As I savor my shot of caffeine this morning, I have a lot to mull over, but high on my list was President Obama's speech last night at the Democratic convention, unprecedented in many ways. Of the many themes that he articulated so eloquently was his assessment of his successor which, in itself, was unprecedented in it bluntness, and in my opinion 'spot on.'
In his speech he said, "I did hope, for the sake of our country, that Donald Trump might show some interest in taking the job seriously; that he might come to feel the weight of the office and discover some reverence for the democracy that had been placed in his care," He further said, "but he never did. For close to four years now, he's shown no interest in putting in the work; no interest in finding common ground; no interest in using the awesome power of his office to help anyone but himself and his friends; no interest in treating the presidency as anything but one more reality show that he can use to get the attention he craves. Donald Trump hasn't grown into the job because he can't."
As if to support Obama's assessment, we have to look no further than Cheeto's comments earlier in the day when talking about QAnon. This group which exists on the lunatic fringe has had its conspiracy theories labeled a potential domestic terrorist threat by the FBI. If you seek the love and affection of a group because they think you are saving the world from 'a satanic cult of pedophiles and cannibals," you are clearly a few fruit loops shy of a full bowl. Cheeto was pleased that the group 'likes him very much" for which he is appreciative and they 'love their country.'
If you think about President Obama's comments about "Donald Trump has ..."no interest in using the awesome power of his office to help anyone but himself," it frames the problem for me. Cheeto has never appreciated that everything he does or says carriers the weight of the most powerful office in the world and prior to his tenure, the most respected positions on earth. When he speculates that consuming disinfectant may kill the coronavirus, people actually listen, just as they think Mr. Pillow actually knows something about virus treatments. His ill conceived positions and comments reflect a total lack of understanding and appreciation for the power of the office. Obama was right on the mark. Cheeto's comments about QAaon yesterday will very likely create a new enthusiasm for QAnon, just as his comments about the Nazi sympathizers in Charlottesville were good people provided tid bits for the hate mongers.
The list goes on and on, but everyday is another barrage of idiotic and ill conceived tweets and utterances which do nothing to move the country forward, and we can thank our former president for doing us a service by articulating it so forcefully and clearly.
I'm off of another cup of joe and cheese bagel.