The Source of Presidential Dislike

Those among us who were passionate opponents of Barack Obama and his presidency seem to have little in common with those folks who are passionate opponents of Donald Trump and his presidency.  It just, you know, "feels" different, maybe because conservatives were not out there declaring that they wanted to "blow up the White House" like Madonna, or taking a gun and shooting up a Republican congressional softball practice (like the leftist from Illinois).

Or maybe it is the lack of parallels in the root of the dislike.

I couldn't stand Barack Obama, and still fear him, but despite the  usual knee-jerk accusations of the left about racism and all that (though a white Barack Obama wouldn't have sniffed the nomination, let alone beaten Hillary in 2008), it is not "who" he is that I couldn't stand.  It is and has always been what he stood for.

Barack Obama is a far-left socialist who would readily have turned the USA into a communist dictatorship if he thought he could get away with it.  He detested the military, believed that a dominant Federal government was necessary to shore up his power, and pushed socialist measures as far as he thought he could get away with -- which he could, at least while he had a lap-dog Congress unwilling to cross the "first [half] black president."

He "used lies" more than he was an actual liar -- Hillary, for example, was a concrete, dyed-in-the-wool liar, but Obama simply used lies ("You can keep your doctor", "It was the video") trying to advance his leftist agenda.  I hope that makes sense; it's a slight difference.  I think Obama felt justified in lying for what he still thinks is a greater cause. 

And I suppose that people generally think of Obama as an OK person, family guy, that sort of thing.  Not so much corrupt, but ideologically so far out and so rigid that only the built-in inertia of Congress kept him from doing even more damage (like closing Guantanamo).

The hatred of Donald Trump, well, that's really not as ideological as the left would like to believe.  After all, he is hardly an ideologically pure conservative; hardly has positions that are any more conservative than previous Republican presidents.  He has the socially more-liberal, fiscally conservative positions that people often contemplate forming a third party around.  In fact, his positions on taxes and spending, the position of the USA in the free world, immigration, well, those are mainstream American positions outside of Los Angeles and New York.

But the fascinating thing is that the dislike for President Trump, the things that cause Madonna to threaten to blow up the White House, and for Hollywood to go far off the rails in their interminable award shows, well, those don't really have to do with politics.  Those are personal.

Of course, leading it all is the fact that he successfully saved America from having its first utero-American president being a pathological liar, who runs a RICO disguised as a charitable foundation.  Oh, that was terrible that he didn't let Hillary win, the big bully.  But really, look at the critiques.

They're not really about policy at all.  The left calls him a racist, a misogynist, a xenophobe, a homophobe, an Islamophobe.  Their hatred of Donald Trump is because of who they say he is, not what he believes he needs to do as president.  It's as if they can't really get into a policy debate because he has the upper hand -- his policies are indeed mainstream -- so they go after flaws in the man, whether invented or actual.

On top of that, one characteristic that he does have makes it all news fodder, the fact that he is a counter-puncher.  So when he is criticized for all that non-policy stuff, he fights back, which amps up the hatred and the non-policy news.  More dislike, more news. 

In the background, of course, the nation is running and the market is soaring; 401(k) accounts are at record highs.  He has attracted huge numbers of jobs back to the USA, cajoling firms to manufacture here and not elsewhere.  He is proving to be enormously successful overseas (as the current Asian trip is proving again) because his rather basic approach to the superiority of the American way of life is actually appreciated by our allies and respected by our adversaries, both of which had a lot of trouble dealing with the feckless Obama.

I'm not sure I've gotten the point across even now.  It had struck me the past few weeks that although both Obama and Trump had big parts of the USA that actively disliked them, it did not seem like the same type of venom.  Not more or less, just different.  Opponents weren't howling at the moon on the anniversary of Obama's election as they did last night a year after Trump defeated Hillary Clinton.

I really think that we who detested Obama for his policies have the higher ground.

Copyright 2017 by Robert Sutton
Like what you read here?  There's a new post from Bob at www.uberthoughtsUSA.com at 10am Eastern time, every weekday, giving new meaning to "prolific essayist."  Appearance, advertising, sponsorship and interview inquiries cheerfully welcomed at bsutton@alum.mit.edu or on Twitter at @rmosutton.