We don’t know everything that happened in 2015-16 with Russia, Donald Trump, the Trump family, Paul Manafort, Michael Cohen and more. We have some idea, and the larger picture has already taken shape, of course. But we don’t know as much as Robert Mueller. We do know enough now to understand that Barack Obama could have and should have done more to save us. I do fault Obama for that, honestly, and so does Hillary Clinton. Like, I love him and I wish he was still president, but the man made a mistake and it was a big one. That’s the biggest problem with Trump’s daily rants: he wants to pretend that Obama & his people were “colluding” to put Hillary Clinton in the White House, when really… Obama & company didn’t do enough to stop Trump BECAUSE they thought Hillary was going to win easily.
In the meantime, after more than 16 months in office, the wheels have come off the Trump administration completely. He spends his mornings ranting and raving on Twitter, and apparently the orange turd has been nursing one particular conspiracy:
President Donald Trump spent his long Memorial Day weekend sequestered mostly in the White House. But instead of holiday tweeting about the “haters and losers”—of which, he once said, “sadly, there are many”—he opted to lob innuendo and unfounded accusations at the man who occupied the office before him.
Barack Obama, Trump declared over the course of several days, “did NOTHING” on trade, let the sanctioned Chinese phone company ZTE “flourish with no security checks,” employed various lawyers on special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia probe, ignored Russian election meddling, and, above all, authorized “spying” on the Trump 2016 campaign…. What stood out about the weekend’s salvo was the vitriol, perhaps panic, behind it and the frostiness it underscored about the relationship between the two most recent Oval Office occupants.
According to two White House officials, Trump has been privately wondering whether Obama is actively working behind the scenes to undermine or undercut his presidency. And he’s done so without bothering to pick up the phone to ask or confront his predecessor. Obama and Trump have not spoken since the inauguration. There was an attempt. Following Trump’s inauguration, the new president tried to call Obama. But according to The Wall Street Journal, the two never connected. Matters weren’t helped when, in early 2017, Obama became furious about Trump’s groundless allegation that the former had wiretapped the latter in 2016. There has been no communication since.
When Kanye West was MAGA-ing all over the place last month, someone made a brilliant comment, which was basically “Kanye and Trump are the same in that they were both publicly humiliated by someone cooler than them, President Obama.” That’s what this has been about for a long time with the orange turd – he cannot even believe that such a cool, intelligent, charismatic, charming black man was president. The orange turd has done everything to undermine Obama’s legacy and undo every Obama policy. All because of jealousy and racism. And now, because of paranoia too.
You know what though? I WISH Obama was plotting against Trump. I wish all of the Obama administration people had some undercover meet-ups in Chicago and worked out all of the sh-t they were going to do to destroy Bigly. I f–king hope someone somewhere is plotting that sh-t.
Why didn’t President Obama do something about the so-called Russian Meddling when he was told about it by the FBI before the Election? Because he thought Crooked Hillary was going to win, and he didn’t want to upset the apple cart! He was in charge, not me, and did nothing.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 27, 2018
The 13 Angry Democrats (plus people who worked 8 years for Obama) working on the rigged Russia Witch Hunt, will be MEDDLING with the mid-term elections, especially now that Republicans (stay tough!) are taking the lead in Polls. There was no Collusion, except by the Democrats!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 29, 2018
Photos courtesy of Backgrid.
Obama, I miss you!
“Melania,” tell us where you are! Are you plotting with Obama?
Maybe LOL
She’s spending our tax money in New York.
I’d rather she be plotting with Mueller!
But reality bites: she’s probably recovering from plastic surgery in NY, away from Dump. Notice that sinkhole is filled in now that she’s made her escape!😂
So Trump wants us to believe that Obama and Hillary and all the liberals colluded to take him (Trump) down with Russian collusion that never happened and there’s no evidence of ? Lord, the excuses get thinner by the day.
His crazy base has been saying for at least a year and a half that Obama and his minions have formed a shadow government and are hiding at the bottom of an extinct volcano, cackling wickedly as they work to bring down Trump. This is old news, actually.
Must be tiring to be in his mind.
SERIOUSLY. The mental gymnastics are never ending. At this point, delusion is about the only word that sums him up. I do find the obsession with Obama a little disturbing though. How can you hate someone so much but want their validation and approval that bad? What a sad, pathetic creature he is.
I’m going out on a limb and guessing Daddy issues…just sayin’
Alarmjaguar, that’s a good guess.
it seems he has the same problem with a LOT of his “enemies”. like all of “liberal Hollywood”. he wanted SO BADLY (BIGLY?) to be a part of that crowd and no one liked him.
He really is an obsessed nutter. I hope his insides are twisted and painful. Trump is a demented grub.
@ Alarmjaguar : That was my exact thought as I read tifzlan’s comment “how can you hate someone so much but want their validation and approval that bad?”. This type of conflict (where you drag yourself back for more punishment in the faint hope that this time you will win) only happens in close family relationships – parents, older sibling.
There is a fine line between love and hate. I think it’s envy.
Wasn’t he *always* trying to get Daddy Fred’s approval for *everything*?
you ain’t lying.
Dude is so fragile with such a big ego that he cannot fathom that his situation/shortcomings/failures are solely due to his own actions and behavior. it can’t POSSIBLY be his fault, so he looks to blame whomever he can, no matter how ridiculous and paranoid he sounds.
The ultimate snowflake. Also, it must be killing his ego that Melania left his ass and moved out (IF the rumors are true).
