AMERICA celebrated Presidents’ Day last Monday, February 19, but there was something, someone missing — a real president with moral leadership in the White House.
The events leading up to Presidents’ Day just exposed more of the character, or the lack thereof, of the 45th president of the United States.
Fourteen young high school students and three school staff members of Parkland, Florida died when a 19-year-old former student fired shots using an AR-15 war weapon in classrooms and hallways on February 14.
As the nation grieved with the families of the victims and the students who survived the horrific tragedy lead demonstrations, protests and challenges to President Donald Trump and the Republicans in Congress to finally do something about gun violence, Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s team announced on February 15 the indictment of 13 Russian nationals and three Russian companies and individuals for meddling in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.
The indictment stated that “some defendants, posing as U.S. persons without revealing their Russian association, communicated with unwitting individuals associated with the Trump Campaign.”
Trump took to Twitter to twist the indictment and spread the lies that this proves there was no collusion between his campaign and Russia (a claim not stated in the indictment, as investigation is still ongoing and more charges, guilty plea are expected to be announced).
Trump then started blaming the FBI for missing a lead about the gunman because he said the agency was too preoccupied with the Russia probe, which he called a “hoax.” (The FBI has different departments and the Russia probe does not use the same team that takes care of domestic issues like that of Florida).
The president also pointed fingers at former President Barack Obama, the Democrats, the school, and even the victims themselves.
“So many signs that the Florida shooter was mentally disturbed, even expelled from school for bad and erratic behavior. Neighbors and classmates knew he was a big problem. Must always report such instances to authorities, again and again!” Trump tweeted.
The surviving students lashed out at the president for his response, criticizing him for his obsession about exonerating himself from the Russia probe instead of hearing them out and responding to their call for the government to act on the gun violence in America that has already claimed the lives of many students and civilians because of mass shootings using war weapons.
Trump even had the audacity to claim that he was “stronger” with Russia compared to Obama, whom he blamed for doing nothing about the Russian interference. Fact checkers immediately called out Trump’s lies, reminding him that Obama confronted Putin about Russia’s interference and even imposed sanctions against the country for trying to meddle in the U.S. democratic processes.
Trump, on the other hand, never once called out Putin and Russia for assaulting our democracy, not when the U.S. intelligence community said so, and not when Mueller’s team had unveiled the indictment of Russians for their interference in the election.
Trump even sang high praises for Putin for being a “strong leader” and when he “confronted” Putin about Russia meddling in US elections who denied the interference, Trump believed him more than the U.S. intelligence reports.
The U.S. intelligence reports also revealed that Russia is still interfering with the American democratic institutions with its cyber information warfare, and will meddle in the 2018 midterm elections.
What has Trump done about it? His job is to protect America and our democratic institutions and processes, but why has he not implemented the stronger sanctions against Russia signed in a resolution by both Democrats and Republicans? Why has he not ordered anything to stop Russia from influencing the 2018 elections?
In Filipino parlance, “Bakit bahag ang buntot ni Trump pag dating kay Putin?”
Special Counsel Robert Mueller could be asking the same questions and has been gathering all the information that may or (may not) prove that the Trump campaign is in fact in cahoots with Russia.
Worst president
Nearly 200 of the top political scientists in America have voted Donald Trump the worst president in U.S. history.
This is according to the 2018 Presidents & Executive Politics Presidential Greatness Survey, conducted every four years. It surveys social science researchers from the American Political Science Association’s section on presidents and executive politics.
The study asks the experts to rank each president’s greatness on a scale of 0 to 100, with 100 being great, 50 being average, and 0 being a total failure.
Mr. Trump averaged a score of 12.34, which the Independent reported as bumping James Buchanan – the president who saw the U.S. descend into the Civil War – out of the bottom spot.
This survey result just reflects the polls that came just months after Trump finished his first year in office as the most unpopular president in modern history.
