Commentary
Few people give me more pleasure to criticize than former President Obama. It began before I established this blog in 2014, when I was freelancing in the newspapers of the Texas hill country and San Antonio.
Digging into my archives, I found one of my favorite jabs at Obama. It was during his 2012 campaign, when he was promising Hispanics, he would push for immigration reform early in his second term, stating “This is something I care deeply about.”
In my July 13, 2012 op-ed, however, I reminded voters of his broken promise in his first term, when he told an audience of the League of United Latino American Citizens, “We need a president who isn’t going to walk away from something as important as comprehensive immigration reform once and for all.
“That’s the commitment I’m making to you. And, I will make it a top priority in my first year as president.”
But 14 months into his presidency, he announced that health care and financial regulatory reform needed his immediate attention, adding “Immigration reform will be addressed, but not just yet. Am I going to be able to snap my fingers and get this done? No.”
Yet, there he was, asking again for the Hispanic vote in 2012. I referred to it then as “Hispandering.”
As a conservative Republican, I was disappointed in those in my party who, I believe, suffered from white guilt and bought his “Yes, we can, hope and change” shtick, resulting in his winning in 2008.
Having just criticized him in my June 18, 2023 commentary on “The Era of the Hoax,” for his put down of Sen. Tim Scott’s presidential hopes, I didn’t expect another opportunity to denounce him again this soon.
However, two columnists with The Wall Street Journal followed with opinion pieces on Obama, that deserve comment from this blogger.
You may recall my comment that “In Obama’s mind, Scott isn’t black enough.”
Columnist Jason L. Riley elaborated on that with “He (Obama) wants Mr. Scott cancelled, or at least dismissed as someone who holds unrepresentative and inauthentic black views that shouldn’t be taken seriously.”
Scott has said, “Racism is real, even if they don’t obsess over it or cite it as a major barrier to upward mobility,” as he relates the tremendous strides in American race relations.
Noting that the left doesn’t want voters exposed to black candidates with different political opinions, Riley says “The former president insists otherwise because that is what today’s Democrat Party demands.”
So, looking back … People took note of Obama in 2004 when he gave the keynote address at the Democrat National Convention in which he declared, “there is not a liberal America and a conservative America, or a black America and a white America, only a United States of America.”
But with a Democrat House and Senate to work with, he failed to bring about the racial harmony he was expected to deliver, just like his promise to Hispanics.
Today, even though Scott’s polls are in single digits, columnist Daniel Henninger quotes Scott saying, “Whenever the Democrats feel threatened, they pull out – drag out – the former president and have him make some negative comments about someone running, hoping that their numbers go down.”
“I’m not sure if racial mockery of Republicans is a winning tactic right now,” noted Henninger.
What can be said about the character of the man – Obama – who proudly authored the book, “Audacity of Hope,” who now exudes audacious disrespect for a fellow black because his political opinions differ?
May God continue to bless the United States of America, and guide Senator Scott as he proudly seeks the highest office despite the odds against his success.