The ultimate snowflake. Also, it must be killing his ego that Melania left his ass and moved out (IF the rumors are true).
I’m expecting to wake up one morning soon and find Melania’s picture on the milk carton.
Yeah. Shocker. The cult leader is paranoid, who would have guessed.
Regarding Obama and his lack of action of the Russian stuff , wasn’t that mostly McConnell forcing Obama to be quiet? Sounds like Obama was kind of in a hard place. I’m not sure what else he could’ve done.
What’s hilarious is that the Republican Party would have been in a far better place with Hillary Clinton as president . They are only successful when they have a Democratic president to rant against . When they have the opportunity to govern themselves, they do a lousy job at it.
McConnell told Obama he would accuse him of politicizing the election. Should Obama have ignored him and come forward anyway? Maybe. His temperate nature might not have been right for that decision. What a game-changer for America and the planet.
I suspect he struggled with the decision, but ultimately assumed that HRC would win the election regardless. Not that it matters because this IS NOT OBAMA’S FAULT (!!!!) as much as 45 would like that to be true.
Yes. It is kind of the ultimate example of the difference between the left and the right and why the left/right divide is so huge. Obama tried to play by the rules and assumed the right would mostly do the same but instead they threw the rules out the window. Really, the Merrick Garland travesty should have been a big tip off that up was down and down was up. Sigh.
I think Obama’s “temperate nature” did a lot of harm. And it started long before the election. He should have called out the racists as racists as soon as the birther crap started. I think the whole “we go high” thing, and being hell bent on appearing too dignified to engage, wanting to be seen as above it all, left the country he was charged to protect open to invasion by the deplorables. He didn’t fight for us when we needed him to be a strong leader. He wasn’t the right president for the time. Now we all suffer while he and his are protected by a thick veneer of wealth. Lesson is that if you let these people out of their holes it will be hell to pay trying to get them back in. We all had our heads in the sand.
aang, Please. Obama’s “temperate nature” didn’t harm anyone, ffs. I probably don’t need to tell you that it was the amoral, craven, corrupt right who fought him tooth and nail and worked their asses off to harm and undermine him and our very institutions all to enact their own twisted agenda. Along with the help of Fox News and other propaganda. It’s not Obama who brought this country to this horrifically low point.
esmom I stand by my statement. And notice I said “we”. While we were all blissfuly patting ourselves on the back in our Obama love bubble this was festering. Instead of ignoring the deplorables they should have been called out for the racist, angry, vengeful, paranoid, crazies that they are. When Obama called them out for clinging to guns and god, he should have doubled down instead of back tracking. It was an error of hubris, on Obama’s part and on our part.
@ aang- Yeah he should have come out as the *Angry Black Man* because that would have worked so well for him. I’m sure the Tea Party folks would have seen that and just quietly slunk away with their tails between their legs.
Like seriously? How can you see what’s happening in this country right now and not recognize that Obama had to be a million times better than the average white entitled guy just to be able to get the job done?
And the sad truth is that even if he DID come out screaming and fighting it would have made ZERO difference because McConnell and crew would STILL have blocked him at every turn. They decided how they felt about him based on his campaign, his middle name, and the fact that he is black. No amount of bravado or combativeness would have changed that. It would have served to make his life harder and definitely would have prevented him from winning a second term.
As it were, Obama spent his entire presidency being the bigger person not because he wanted to, but because he knew he had to be if he wanted to legislate in a GOP-controlled Congress.
aang, I agree this was all festering and in hindsight of course more could probably have been done to combat the lies and vitriol and conspiracies and ignorance. But this has hijacking of our institutions and utter disregard for facts has been unprecedented and I think “hubris” is the wrong word to describe what transpired under the left’s noses. Obama did what he had to do, as Kitten said, to keep the government from coming to a screeching halt thanks to the GOP. In no way is his tone, temperament and manner to blame for this shi%tshow we find ourselves in. In fact I tend to see it as a beacon that will hopefully help us as we try to navigate our way out of it.
It wasn’t all Obama’s fault, but Aang is right imho. He didn’t have the right sized balls to take on the level of evil the republicans were wielding. McConnell just kept snatching his candy away like they were in a schoolyard. He needed a Dick Cheney’ish style deputy to face them off imho.
Remember when Rush Limbaugh basically shepherded the republicans into openly trying to completely sabotage the country, just so Obama would “fail”? How do you fight that? It’s like facing suicide bombers – ready to bring down the entire building, even while they’re in it, as long as they can take you down as well. Or Freddy Krueger – dead, rotten and with nothing to lose.
Complete psychopaths.
You can’t face them with a hippy, preaching peace and love. Or a pastor. You won’t win. You need your own Hannibal Lector (crafty, equally brutal, psychopath) that just happens to be in your side.
Sadly, I don’t think it’s in the Liberal DNA to operate in that way, so we will most likely keep getting tossed around for the foreseeable future.
PS: I like Michael Avenatti though, he has the right mix of intellect, street smarts and sociopathy to go places in politics. He keeps setting traps and they keep falling into it. 😘😘
I’m not sure it was his temperate nature versus avoiding a riot or civil war. Remember Trump spent the last months of the campaign egging on his base to prepare for the Obama administration “rigging” the election for the Democrats. And yes even some disaffected Bernie voters would have believed that Obama was trying to muddle the waters if he came out about the Russian-Trump collusion if the Republican congressional leaders didn’t join in announcing the story as a combined unit.
