In yesterday’s (July 15th) WaPo, columnist Karen Tumulty writes an “open letter” calling on President Obama to speak out on President Trump’s latest racist outbursts.
She shoudn’t count on it.
Obama did nothing to prevent the “normalization” of Trump’s shady election even while he was in the White House. He did not speak out when his Iran deal was being destroyed. He refused to remind a credulous media that he, not Trump, got the economy roaring. In fact, he has never criticized Trump about anything. The fact that it’s African Americans that are now openly and directly in Trump’s cross hairs is unlikely to change anything.
Tumulty defends Obama by saying he respects the “norm” that ex-presidents don’t criticize presidents although both Jimmy Carter and George W. Bush have. Clinton has legitimate reason for silence as Trump ran against Hillary.But Obama has no such defense.
Norms are bullshit when the incumbent has tossed out not only every norm in the book but critical Constitutional safeguards and the biggest norm of all, in place since Andrew Johnson was president,
that the president does not openly race-bait and/or incite against racial minorities (leading to an unprecedented rise in hate crimes).
I don’t know why Obama does not feel that it is his patriotic duty to speak out. After all, every American should feel that duty although very few of us have an impact when we exercise it.
In my opinion, Obama has no excuse for not speaking out since November 2016 and especially now. I suspect he just doesn’t feel like it. But at 57, he is not entitled to sit back and relax or to wait til he can take the stump in 2020. Between kids being ripped from their parents’ arms and a president inciting violence by preaching racism, no excuse would suffice. After all, don’t we all criticize the good Germans who kept silent in the early Nazi years when resistance might have helped deter the Final Solution (not to say that Trump is planning genocide but he inciting race hate which has led to violence).
Another inspirational president who never lived to be an ex-president said something about not simply taking the good America has bestowed upon you but asking what “you can do for your country.”
He would not have imagined exempting ex-presidents from his call on the supposed grounds of looking unseemly or violating norms,
I could not be more disappointed in Obama, He dropped the mic on all of us.
The reason Obama is silent is all because of Spygate and his incestuous relationship with the DNC to rig elections. Obama was alway a empty suit paid actor who is now in the center of America’s biggest scandal in history and no one really cares what the pathological liar has to say all they care about is, who is going to be indicted and who is going to jail!
Agreed. This is trolling. Obama gave the nation 8 years as President. He can’t run again so this ultimately isn’t his fight. I personally like the “norm” of ex-Presidents not bashing their successor. And even if Obama did weigh in it would likely pull attention away from the very serious Democratic primary race. That’s what we need to be focused on.
Pelosi (and Schumer) are responsible for waging the daily battle against Trump in terms of legislation and oversight. We may be upset with how they’re doing it. But Obama’s not to blame for that.
Inspire? Who is he going to inspire at this point? His only signature achievement is now on life support and the guy couldn’t make a speech without a TelePrompTer to save his life! Oh BTW it’s going to get much, much worse for the Democrats once the indictments are unsealed! But hey go ahead and send your ANTFA squads, because some of us relish the chance for target practice on the Marxists idiots!
Obama may have more to say once democrats choose their candidate, but it really is appropriate for him to remain on the margins and let others move the ball down the field.
