My personal hero Malcolm X made a controversial statement after the assassination of President Kennedy that pretty much ended his relationship with the Nation of Islam. He said the assassination was a case of "chickens coming home to roost" because of the violence that America had put out in the world. He went on to say that as a farmboy, "chickens coming home to roost never did make me sad; they always made me glad". Likewise let me suggest that the incredible run of Donald Trump in this GOP Presidential nomination contest is also a case of the chickens coming home to roost. And although I'm not exactly a farmboy those chickens coming home to roost don't make me sad.
I've heard one conservative pundit after another this week echo the premise that if President Obama had just been a better leader, then the American people would not be subjected to this year of Trump. So it's all the President's fault that Trump is leading virtually every Republican poll for President, and by very wide margins. I think the Republicans are half right, it is the President's fault, but they are wrong on the reasoning. The Republicans have fought the President at every turn on almost every issue for 8 years. They have disrespected him; they have lied on him; they have made him Public Enemy Number One to the base of the party. And he has beaten them at every turn. And now those chickens are coming home to roost.
For the purposes of this discussion I won't even address the race issue. Even though it's the 800 pound gorilla in every room in this country I've found it's a topic that few can discuss rationally or without getting too emotional so I'll save that topic for another day.
Republicans don't like to lose, and when they do lose, they want someone to pay. And they also respect strength. A golf buddy of mine once told me he voted for President Bush over Al Gore even though he thought Gore was the better candidate because he "doesn't vote for wimps". The Republican establishment knows this, so when President Obama defeated John McCain they needed to make him pay and they needed to be strong in defeat. They knew if they didn't their base would abandon them. So they started sending the chickens out.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnel said in the National Journal on December 4th, 2010, "the single most important thing we want to achieve is for President Obama to be a one-term president." That was the first post election chickens to leave the barn. There were many others.
The President is a Muslim - that chicken went out
The President is a Socialist - that chicken went out
The President is always on vacation - that chicken went out
The President is the biggest spending President in history - that chicken went out
Gas Prices would soar under this President - that chicken went out
The President was born in Kenya - that chicken went out
The President wants to take your guns - that chicken went out
The Affordable Care Act would destroy the economy - that chicken went out
It would also have death panels to kill Grandma - that chicken went out
The ACA was unconstitutional - that chicken went out
This is not an all comprehensive list. There were many other figurative chickens sent out to the base by the GOP leadership because they had to show the base that they were going to make this President pay for beating them at the ballot box and they had to show him that election results be damned, they were still in control.
The only problem is the President didn't play along. He tried to compromise during his first term, especially on his signature legislative accomplishment, the Affordable Care Act. It didn't get him one Republican vote. He struck deals with Speaker of the House John Boehner only to have Boehner not be able to deliver the necessary Republican votes. Republicans evidently didn't plan on the President being able to do his job without any Republican support, but that's exactly what he did. He went ahead and saved the American auto industry. He went ahead and killed Osama Bin Laden. He went ahead and brought the unemployment rate down while the stock market went up. He went ahead and let the tax cuts expire for the richest of the rich while keeping them in place for the rest of us. He went ahead and cut the deficit. He went ahead and passed the ACA and cut the number of uninsured Americans. Of course he didn't singlehandedly do any of these things, but he accomplished them all with virtually no republican support. In fact, he accomplished them all in the face of fierce GOP opposition.
So I agree with the Republicans, the rise of Trump is totally Obama's fault. The GOP established promised their base they would crush him, embarrass him, and maybe even put him in jail. They got the base fired up with those promises. It's 7 years later and there he is, not only is he still standing but he's looking more and more like someone who knows that history will remember him very well. The base sees this. They hate the man because they've been told to hate him. They've been told he is the evil one and the evil one isn't supposed to win but he's winning. And then Trump comes along.
Trump's message to the base is you're right, the President is Public enemy number 1, none of those accomplishments are real. The problem is you've had a bunch of losers fighting for you. But I'm a winner (A divorced, filed four times for bankruptcy, born on 3rd base, built my fortune with public dollars winner but a winner nonetheless). I'm your last chance to make the bastard pay. So if the President had just played along with the narrative. If the auto industry had failed, if unemployment was still 8%, if the ACA had been the disaster it was supposed to be (notice no Republicans talk about it anymore), if Osama Bin Laden was still terrorizing us.... There would be no need for Trump.
The GOP sent all those chickens out, but evidently they aren't farmboys either. They didn't realize that sometimes those chickens come home to roost.
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