If you read the Celebitchy archives of that time period we were all legitimately scared that Trump was inviting an armed rebellion against the election
“You can’t face them with a hippy, preaching peace and love. Or a pastor. You won’t win. You need your own Hannibal Lector (crafty, equally brutal, psychopath) that just happens to be in your side.”
Ok but then how do you propose the liberal Hannibal Lector would work within that kind of constrained political framework? I mean, Obama did the only thing he COULD do which was to sign EO after EO just to bypass the blockade that the GOP created. His hands were tied. Liberal Hannibal Lector’s hands would be, too, and presumably, the option to eat Mitch McConnel’s face or make a lampshade out of Paul Ryan would be off the table in terms of bargaining agreements.
I just don’t believe being more crafty, sneaky, and duplicitous would have helped Obama accomplish more in his 8 years. On the contrary, I think it would have caused him to lose support and respect among bleeding heart liberals and it would have made his time in the Oval Office a nightmare for him and his family.
And the thing is, he never would have won the first primary if he campaigned on that kind of a platform. People wanted the Hope and Change polite black man, not an angry black liberal promising anarchy and complete upheaval of GOP values. Never, EVER underestimate the double standard and racism that black candidates face.
And I apologize if my tone was nasty in my above-replies but this particular topic drives me nuts. And full disclosure: I love Obama so I probably get a bit more defensive here than I should.
Original T.C.: “I’m not sure it was his temperate nature versus avoiding a riot or civil war. ” THIS. People are rewriting history in painting Obama as too timid or hippy dippy. I truly believe he walked the tightrope he was forced to walk in the only possible way he could.
Kitten: “People wanted the Hope and Change polite black man, not an angry black liberal promising anarchy and complete upheaval of GOP values.” ALSO THIS. There’s no way he would have been elected on this sort of platform. Ha. And race aside, I always thought Bernie was unelectable because he was too radical for many Dem voters.
People might be forgetting because of the past year and a half of trauma, but the President isn’t supposed to interfere with DOJ or intelligence investigations. Obama tried to use the proper channels to call attention (another branch, congress), but he had really no options when that failed.
“Instead of ignoring the deplorables they should have been called out for the racist, angry, vengeful, paranoid, crazies that they are.”
In this statement, you used the exact verbiage that was used when someone DID call them out! Did you forget where “deplorables” comes from? How did that work out for her, calling out those voters? Do you think it would have made a difference if Obama called them “deplorables” as well, or some other phrase with the same meaning? It would not have worked.
Russian interference targeted specific voters in specific counties with misinformation. Unless Obama was going to some how target those exact same voters, it would not have worked.
@Bella DuPont, the biggest problem with Liberals is that a huge segment of them doesn’t vote.
During the national elections, loads of people were ‘too woke’ to vote for Hillary, or ‘it doesn’t matter if I vote anyway’.
And so Trump got elected. Liberals have to do one simple thing and that’s voting in every single election they can vote in, whether it is for the presidency or the smallest election you can think of.
If they do that, the nutters will lose all their power.
@ Kitten
I take/took no exception whatsoever. I absolutely LOVE/LOVE Obama as well……he was and remains the perfect picture of grace, intellect, sophistication and civility. But the forces against him were just too strong. Too primal.
I agree with you that if he had dared try anything underhanded, he would most likely be in jail right now. That’s how badly they were coming for him.
But I’m saying, he should have picked a far more aggressive, less principled VP than himself. What those bastard republicans needed towards the end of his tenure were democrats ready to take off their gloves, grab a dagger and get into the swamp with them.
Do you know how unbelievably dirty those reps are? They’re up to their eyeballs in Russian money-laundering money, campaign violations, bribery, you name it. The dems just need to be prepared to dig that rubbish up and use it to force them to do the right thing where necessary.
@ Flan
The repubes have a well oiled, sophisticated democrat voters suppression machine. And they keep improving upon it.
And then even when the Dems DO turn out to vote, their votes are gerrimandered away.
What I’m trying to say essentially is that the left either wakes up to what it will truly take to snatch your country back (and it’s not about being nice, or even decent)….or continue to be the well meaning idiot who constantly gets swept to the side, when the big boys come out to play.
@ Flan
Your second paragraph is 1,000,000% correct. The absolute stupidity of some liberals in trying to equate/conflate Hilary’s inadequacies/imperfections to Trump’s our and our evil…….😩😩😩
@Bella DuPont
I agree with you wholeheartedly about perhaps picking a more aggressive VP but the reality is that Pres. Obama is a class act and needed that matched by his VP. Someone else wouldn’t have worked.
What really makes me angry is that the Dems NEED a McConnell-like Democrat now. Where is he/she? Where is the messaging coming out of the DNC. They are still letting the GOP drive all of the messaging and then coming out meekly after the fact.
“They are only successful when they have a Democratic president to rant against . When they have the opportunity to govern themselves, they do a lousy job at it”
exactly this. for eight years all they knew how to do was say “NO” and oppose everything. they needed that boogeyman. now that they CAN govern, they don’t know how to.
Yes this is what kills me: listening to these people whine about “liberal elites in Washington” when these Faux News talking heads make hundreds of a millions of dollars a year and when the person they are defending is the most wealthy, privileged and entitled elitist that has ever set foot in the Oval Office.
They only know how to play the victim. The only narrative they know how to push is that of the maligned underdog. They are perpetually under attack by anyone and everyone and this frenzied paranoia is only exacerbated by Trump’s desperate daily tantrums.
