I will never figure out why the country thought it would be cool to send a grifting, carnival-barking, pussygrabbing “fucking moron” to the White House to succeed Barack Obama. Never.
Racism and sexism. I accept that Hilary Clinton was a somewhat flawed candidate, but she had experience as Secretary of State and she worked to become an effective senator.
In retrospect perhaps Obama erred in working to convince Biden to stand down in 2016. That said, Hilary was still a far better candidate for president.
The biggest factor in VP Biden's decision not to run in 2016 was the death of his son and protege, Beau, who passed away from brain cancer in May 2015. He and his family were grieving, and by the time he felt 'well, maybe I should run', the window for mounting a successful primary against Clinton had closed. President Obama also weighed in, but it was largely due to Beau Biden's death that Joe Biden decided to put his family first and skip the 2016 race.
It took a HUGE toll not just on Joe Biden but on Jill and their whole family. He announced his decision not to run in October 2015 by which time any serious campaign for president should have already been in full swing.
Had Mitch McConnell and his "boys" in the senate done the job either time the House of Representatives presented them with articles of impeachment, convicting and removing the felon, we would have faced none of what we have today.
The job description of McConnell, as the majority leader of the Senate, was to serve the base of his party. The base of the so-called Republican Party consists of racial & religious bigots. Trump anointed himself as the Bigot in Chief. The "Republican Base" became the MAGA Mob. The current leaders of the MAGA Party can't go against the base.
Great column! President Obama is right, of course: We don't have to blame others when we find problems that need fixing.
We can work together as Americans to build solutions that reflect our common unity -- our comm-unity -- and stop pitting individual against individual.
We are one nation, one people, sharing a common set of ideals -- liberty and justice for all.
Mabe not. I've been reading how Alberta might secede from Canada.
All politics is (and are) local. I live in Baghdad By the Sea, where Cuban/South American affairs are apparently more inportant politically than whether our president is a crooked caudillo and is dragging us down the tubes.
I listened in tears to the speeches given by both Michelle and Barack Obama last Friday. I do believe their insistence that hope is a choice we can make is tremendously important right now. Let's not give up. There are more of us who want the future promised by our aspirational founding document than there are white, Christian nationalists. We just need to mobilize and recognize that our strength is in forming coalitions across our many differences. Diversity is strength.
You captured it! Beautifully articulated both the rot at the center of MAGA and the hope contained in the values and dreams the rest of us can work to restore and build ,together.
Watching the celebration of the opening of the Obama center in Chicago and the Knick’s celebration in NYC was a wonderful reminder of what we’ve been missing this past year and a half. Trump has done much to suck the joy out of our lives. His regime has done serious damage but watching these celebrations remind us that great leaders are still among us. We need to work and make sure our voices are heard in the Midterm Elections.
Our next legal hurdle is to defeat Trump's plan to restrict mail-in voting to those states he approves. Just like he denies Federal money to blue states. Norm Eisen is on the case, right?
Yes indeed! Many of us are out here working on behalf of democracy. In Kansas, that’s a real challenge as our legislature pushes to become one of the worst of the worst. But we won’t give up. Thank you for sharing Obama’s optimism. We need an encouraging and long view if we are to overcome the autocratic and destructive MAGA movement, for it is much bigger than Trump.
Poor poor MAGA cult members are going nuts seeing their "hero" disintegrating before their very eyes. They cannot accept that Obama is an honorable man while their "hero" is a dispicable non-human. They cannot accept the inevitable. They are terrified to think for themselves and transition back to the real world.
Real world, indeed. It must have been on a Substack because I'm not on X, but it was a pic of the four presidents there - Bush, Clinton, Obama and Biden. "Four pieces of shit" was an X poster's caption. Is that what it's come to - any president NOT Trump, or anyone not allied with Trump is automatically a "piece of shit"? I really don't get it.
