On August 28, 2015, in his 6th year in office, the biggest  “scandal ”of Obama’s presidency erupted.  He wore a tan suit to a White House press conference.  He was not meeting with world leaders, addressing the nation or at a funeral.  He walked down the hall to a briefing room full of reporters in which some of the men were not even wearing ties.  He was not the first president to wear a tan suit while in office.  Reagan and Bush occasionally wore tan or khaki suits.  This was Obama’s first time showing work in anything other than a black, blue or grey suit.  He wore it  well.   I updated this post to add this WaPo article looking back on the tan suit affair 5 years later.

of the tan suit scandal.  That was a calmer, less frightening and more joyful time

And then there’s today.  It took Trump to teach the media about scandal and after 3 1/2 years of his two-scandals-a-day administration you can say they are magna cum laudes.

So just imagine what would have happened had President Obama said he was thinking about declaring a national emergency to divert money budgeted by Congress for other purposes to fund the Affordable Care Act?

When a Trump enabler/Trump supporter  says “it’s not about race”, ask them the question:  WIOD (What if Obama Did)? Generally, at this point the sputtering begins.  If they say: “It’s not the same”  tell them you know it is not the same,  1) Obama would not do the things in general or this thing in particular; but even if he did they would still say it’s not because Obama is  Black and Trump is white.   “That’s not the point”  is a favorite to which you should reply, “It is precisely the point so answer the question”.  To hide their increasing discomfort they’ll try to apply the “importance rule”.  That is Trump’s issue need to build a wall between Mexico and the US was more important than any issue confronting Obama in 8 years in office.  Like building the wall is way more important than affordable healthcare or the housing bust.  Really?     Tell this  to a sick person without insurance or a family about to be foreclosed on and see how they react.

Most won’t “own”  their racism (not yet anyway but stick around)  although if you’re in an (alt) right forum you’ll find plenty that will.

8000 lies and 101 scandals.  And yet Trump is still President.  Virtually every thing he says divides us further.  There is sufficient evidence including  his own actions to conclude with certainty that Trump is controlled by a hostile foreign power.  No tax return, no divestiture, no experience and no discernible ethics and yet he is still President.  Perhaps his MAGA-hat wearing supporters can be forgiven for being mesmerized by his combativeness and grandiose promises during the campaign. Perhaps.  But to continue to support him to this day  requires an eagerness to transform our country from a democracy to a dictatorship.   It requires one to wholeheartedly embrace the diminishment of our standing in the world leaving a vacum that Russia hopes to fill and China surely will fill.  What is the glue that binds these self proclaimed patriots to a course of action so ruinous for our country?   Let that sink in before you answer.