“For eight years all they knew how to do was say “NO” and oppose everything. they needed that boogeyman. now that they CAN govern, they don’t know how to.”
And now they sqwauk about how they can’t get anything done because the Democrats are obstructing them and how unfair it is. Did they really think this wouldn’t happen? After doing it themselves for 8 years? That the Democrats would just roll over and allow them to fleece the country, destroy healthcare and transfer wealth to the top 1%, roll back rights for everybody that’s not a straight white male, and on and on, without a fight? How dare the Democrats give them a taste of their own medicine! The hypocrisy and mental gymnastics are infuriating.
Hence why they fabricated this “deep state” – a shadow government full of liberal boogeymen that they could use as a shield for their own incompetence.
“[…] Obama is quietly working behind the scenes to undermine him” …
Horse cakes.
Bigly is front and center, loudly, and relentlessly working to undermine his own d@mned self. His horrible children are working to undermine him. His scummy staff and lying representatives are working to undermine him. His followers, from celebrity to everyday, are working to undermine him.
He and the swamp that surrounds and nourishes him are the problem, not President Obama.
We know this, and his increasingly frantic tweets aren’t going to change hearts and minds. Not by a long shot.
I love how gossipy and leaky this White House is. People must have the Post and NYT on speed dial – if the West Wing hasn’t taken away their personal phones yet.
Word is, “personal” phones (except for Dump’s THREE UNSECURED LINES!!!!) are collected every day at the entry to help “prevent” leaks. HAHAHAHAHA!
Frantically tweet-attacking Jeff Sessions this morning.
well, the NY Times reported (yesterday?) that he repeatedly asked Sessions to UNrecuse himself so that he could put a stop to the Mueller investigation.
which means, Sessions is a direct witness to attempted obstruction. and if he told Mueller that…well…it’s no wonder that 45 is attacking.
sad_paranoid_donald_trump_believes_obama_is_quietly_working_to_undermine_him
He does this simply by existing.
IKR? Obama undermines Trump merely by living his best life. With a wife who’s living her best life. With children living their best lives. Book deals, Netflix deals, speaking engagements, philanthropic endeavors.
Bigly undermines Bigly by living his worst life. Wife unseen for weeks at a time full on DESERTS him to return to NYC for the foreseeable future. Zero family photos of Trump family BBQ over Memorial Weekend. Mueller investigation, FBI investigating campaign because RUSSIA, various cabinet members fiscal irresponsibility with tax payer $$$, flagrant malfeasance resulting in thousands of deaths directed at PR, morally bankrupting the presidency. Just a never ending degradation of our country.
I imagine the WH mirrors are removed, covered up or turned to the wall as Tiny Hands can’t bear to look himself in the mirror as they tend to speak truth to power.
OMG. From what I’ve seen, Obama spent several months on tropical vacations and is now focusing on getting rich rich rich with his production company and book deals. He seems to have washed his hands of it all IMO, I’m sad that he is not showing any visible elder statesman leadership, frankly.
While i understand the point you are trying to make, I don’t think Obama chiming in more than he already has will make the situation better. Trump is whipping up his base with every fascist dictator move he can pull out of the handbook and any further “meddling” so to speak will only be twisted and turned to serve his point. It’s a dangerous, precarious time to be in.
“I’m sad that he is not showing any visible elder statesman leadership, frankly.”
This sounds like Hamilton Nolan’s column from last week, in which apparently Obama ‘owes’ us something post-presidency.
https://splinternews.com/obama-sucks-as-a-post-president-1826203067
Monique Judge disagrees:
Barack Obama is not your Magical Negro. I know y’all want him to be, but you have to give the man a break. He just got out of one of the most abusive eight-year relationships imaginable. I’m sure he needs some time to decompress.
There is this thing white people do where they invoke Obama’s name and say he is the one who needs to come forward and speak out against Donald Trump. He is the one who needs to condemn the things Trump is doing. He is the one who needs to save us from a demise of our own making. Why?…
https://www.theroot.com/obama-doesn-t-owe-this-country-shit-1826309455
Awesome quote, cr.
Yassssss! Thank you for posting that quote, cr. Exactly exactly exactly.
Obama doesn’t owe us SH*T and has every right to enjoy his time as a private citizen. I think people underestimate how painful it is for him to see his entire legacy being dismantled brick-by-brick. It’s a kind of psychological torture for someone who has spent 8 years trying to make this country better. Leave him the eff alone and allow him to grieve in private because this is likely killing him more than it’s killing us.
Also, if he wants to explore more philanthropic of creative endeavors I think that’s fantastic. I highly doubt that his motivation is money. Don’t confuse him with Trump.
Yeah, I’m baffled by everybody acting like these politicians aren’t human beings. The first black president of the United States just watched America soundly reject his chosen political heir in favor of an incompetent white supremacist who is not only ripping apart his legacy but also sparking increasing amounts of ethnic and racial tension in the United States. Imagine how that feels knowing that everything Trump has done and all of the ugliness coming out of the shadows in America right now is a direct result of you having the audacity to be a black man in office. I honestly don’t know how he keeps his cool.
Fully agree – he doesn’t owe anyone anything, anymore than GWB did, and he’s just hanging out on his ranch painting portraits.
