"I think this should have been done long ago. Because a president has to put his public responsibilities before his pride and his privacy. That's the price of the job - to defuse or debunk conspiracy theorists or just skeptics with all the relevant information you have." — Andrew Sullivan*
I disagree. Firstly, it's been enormous fun to see the GOP self-destruct over the last few weeks. Trump is an enduring comic creation, worthy of Swift. Secondly: the same degree of proof that suffices for caucasians should suffice for African-Americans. Essentially, Obama has been forced to show his papers. Thirdly, I've just seen Trump on TV, crowing over the power he's just been handed ("I'm proud of myself"). For a brief second, he seemed less a figure of fun and more an actual living, breathing candidate. I'm sure it will pass but still. Lastly, nothing will see the end to this issue.
*For what it's worth I think the only reason Sullivan is taking this position is to reverse-engineer the legitimacy of his position re Trig Palin
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You iz smart. :-)
ReplyDeleteI couldn't agree more.
This one paragraph you've written is the best thing I've read in a long time.
ReplyDeleteYour second point is actually so incredibly true and heartbreaking. It's such a disgrace that a troll like Trump can say something like "Today I'm incredibly proud of myself" because he made the persident "essentially show his papers".
I have no word other than disgrace to describe this.
Jolly as it has been to watch this crowd do a passing imitation of the stateroom scene in A Night at the Opera, I believe Obama when he says that he wants to focus on our problems and not "sideshows and carnival barkers." I'm sure the president perceives the racism in the demand, so I can only conclude that he's bucking the precedents set from 2001-2009 and doing something for the good of the country. Obama is also canny enough to perceive that they'll continue to make fools of themselves. As for Trump, oy, so he thinks he's a statesman. I once worked with a guy who believed he was the reincarnation of Edie Sedgwick. Get a few drinks in him and he'd tell you all about which outfits he wore to The Factory. The only ones who are going to fall for Trump are the same yokels who tune into "The Apprentice" believing him to be a figure with some sort of stature in the business world. Chico Marx could show up Trump in a heartbeat; "You can't fool me. There ain't no sanity clause!"
ReplyDeleteYou are totally right about Sullivan--the last statement in his post is all but a restatement of the call he has made a million times already. But you know what? I want to see Trig's birth certificate, too. I want him to be our first U.S. president with Downs Syndrome, and showing the birth certificate now would spare us all that unpleasantness down the road.
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