In a recent interview with Chuck Todd of NBC's Meet The Press, Representative John Lewis of Georgia stirred up a big controversy when he said, "I don't see the President-elect as a legitimate president." -- http://www.nbcnews.com/meet-the-press/meet-press-01-15-17-n707086 This drew a sharp rebuke from The Donald on Twitter. As with most bullies, it appears that Mr. Trump and some of his fellow Republicans (it should be pointed out that a good many Republicans rallied to defend Lewis) can dish it out, but they can't take it.
How quickly some of us forget! Mr. Trump was an active proponent of the birther nonsense throughout much of Obama's presidency. -- http://www.cnn.com/2016/09/09/politics/donald-trump-birther/ Even after the President produced his birth certificate (a birth announcement in a Honolulu paper from the period was already part of the public record) and conclusively demonstrated that he had been born in Hawaii (NOT Kenya), Mr. Trump claimed that it wasn't authentic - that it was a fraud. Indeed, Trump only finally acknowledged that the President had been born in this country shortly before his own election to the office!
Mr. Trump, however, was not alone it his attempts to delegitimize President Obama. Throughout his tenure in the White House other Republicans attempted to portray him as not being one of us. The narrative was that he didn't believe in American exceptionalism, and that he was himself a Muslim. Dick Cheney said, "Barack Obama doesn't believe in an exceptional America." -- http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/252551-cheney-obama-rejects-american-exceptionalism Former GOP Representative Joe Walsh of Illinois said, "I think Obama is Muslim." -- http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/312173-former-gop-rep-i-think-obama-is-muslim Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell famously made the decision early in Obama's presidency to oppose everything that he attempted to do, and just last year made the decision to completely ignore his nominee to fill the vacancy on the Supreme Court created by the death of Justice Scalia.
Now it appears that the chickens have come home to roost. As a consequence of Civil Rights icon John Lewis' statement about Trump's legitimacy, a growing number of Democrats and others have elected to boycott Trump's inauguration this week. I wonder if a few folks are beginning to regret their behavior over the past eight years - probably not! I'm sure that most of them think that we should all just settle down and do our "patriotic duty" to support this man as president. A message to my friends who support Mr. Trump is in order: I wouldn't count on that happening!
How quickly some of us forget! Mr. Trump was an active proponent of the birther nonsense throughout much of Obama's presidency. -- http://www.cnn.com/2016/09/09/politics/donald-trump-birther/ Even after the President produced his birth certificate (a birth announcement in a Honolulu paper from the period was already part of the public record) and conclusively demonstrated that he had been born in Hawaii (NOT Kenya), Mr. Trump claimed that it wasn't authentic - that it was a fraud. Indeed, Trump only finally acknowledged that the President had been born in this country shortly before his own election to the office!
Mr. Trump, however, was not alone it his attempts to delegitimize President Obama. Throughout his tenure in the White House other Republicans attempted to portray him as not being one of us. The narrative was that he didn't believe in American exceptionalism, and that he was himself a Muslim. Dick Cheney said, "Barack Obama doesn't believe in an exceptional America." -- http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/252551-cheney-obama-rejects-american-exceptionalism Former GOP Representative Joe Walsh of Illinois said, "I think Obama is Muslim." -- http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/312173-former-gop-rep-i-think-obama-is-muslim Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell famously made the decision early in Obama's presidency to oppose everything that he attempted to do, and just last year made the decision to completely ignore his nominee to fill the vacancy on the Supreme Court created by the death of Justice Scalia.
Now it appears that the chickens have come home to roost. As a consequence of Civil Rights icon John Lewis' statement about Trump's legitimacy, a growing number of Democrats and others have elected to boycott Trump's inauguration this week. I wonder if a few folks are beginning to regret their behavior over the past eight years - probably not! I'm sure that most of them think that we should all just settle down and do our "patriotic duty" to support this man as president. A message to my friends who support Mr. Trump is in order: I wouldn't count on that happening!
Amen! Roy Lenington
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