For the record, since leaving office, Barack Obama has been working the Obama Foundation, working on redistricting to fight gerrymandering, campaigning last November, donating money to jobs programs, wrote a memoir, and even reported for jury duty. The guy’s not just sitting on a beach with a pina colada.
I desperately wish he’d been able to do more during the 2016 election, but I’ve seen many people in the know explain why he was between a rock and a hard place. Still, I wish he’d said f— it and done more, and I bet he does too.
Why are you sad?
The Rethugs used him as a bogeyman for damn near a decade while he was in office. If Obama was more visible now they would be trying to amp up his baseless claims that Obama was trying to undermine him. And the media would be backing up his claims as they are feckless sycophants who would rather strive for bothsides journalism than finding the truth . It is almost as if you weren’t paying attention when he was in office and are still not paying attention.
He is doing just fine behind the scenes trying to undo the gerrymandering that the Dems let happen while he was in office.
Also, he is a private citizen now, so if he wants to make deals that make him and his family tons of money, I say let him. White Americans failed Obama after everything he helped set up for this country . They let the gerrymandering happen, the tea party happen, white Americans on both the left and right made Dump happen. The only person he owes anything to is his wife for putting up with raising two kids mostly alone while he worked for 8 straight years, maybe even longer when he was in the Senate. He owes her tons of kisses and vacations and cheesily sung songs. His daughters deserve some dad jokes, money, and support.
Preach. The Root’s had some good articles about the different standards and how every damn president has done book deals.
Also, I’m kind of mad that that the press barely covers the work he does and that his foundation has already started a fellowship that covers 10 or so people working in non-profits.
Very well said. This disingenuous handwringing that “Obama isn’t stepping up” is beyond ridiculous. And transparent.
What good would it do? Trump’s rabid base doesn’t give a flying F about reality, and they are the only ones who can tolerate him. Everyone else is already convinced he is a madman.
Obama is not y’all’s magical negro. Man was demonized for years and the Bernie crowd hates him so why should he prostrate himself before those aholes. Moreover, every former president gets big book deals and people (and the press) conveniently forget that the Obama Foundation and my Brother’s Keeper in addition to him quietly supporting voting rights. Obama’s charity is already doing good work, and I’m sure it’ll grow and expand like the Clinton Foundation and Jimmy Carter’s did.
This isn’t to give former President Obama a dodge. However, I can understand how people may feel “emotionally abandoned” by him due to the fact that he has been publicly low-key but keep a couple things in mind.
First, not many ex-presidents have gone out front and center to criticize the newly elected president. If and when it does happen, it is usually done politely and couched in civil tones. For example, and if I’m not mistaken, I think all of the living ex-Presidents rebuked this current administration around the handling of the recent hurricanes. That was done as a united front, in some ways, and not as an individual stance. Secondly, the National Democratic Party really messed this last election up. The Party itself is in somewhat of an organizational shamble, with the fall-out of its usual movers and shakers sitting on the sidelines pointing fingers at Obama, Hilary, Bernie and trying to regroup (or at least find a clue). The DNC would be / should be a natural pivot and platform for a former democratic president but that group’s toxicity and splinter fighting was revealed during the recent election. Third, and finally, President Obama is red meat for Trump. Trump is emotionally and psychologically energized by taking BO down. He scores easy points with his base when he invokes President Obama. So, given the totality and volitilty of the situation, BO and his people have probably wisely decided to remove the target. Trump’s wins and losses need to be about the Trump Administration and the U.S. Congress and not that other guy🤗. Think about it? Without Obama as a source of animus Trump doesn’t have an agenda or any guiding principles.
@Chaine Obama remains involved.
https://www.politico.com/story/2016/10/obama-holder-redistricting-gerrymandering-229868
He gave eight years of his life to this country. I didn’t agree with everything he did, but he’s only human. He has a right to reclaim his life and do what he wants with it. If he wants to do speeches and make money, go for it. He wants to get politically involved, he can do that, too. I honestly don’t care. His duty to this country – beyond basic civic contributions like voting and paying taxes – were done the moment he left office.
The voters are who put Trump in office. The voters can hold responsibility for it.
Obama can do whatever he wants. Good luck to him.
Obama never took a vow of poverty and he owes us nothing. It is our responsibility to get us out of this mess.
Hey I’m not hating on him for getting rich, I’m just saying he is probably busy with his own thing now rather than doing whatever nefarious scheming that Trump’s paranoid rantings would have us believe.
People vilified the Obamas for every single vacation they ever took, including during his presidency. It’s almost like black people are supposed to work at the resorts, not enjoy them. ; )
Anyway, the Netflix and book deals are only part of Obama’s ongoing work. He’s involved in voting rights work/anti-gerrymandering, and here’s the Foundation, up and running.
https://www.obama.org/mission/
The money he makes will, most likely, be put to very good use.
Never underestimate either Barack or Michelle. Though I also don’t think they owe us anything and am tired of the messianic yearning.
he doesnt owe the country anything else – he did his job for 8 years and if people didnt listen then it is on them and what is wrong with him wanting to make money – trump is doing it as pres
I am so tired of people acting like Obama’s purpose in life is to save us from ourselves. He did such hard work, but ultimately, the VOTERS are responsible for this mess. Only the VOTERS can change things.
To focus on Obama is to shirk responsibility for our own mistakes.
He’s inciting mob violence, in his very unsubtle way. This is an oblique call for bloodshed. In the end, I do see him as a murderous dictator, God help us all. Lack of empathy + lack of remorse + impulsiveness + dumbassery= mob rule, civil chaos and America’s version of The Lord of the Flies. The oily servility, cowardice and opportunism of the Republican Congress will live on in infamy.