We have to stand up to the crude, callous, corrupt conman! But it is getting easier as he humiliates and beclowns himself every single day. Just as his feckless VP was anxiously awaiting the Iranian delegation in Geneva, tRump threatens to kill the negotiators and occupy their country… I certainly didn’t have that choice on my Bingo card.
Pardons for J6 cop beaters & insurrections fraudsters drug kingpins "No quarter no mercy” for sandwich throwers or other Trump critics who are the worst of the worst/the enemy within? Resist the corrupt authoritarians. Vote Blue!
Trump 2.0 a disaster every which way you turn. It may well take a generation or more to undo the damage. Republicans may never recover. They will have to reinvent themselves.
Maybe, just maybe (hopefully), we will recover from this dystopian Trump era and the pendulum will swing back toward decency, truthfulness, honor, compassion, and commitment. Historians may see “Trump” as a wake up call for the sleepwalking American complacency that allowed us to believe politicians work for our interests rather than their own grift and grandiose illusions. We are getting schooled on how devious criminals can use our insecurities to divide us for their corruption. Maybe, just maybe, if we survive this low period we will emerge a more lucid nation.
Other political parties before them have failed and disappeared (Whigs, Know-Nothings, and even the Tea Party [absorbed into what became MAga]). It's quite possible that the Republican Pary will have the same end.
I will never figure out why the country thought it would be cool to send a grifting, carnival-barking, pussygrabbing “fucking moron” to the White House to succeed Barack Obama. Never.
Racism and sexism. I accept that Hilary Clinton was a somewhat flawed candidate, but she had experience as Secretary of State and she worked to become an effective senator.
In retrospect perhaps Obama erred in working to convince Biden to stand down in 2016. That said, Hilary was still a far better candidate for president.
“ Racism and sexism.”
And both at the same time in the case of Kamala Harris.
The biggest factor in VP Biden's decision not to run in 2016 was the death of his son and protege, Beau, who passed away from brain cancer in May 2015. He and his family were grieving, and by the time he felt 'well, maybe I should run', the window for mounting a successful primary against Clinton had closed. President Obama also weighed in, but it was largely due to Beau Biden's death that Joe Biden decided to put his family first and skip the 2016 race.
Yes, Beau Biden's illness and death had a great impact on Biden's decision in 2016.
It took a HUGE toll not just on Joe Biden but on Jill and their whole family. He announced his decision not to run in October 2015 by which time any serious campaign for president should have already been in full swing.
The Republicans had run a two decade (or more) campaign against the Clintons to poison their brand.
Very true. Given the GOP's capitulation to Trump in 2016
their outrage at Clinton's behavior while in office looks hypocritical and performative.
Ken Starr later went on to a high position at Baylor where he helped to cover up sexual misconduct by college athletes.
And the buffoon got elected TWICE!
Had Mitch McConnell and his "boys" in the senate done the job either time the House of Representatives presented them with articles of impeachment, convicting and removing the felon, we would have faced none of what we have today.
The job description of McConnell, as the majority leader of the Senate, was to serve the base of his party. The base of the so-called Republican Party consists of racial & religious bigots. Trump anointed himself as the Bigot in Chief. The "Republican Base" became the MAGA Mob. The current leaders of the MAGA Party can't go against the base.
Hard to believe
Trump is, on top of all you say, a gormless git.
Great column! President Obama is right, of course: We don't have to blame others when we find problems that need fixing.
We can work together as Americans to build solutions that reflect our common unity -- our comm-unity -- and stop pitting individual against individual.
We are one nation, one people, sharing a common set of ideals -- liberty and justice for all.
Mabe not. I've been reading how Alberta might secede from Canada.
All politics is (and are) local. I live in Baghdad By the Sea, where Cuban/South American affairs are apparently more inportant politically than whether our president is a crooked caudillo and is dragging us down the tubes.
