting for the nation at any level, zero understanding of how government works.

Honeymoon period? Those days may be gone for the foreseeable future.

national news, political news

Hillary remains mum on Trump’s latest trouble

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Hillary Rodham Clinton likely has a lot to say about Donald J. Trump’s sexual behavior.

Her problem? She cannot say it out loud. The Democratic nominee for president of the United States must rely on surrogates to express their outrage on her behalf.

She happens to have a couple of powerful surrogates: President Barack H. Obama and his wife, Michelle, who have done a masterful job of peeling the bark off the Republican presidential nominee.

Hillary Clinton’s own history — as well as the history of her husband — compel her to remain mum on the subject of those ghastly Trump comments we all heard the other day aboard that “Access Hollywood” bus in 2005.

As the New York Times has reported: “Though Hillary Clinton has stood at the center of feminist debates for more than two decades, she has also been an imperfect messenger for the feminist cause. That has never been more true than now, as her old missteps and her husband’s history have effectively paralyzed her during a moment of widespread outrage.”

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/missteps-in-hillary-clinton%e2%80%99s-past-leave-her-muted-in-furor-over-donald-trump/ar-AAj00Y1?li=BBnb7Kz

And the outrage hasn’t let up since the video and audio recordings were released to the public.

As for whether any of this damages Hillary Clinton’s political standing, I happen to believe it will not.

Her tactic so far has been to change the subject when the talk turns to Trump’s statements about attempting to seduce a married woman, or how his “star” status allows him to grab women in their private areas, or allows him to kiss them aggressively without their consent.

The two of them have one more joint appearance to endure before voters have their final say. It will occur, interestingly, in Las Vegas, Nev., where Trump has some significant business dealing and where — one might presume — he has engaged in some of his untoward behavior with women.

Will any of this come up when the event opens? Uhhh, let me think for a second … yes, it will.

Do not look for Clinton to go there. She’ll likely just let Trump rant like a madman over the former president’s misbehavior.

From where I will be sitting while this event occurs, that will look like a good call.

Then she’ll likely sic Barack and Michelle Obama on him.

national news, political news

FLOTUS lights up Trump

Here is Michelle Obama’s full speech delivered today in Manchester, N.H.

I’ve already offered a brief comment on it.

I just thought it would be worth showing it in this venue to give you an idea of just how powerful it is. She speaks about the conduct of Donald J. Trump, the Republican nominee for president of the United States.

The first lady has made no public mention of continuing her public service career in elective office.

My very strong sense is that she ought to consider seeking such an office to continue to speaking out as she has done with this speech.

Take a few minutes and listen to what she said today. Michelle Obama’s husband, the president of the United States, said today at a rally later in Ohio that he married this woman to “improve the gene pool.” He got a lot of laughs when he said it.

This speech tells me the president spoke the absolute truth.

national news, political news

Michelle Obama emerges as potent political weapon

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The political world is buzzing this evening over a speech delivered earlier in the day by a woman who hasn’t been elected to a public office, nor is she seeking one.

The speech came from first lady Michelle Obama, who took up the cudgel for Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Rodham Clinton.

She stood before a crowd in Manchester, N. H., and blistered Republican nominee Donald J. Trump over his behavior toward women.

http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/300918-michelle-obama-becomes-clintons-most-powerful-weapon

“This is not normal. This is not politics as usual,” Obama said at one point. “This is disgraceful. It is intolerable.”

There was a whole lot more.

She peeled the bark off of Trump without naming him specifically. Everyone knew of whom she spoke.

I am reminded of something I said to members of my family … and perhaps to a few friends back in 2009 when Barack Obama took office as the 44th president of the United States.

My thought then was that the first lady would emerge as the president’s secret weapon. She would become his most potent political ally. Indeed, her public approval ratings have loomed far greater than the president’s have during his entire eight years in the White House.

Well, now she has emerged as Hillary Clinton’s most effective surrogate.

The first lady was taking aim at that infamous video recording of Trump talking with Billy Bush about what he does, or would like to do, to women.

“This was not just a lewd conversation, that wasn’t just locker room banter,” the first lady said. “This was a powerful individual speaking freely and openly about sexually predatory behavior and actually bragging about kissing and groping women — using language so obscene that many of us were worried about children hearing it when we turn on the TV.”

Michelle Obama has taken this stuff personally. As she should.

As for Trump and how he might respond to this blistering barrage, he needs to take great care.

“I can’t think of a bolder way for Donald Trump to lose even more standing than he already has,” said deputy White House press flack Eric Schultz,  “than by engaging the first lady of the United States.”