My mother and many of her friends share great anxiety at the potential for large scale bloodshed. They view the school shootings, increasing use of police against POC merely for living their lives, use of government agencies such as ICE, DHS and DOJ policy dictated by Sessions to stigmatise & remove POC and erode our rights as warnings of worse to come.
My mother thinks I’m joking when I tell her to put cash aside and have her passport ready. She thinks it’s “cowardly” to leave this mess behind. It is *right now,* but there may be a point where it’s your life on the line, and suddenly fleeing the country won’t seem like such a bad idea. Dissidents die under dictators.
The question is who will take in American refugees? Mexico has been alienated. Canada has its hands full with people fleeing the United States and other global hot spots. The normal immigration process takes years. Everyone else: get on a plane or a boat and good luck. The rest of the world is not as automatically welcoming as the USA has been at some points (not this one!) in its history. I would think many would be in for a world of pain as the USA becomes inhabitable for more and more of its peoples. This is truly tragic.
I mean…people aren’t going to flee the US en masse LOL. Most of us love our country and will stay here and fight. I have dual citizenship and could (fairly) easily live in France, but I love HOME. I love Boston and the quality of life here, I love my family and friends….and frankly, it would make me nuts living somewhere else and being forced to watch all of this happen when I’m not there.
Participating in protests, calling my reps and senators, and being part of a movement is the only thing that prevents me from feeling helpless every single day.
I agree with Kitten that it’s unlikely to be a mass exodus. I’m just a paranoid person who likes being prepared for the worst. I’m not going anywhere, anytime soon because I’d rather fight to make sure the country doesn’t get to that point. I’m just not at all naive enough to think it’s impossible to get THAT bad that I wouldn’t be willing to try my luck with the kindness of strangers.
Chaina, but none of the former presidents are. They should.
Yes, they are. Clinton, Carter, Bush, and Obama have all condemned things this administration is doing.
I just came to say I love Obama’s first pic-it’s amazing!! 🙂
HK9, I agree. That photo is gorgeous. And underlines everything great about the man and his presidency.
I won’t engage with comments criticizing President Obama because I don’t understand how or why he should be fighting our fight against a demonic 45. The people who couldn’t be bothered to vote, or pay attention or voted for such a despicable man are the ones who need to take action. And I’m constantly surprised by the vile comments defending drump. They are shallow and lack substance. They are just like Donnie Jr retweeting Roseanne’s horrible comments then deleting and saying he didn’t do it. They are liars, and delight in causing confusion and harming people.
Yeah, Obama’s sole fault was that he just went too high, he always seemed to ascribe the best motives to trash humans, he always assumed that their love of the country would stop them. It didn’t.
That said, if the twitterers I read are right, he totally is undermining Trump’s “presidency.” I think there was a period of time in which every time Dotard did something egregious to another foreign country, Obama would, a few weeks later, make a visit. As a former president, of course, he would usually see the head of state. I can see Obama smoothing things over, reassuring. Trump totally follows the Resistance on twitter! 🤣
And if anyone thinks Trump actually got those votes, I have a bridge for you. Internal RNC polling showed the GOP getting routed. He is an illegitimate president.
For me, I think President Obama was a good to decent president and an even better man but I don’t think he was a good politician in that he didn’t do enough saber rattling and political gymnastics. Basically, he didn’t get political. For example, when the Congress tried to hijack the budget the first time around, President Obama tried to appeal to what folks want to call our better angels and human decency. F-that. They weren’t playing with him. They were playing to win and they were fighting gutter.
In my humble opinion, President Obama should have gone on television and instead of appealing to human decency he should have shamed the US Congress by saying that their budget shenanigans with stop old ladies from getting their Social Security checks, veterans wouldn’t get paid, men and women who are serving in the Armed Forces and families rely on that money; some who may even be facing eviction—in this great country. I would have done that wearing the biggest flag pin emblem I could find. Instead the nightly news and his opponents talked about the beige suit he was wearing. Oh well.
I think you’re right that that’s Obama’s biggest “problem” – he is a good guy. He just is. LBJ was a crap human in a lot of ways with questionable politics on some things but the man knew how, when and where to knock heads.
B*tch, if Obama were so all f*cking powerful to this degree, that he could undermine your entire presidency without saying or doing anything that no one saw or heard in a way that they could legitimately prove, including the scores of GOP asshats who spent 8 years vocally undermining HIS presidency, don’t you think he’d STILL be president? Hell, if he had that much clout we’d have all been better off because he would have just railroaded everything through, only in his case it would have been common sense legislation and we wouldn’t be a moral wreck of a nation, the laughingstock of the entire planet, teetering on the edge of WWIII.
If I were Obama right now, I’d would just about piss myself laughing every time I saw this shiz. That would be pretty great revenge, knowing you were making someone that crazy without even doing anything. Except Obama isn’t awful and is probably worried like we are about how 45 will use this to lash out at everyone because he’s such a paranoid moron.
I think Canada has replaced USA as laughingstock of the entire planet, what with buying the Texan’s Kinder Morgan pipeline, and all. So there’s that…..
I’ve decided on FUBAR as my reaction. This was after 10 minutes of utter speechlessness first. What the hell was he thinking?
Trudeau got played and Kinder Morgan is making out like bandits.
