Trumpeters Tell Us We’ve Been “Fooled” But Don’t Tell Us How

by Mark Bear

A recurrent theme from Trump supporters has been to tell Obama fans “they have suffered,” or “how we have been so fooled,” for the past eight years.

So, just how were Americans fooled when the following took place during the past eight years?  Here’s a few ways: 

* Gays and Lesbians can now marry and enjoy the benefits they had been deprived of. Has this led to our being fooled?

* When Obama took office, the Dow was 6,626. Now it is 19,875. Has this led to our being fooled?

* We had 82 straight months of private sector job growth – the longest streak in the history of the United States. Has this led to      our being fooled?

* Especially considering where the economy was when he took over, an amazing 11.3 million new jobs were created under President Obama (far more than President Bush). Has this led to our being fooled?

* Obama has taken Unemployment from 10% down to 4.7%. Was it this which had us all fooled?

* Homelessness among US Veterans has dropped by half. Did this cause us to be fooled?

* Obama shut down the US secret overseas prisons. Has this caused us to be fooled?

* President Obama has created a policy for the families of fallen soldiers to have their travel paid for to be there when remains are flown home. Has this led to our being fooled?

*We landed a rover on Mars. Was it this which caused us to be fooled?

* He passed the Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Prevention Act. Was it this which had us all fooled?

* Uninsured adults has decreased to below 10%: 90% of adults are insured – an increase of 20 Million Adults. Did this lead to our being fooled?

* People are now covered for pre-existing conditions. Were we all fooled when this took place?

Here’s a lot more ways we’ve been fooled.

From an objective standpoint it would appear that the last 8 years have seen some great progress and we were saved from a financial collapse. Things are not perfect of course.  They can always be better. We are on much better footing now than we were in 2008.

So, it is well past time that Trump supporters be specific in their critique of the previous President. They need to outline in specifics just how they suffered for the past eight years, or what it was the previous President did which fooled the entire country.

If they can’t do that they need to stop trying to revise history.  Secondly, when painting comparisons between the current President and what can only be described now as a questionable administration due to the Russian story, developing each day and our scandal free former president. Currently, no less than five Cabinet members which the GOP insisted on rushing through the confirmation process, have lied to Congress. They are; Scott Pruitt, Betsy Devos, Steve Mnuchin, Tom Price, and Jeff Sessions.

Sessions – as has surfaced this past week – lied about talking to Russians during the campaign, and Betsy Devos claimed she was not on the Board of her family’s foundation – which has donated millions of dollars to groups which oppose LGBT rights – only to now find out she was listed as Vice President of said Board. Furthermore, Steve Mnuchin claimed in his written testimony that his former bank had in no way used “robo-signing” to foreclose on properties, when in actuality as reported by the Columbus Dispatch “employees frequently signed documents in bulk” which is the very definition of “robo-signing” when proceeding with foreclosing on properties. In fact, one employee claimed in testimony that she “typically signed 750 foreclosure documents per week.”

Adding insult to injury, Scott Pruitt claimed during his testimony that he never “used a private email account while serving as Oklahoma’s Attorney General.” When Fox News Channel 25 asked the Oklahoma Attorney General’s Office whether Pruitt had or had not, they stated unequivocally that he had used a private email account. Pruitt also used that same private email account to conduct state business. So much for the Republican outrage over the former Secretary of State, and Democratic Nominee for President, Hillary Clinton using a private email server. Tom Price lied during his confirmation hearing as well, stating the discount on biotech stock he purchased “was available to every single individual who was an investor at the time.” However, as reported by the Wall Street Journal, fewer than 20 investors were offered that discount, including Mr. Price.

If any word can be used to describe the current President and administration, it is the word “fooled.” Remember the rantings of Trump during the campaign on how “he was going to drain the swamp?” Yet, he is surrounded by billionaires and special interests. Forgive me, but it really doesn’t sound as though he’s draining the swamp so much as he’s filling it up. In fact, Mr. Trump bragged immediately after being elected as President – on his celebration tour – that “that term always sounded hokey to me.”

Let me be clear: the former President didn’t have Cabinet members lying to Congress during their confirmation hearings, and the former President didn’t have ties to a foreign power as does the current President, at least that’s where the evidence appears to be leading.

In a similar vein, the former President offered “Hope and Change,” as his agenda, while the current President offers a dark, divisive agenda which alienates citizens of this great nation from one another. The former President had his share of dissent and opposition, but instead of deriding that dissent as the current President does, he embraced it and made every attempt to bring people from all stripes into the fold. His relentless pursuit of attempting to make Americans see that the differences between us were far smaller than what those who opposed him tried to portray was apparent throughout the past eight years. In addition, the former President faced a recalcitrant and obstructionist Congress, hell-bent on ensuring he failed versus succeed.

In contrast, the current President enjoys a majority in both the House and Senate, and as we speak that majority is ramming through all sorts of legislation which will turn back the progress made in the past eight years. Was the previous President perfect? No! However, when faced with the above challenges he still managed to get things accomplished while moving the nation forward, whereas the current President attacks those who disagree with him, going so far as to call the media an “opposition party.” He has absolutely no self-restraint – as evidenced by the persistent Tweets he sends out as distractions – and lies persistently while doing so. Our former President was elected by a true majority whereas the current President was merely elected by 42% of the 51% who actually voted in the previous election. If there is any hope out of this mess, it is that a minority of Americans voted for him, while a majority – evidenced by the popular vote – cast their ballot for Mrs. Clinton. The current President is the complete antithesis of what this nation has enjoyed for the past eight years.

Fooled by the former President? Hardly! However, all Trump supporters should be re-evaluating how they bought into a supposed “populist economic message,” which is actually an agenda promoting White Nationalism.

If anyone has been fooled it’s only those people who voted for Donald J. Trump just to witness him backpedal on nearly every promise, while also being accused of some of the most scandalous behavior since Richard Nixon! In sum, about the only word I can use to describe the current President and his administration is “corrupt.”

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