I listened in tears to the speeches given by both Michelle and Barack Obama last Friday. I do believe their insistence that hope is a choice we can make is tremendously important right now. Let's not give up. There are more of us who want the future promised by our aspirational founding document than there are white, Christian nationalists. We just need to mobilize and recognize that our strength is in forming coalitions across our many differences. Diversity is strength.
“Fetid” says it all. Leave it to you to find le mot juste, Jen. You leave us with real hope, just as Obama did.
You captured it! Beautifully articulated both the rot at the center of MAGA and the hope contained in the values and dreams the rest of us can work to restore and build ,together.
Watching the celebration of the opening of the Obama center in Chicago and the Knick’s celebration in NYC was a wonderful reminder of what we’ve been missing this past year and a half. Trump has done much to suck the joy out of our lives. His regime has done serious damage but watching these celebrations remind us that great leaders are still among us. We need to work and make sure our voices are heard in the Midterm Elections.
Our next legal hurdle is to defeat Trump's plan to restrict mail-in voting to those states he approves. Just like he denies Federal money to blue states. Norm Eisen is on the case, right?
"Fetid" is most apt in describing Trump.
The Obamas have a quality that Don the Con wouldn't have (or even know) if he managed to live to 120 (Heaven forbid):
CLASS!
In fact, Don the Con is living proof that while money can buy lots of things, it doesn't buy class.
Class, in addition to intelligence, compassion and empathy. Three more qualities that Trump lacks.
Yes indeed! Many of us are out here working on behalf of democracy. In Kansas, that’s a real challenge as our legislature pushes to become one of the worst of the worst. But we won’t give up. Thank you for sharing Obama’s optimism. We need an encouraging and long view if we are to overcome the autocratic and destructive MAGA movement, for it is much bigger than Trump.
All I can say is that I want President Obama back.
Poor poor MAGA cult members are going nuts seeing their "hero" disintegrating before their very eyes. They cannot accept that Obama is an honorable man while their "hero" is a dispicable non-human. They cannot accept the inevitable. They are terrified to think for themselves and transition back to the real world.
Real world, indeed. It must have been on a Substack because I'm not on X, but it was a pic of the four presidents there - Bush, Clinton, Obama and Biden. "Four pieces of shit" was an X poster's caption. Is that what it's come to - any president NOT Trump, or anyone not allied with Trump is automatically a "piece of shit"? I really don't get it.
You got it exactly. That’s what a cult mentality looks like when the cult is based on hate and fear.
We have to stand up to the crude, callous, corrupt conman! But it is getting easier as he humiliates and beclowns himself every single day. Just as his feckless VP was anxiously awaiting the Iranian delegation in Geneva, tRump threatens to kill the negotiators and occupy their country… I certainly didn’t have that choice on my Bingo card.
Pardons for J6 cop beaters & insurrections fraudsters drug kingpins "No quarter no mercy” for sandwich throwers or other Trump critics who are the worst of the worst/the enemy within? Resist the corrupt authoritarians. Vote Blue!
Thank you Jen. This is the most uplifting thing I’ve read recently. It, and you, literally watered my eyes.
Trump 2.0 a disaster every which way you turn. It may well take a generation or more to undo the damage. Republicans may never recover. They will have to reinvent themselves.
Maybe, just maybe (hopefully), we will recover from this dystopian Trump era and the pendulum will swing back toward decency, truthfulness, honor, compassion, and commitment. Historians may see “Trump” as a wake up call for the sleepwalking American complacency that allowed us to believe politicians work for our interests rather than their own grift and grandiose illusions. We are getting schooled on how devious criminals can use our insecurities to divide us for their corruption. Maybe, just maybe, if we survive this low period we will emerge a more lucid nation.
We have been tested, and should now see the need for stronger guard rails to prevent this catastrophe from happening again.
Other political parties before them have failed and disappeared (Whigs, Know-Nothings, and even the Tea Party [absorbed into what became MAga]). It's quite possible that the Republican Pary will have the same end.
This is proof that HOPE is a lot healthier than HATE.