I think Canada has replaced USA as laughingstock of the entire planet, what with buying the Texan’s Kinder Morgan pipeline, and all. So there’s that…..
Canada is a laughing stock because Trudeau is our prime minister. It happened long before the Kinder Morgan deal. His government has turned our country into a total disaster. Worst PM we have ever had.
How do most Canadians feel on the Kinder Morgan deal? It seems like such an amateur move on his part, like he got seduced by the prospect of wealth without doing his due diligence and got royally f*cked. He wanted to push forward the purchase based on a false premise in order to save face and preserve political capital because he’s up for re-election next year…not in Canada’s best interest.
I haven’t been following Trudeau’s leadership too closely (forgive me but I’ve been preoccupied with our nightmarish dumpster fire) but what’s the general consensus out there about Trudeau?
Preach. Trump and his followers truly are delusional.
He sounds more paranoid, panicked, and desperate every day. Sad thing is that his base gobbles up this nonsense and believes everything he says no matter how stupid it is
Yep, I was just with my in laws over the weekend and my FIL is just as deplorable, and angry, as ever. He watches Fox News every single day, he just put a disgusting trump sticker on his car which I honestly never thought he’d do because it’s a nice car and he loves his nice things and freaks if something happens to them. So that’s how I no there is no going back with him, or my MIL. There is absolutely no trying to get him to see anything other then what trump and Fox News rant about. It’s always a witch hunt or crooked Hilary that are undermining poor trump and great decisions and policies. Everything comes back to trump with him. We can be sitting there talking about the flowers by the house and somehow he will bring it back to trump and tie him in.
My husband just asked if there is a rock bottom or anything trump could do to make these people not support him or at least not be so rabid about it, but I don’t think there is. There is nothing he can do that they won’t either double down on or make crazy excuses for.
I know what you’re going through. Fox News rotted my fathers brain, and when I visit, he just stares blank eyed at the TV while watching the bullshit. My mother didn’t hear about the 1500 missing children, doesn’t know anything about Trumps crazy tweets,but automatically agrees with anything her Trumpster bff says to defend and support Trump. They were 100% liberal until they started watching Fox News and made friends with right -leaning people. Every conversation twists into politics, and I end up snapping and angry that such nice, people who were once so open minded, became so easily conned by an obvious con man like Trump. Drives me crazy that they keep the blinders on and block out what they don’t want to hear
The Murdoch family switched off the Fox News channel in the UK, because it’s unhinged, fact-free & heavily-biased “reporting” fell foul of media guidelines and was considered too much of an embarrassment to them at a time when they were involved in a major media takeover that needed government approval. And this is what the Toddler-in-Chief gets his morning intelligence briefings from!
For context, the honest-to-goodness propaganda channel of the Kremlin – Russia Today – is still airing and considered a half-decently credible news resource.
@Beth- it’s so upsetting honestly. My parents are the same way but not as bad because they got the hint that I don’t support and didn’t vote for trump so they don’t talk about him as nauseous like my FIL. It blows my mind how the Fox News watchers really know nothing about him and have never seen hit unhinged tweets. At this point they just don’t want to see anything else in my opinion. My parents and my in laws never were this nuts about politics before. It wasn’t a main topic of discussion and ranting like it is today. I hate it. I feel like the respect I had for my dad is chipping away and that’s a horrible feeling.
Trump’s presidency is literally and figuratively tearing families apart. I think the only thing that *may* change Trumpster’s minds is if the economy tanks. They need to feel the direct effect–preferably on their wallet–of Trump’s policies, because compassion and empathy for others and respect for the Oval Office aren’t important enough to move the needle.
And I say that with no disrespect to your families–I have several Trump-supporters in mine and I’ve had to shut them out. Not as hard for me because they are an aunt, uncle, and several cousins who live 3,000 miles away in Cali.
Sorry you guys are going through this…very painful.
I’m heading home to visit my family soon, and I can’t stop thinking of how to approach the Trump issue with my grandparents and father. I feel an obligation to bring this up. At the very least, I would love to be able to convince them to watch another news channel, if even for 30 minutes a day.
And this morning’s target is Jeff Sessions.
Again
He just tweeted about Barr and made it about himself, referring to himself in the third person. He’s done literally NOTHING all day except for watch TV and rage-Tweet. He is so f*cking useless.
It’s pure and evil racism first and foremost. All of his words and actions are the symptoms of racism.
trump is such a dangerous psycho.
Obama is undermining Emperor Zero.
Obama is continuing to be a man with great dignity, strength, poise, charm, intelligence, and humor. He loves his wife of 27+ years and continues to instill his wonderful gifts in two lovely daughters who follow in both his and Michelle’s footsteps.
And his hands are massive. I mean Bigly gigantic.
And he’s fit
And he’s handsome
And he’s cute
And his smile
Yeah…he’s Bigly undermining EZ
Lol. Undermining simply by existing.
All of this and it just KILLS Dumpie.
I just read on WaPo that the raid on Cohen’s office has yielded 300,000 pieces of evidence so far…and they are about to receive 1 MILLION voicemail files from Michael Cohen’s phones.
Trump has reason to be freaking out!
BRING. IT.
Obama, sitting next to his in-house pool, sipping a martini and casually reading the news: Fascinating.
‘Obama working to undermine trump’..we wish
I heard Kim K is visiting whoozit in the WH today..bet there’s lots of smiley pics…
She found the thing to use as a distraction from the reality that she was trying to sabotage a non-profit over the weekend (I’m surprised that wasn’t covered here).
