March 28, 2024

Prepare for more roadblocks

When I heard Donald Trump declare this election is rigged, and the only way Hillary can win is by cheating, my first thought was, “oh great, here we go again.” If she gets elected, they’re never going to accept that she is a legitimate president, just like they’ve never accepted that Barack Obama is a legitimate president.

That means her presidency will be hindered by the same relentless hostility that has taken such a toll on Obama’s presidency. Just as he has experienced during his entire two terms, I fear there will be roadblocks put up every single day of her presidency to prevent her from getting anything done. What a sad state of affairs politics has become.

I’ve often thought how terribly divided this country could have been when Al Gore won the popular vote over George W. Bush, but lost the election when it went to the Supreme Court. To his everlasting credit, Gore refused to take the fight back to Florida, although he could have done so. He told his supporters the ballot counting needed to end and he graciously conceded the election to Bush, saving the country from being ripped apart by more lawsuits. A year-and-a-half later when we were attacked on 9/11, the American people, thankfully, were united in their support of the Commander in Chief and willing to go to war against terrorism.

I had hoped – naively, I admit – that when our first black president was elected, Americans would be proud of the nation’s progress. Instead, from the very beginning, a vocal and hateful group of people completely rejected his presidency, and still do today. Starting with the birther silliness, pushed incessantly by none other than Donald Trump, Obama has been the most disrespected president in American history. From the first day of his presidency, the number one mission of the opposition was to make sure he would be a one-term president. Although he was elected for a second term, the opposition continued, becoming really nasty at times. For example, former New York Mayor, Rudy Giuliani, famously said he didn’t believe the president loves America, adding that “Obama wasn’t brought up the way you and I were brought up with love for this country.”

Polls show two-thirds of Trump supporters continue to believe Obama is Muslim. I question whether or not they really believe that or if it’s just another way of de-legitimizing his presidency. Words that I thought were no longer a part of an enlightened and educated society are readily used by some opponents to describe and demean the president. Add in the far right radio and television hosts who have spent the past eight years tearing him down at every opportunity, and we are left with a divided country. Oh, and they blame Obama for the division, too. I’m so tired of the abuse heaped on him, it will almost be a relief to have his presidency over.

If Hillary is elected, we can be assured she will receive the same unwavering, 24/7 pummeling throughout her term in office. It won’t matter that millions of voters appreciate her and believe she can make a huge difference in moving America forward. It won’t matter that the people who know her say the image painted of her by her opponents is false and unfair. It won’t matter if she wins by a huge margin with the support of dozens of economists and foreign policy experts from previous administrations, and it won’t matter if cooperation between her administration and some members of Congress solves some real problems we’ve struggled with for decades. The stage is already set for rejection of her as president, no matter what she does.

If Hillary is elected president, she will work to overcome the negative image of her that has been reinforced by more than 30 years of conservative media. However, there is the “problem” that she is female and this will always be an issue for diehard Trump supporters, just as race has always been an issue for them.

Hillary knows what she’s up against. It’s amazing that she is willing to endure it.