Today’s optics should be hilarious. Kim visiting the Orange One with Jared to discuss prison reform while Princess “Don’t Ask Me About My Unethical Deal with China” Nagini attempts to launch some school sports initiative photo op while refusing to answer questions about her conflicts of interest.
I totally support prison reform….but FFS, there are so many more qualified experts on the subject that are more worthy of the President’s time!
This guy is so obsessed with President Obama. He probably wants to be him so bad.
What a crazy stalker that childish ‘president’ is, must be a really lonely man.
He and Roseanne should totally hook up.
Trump just threw Jeff Sessions under a bus.
I wonder if Sessions is speed dialling Mueller about now. Donnie No Braincells really does not care if he commits obstruction of justice, he thinks he’s untouchable because he’s President.
He won’t get away with this, he’ll be brought down by obstruction and Stormy D while he admin, the GOP and his vile family will be brought down by the Russia interference.
I agree that Obama should have crushed Putin. Especially after Russian downed the MH17 airliner and also the plane that killed the Polish President. I never understood why Obama treated Medvedev as a legit president. I wish Hillary wouldn’t have resigned as Sec of State, as I think she could have discouraged Obama from what felt a little like an appeasement strategy. There was a total lack of focus on the fact that Russia has been gunning for us, very likely with the help of China.
He should be patanoid because I AM out to get him. Yes, I am sending my thoughts and prayers to him visualizing that Trump come down with the painful most debilitating broccoli gas ever recorded in history. Surely I’m not alone in projecting these thoughts in my prayerfest. You know his gut is already volcanic so I concentrate my efforts in this regard. May his intestinal distress become so acute that it stymies all the best doctors who all attest that Trump holds the record for the highest number of oozing gut blisters ever recorded in history with concomitant suffering most closely mimicking women in childbirth. Won’t you please join me? We could wear red ribbons to symbolize hemorrhaging and or make signs.
But how will we ever get him to broccoli?
We ARE the broccoli … relax, center and protect yourself with lightness swarthed with the shine of the greater good … backwards … three, two, one … become the broccoli.
It’s difficult to discuss President Obama because some think he can do no right, and some think he can do no wrong. I love him and I miss him, but…he made mistakes. Chief among them was appointing a republican FBI director. Anyone who was sentient during the 90’s knows the name Louis Freeh. Enough said.
For a while, I did feel things would have been different if Hillary had been the 08 nominee and she chose Obama for her VP. That she would have been tougher on the R’s who blackmailed Obama out of going public with Putin’s interference. And Obama would be President right now. But guess what? I realized that’s a copout. In truth the R’s would have held four straight years of hearings about Hillary’s presidency
, and she would have either been impeached or lost her 2012 reelection bid. Obama as the first black Vice President would still have been demonized and the birther lie would still have been disseminated and there would still have been a racist backlash. That in fact, it was inevitable that Trump become President because the Republican party for years now has been the party of racist, misogynistic, loonie conspiracy theorists. And that this country is deeply racist and deeply misogynistic. And this is the natural result.
ITA with everything you said and I hope I don’t come across as peddling the idea that Obama was beyond reproach. He DID make mistakes-many of which he has admitted–he has regrets like any human with a conscience. I was disappointed in him regarding his unfulfilled promise to close Gitmo, his support of a surveillance state, his flawed approach to the Syrian conflict and many other policy areas where I felt that he fell short. But I never doubted his genuine love for this country and his desire to make life better for American citizens.
And I absolutely don’t think it’s without merit to hold him accountable for his failures, but I also think context is greatly important when we are discussing these issues. We are on a site with no shortage of exceptionally thoughtful and politically-savvy commenters, but there are too many ignorant people out there who think that the POTUS merely has to wave a magic wand to pass meaningful legislation, without taking into account the uniquely complex political legislative process we have here in the USA.
Agreed Kitten!
If Obama had done something before the election, he would have been accused of trying to sabotage the election. The right would have lost their collective shit and stormed the White House and set it on fire. McConnell also blocked Obama at every turn. He literally can never ever do anything right.
I’m concerned that Trump’s constant bitching and whining about Obama this and Obama that will lead some wretch to try to harm him or he will do what other dictators have done and try to charge/arrest Obama on some (literally in this case) trumped up charges, you know, go after past leaders and anyone involved in the opposition.
President Pumpkin is nuttier than a squirrel’s poop…
Time to purchase some night vision goggles in order to make it through these dark times 😐
I await the day that loose cannon overdoses on McDonald’s & has an arterial explosion. If not that, when will he cross the line into impeachment territory? Or exercise of of Article 25 of US Constitution on grounds of disability?
Obama spent 6 years in the Illinois state senate & 3 in the US senate, which isn’t enough time to build strong congressional relationships, especially since at least a year of his US Senate time was spent campaigning for the primary. Rahm Emmanuel probably wasn’t the ideal choice to counsel him in his early presidency.
Hillary continues to portray herself as a victim of Comey, Obama, etc., rather than acknowledging her campaign’s mistakes. She underestimated the Clinton negatives, ignored the working classes & focused on support from corporate elites. Huma Abadeen (sp?) was a bad advisor & Hillary’s overly-confident presumption of her ultimate win got in the way of careful analysis of how to defeat a reality-show bully with a personality disorder.
President Obama needs to get a restraining order on the lunatic in office. The obsession is scary. He clearly thinks about President Obama non stop.