When has this ever happened before except in television soap operas? The Republican establishment strongly warns party members not to nominate current front runner Donald Trump to run for the White House. The Republican candidates viciously attack each other and insult one another as braggarts and big mouths. The debates are no longer about politics but about the size of their hands and other masculine extremities. A campaign can’t possibly sink any lower.
The Democrats are better behaved but many of them think the favorite, Hillary Clinton, is an accomplished liar. According to surveys, a majority of American voters — not the partisans! — prefers neither Hillary Clinton nor Donald Trump. Both front runners are especially unpopular with the general public.
Sad, but true: Whoever follows Obama into the Oval Office as next president will track dirt in with them. Ted Cruz, Republican senator from Texas, has already had to apologize for telling lies about his opponents. Marco Rubio, Republican senator from Florida, doctored his biography with the claim that his parents were forced to flee Cuba by dictator Fidel Castro. Besides that, he was entangled in numerous questionable real estate deals.
Students Swindled
The most serious accusations, however, have been made against Trump and Clinton. The real estate magnate Trump, for example, once founded a university that bore his name. Its purpose was to teach students how to run a real estate business but instead, they were simply fleeced.
A New York Attorney General lawsuit alleges that 5,000 people paid the university around $40 million and it is claimed that one-fourth of that total went directly into Trump’s pocket. Internal documents, said The New York Times, would prove that Trump University made money principally by ensuring that students would have to take one expensive course after another.
Trump has also been accused of ruthlessness and brutal selfishness in his other businesses, ripping off one customer after another, bankrupting companies and paying workers less than the minimum legal wage.
Questionable Donations and Exorbitant Fees
Clinton’s road is also paved with scandal, even recently. Since leaving her post as secretary of state, she has earned millions with her speaking fees. Many regarded them as exorbitant fees paid to Wall Street. It would be fascinating to know what kind of advice she gave to the financial jugglers while as a Democratic presidential candidate she was demanding stricter laws on the financial industry. To date, however, she has steadfastly refused to release the manuscripts of her speeches.
Many donations to the Clinton Foundation founded by her husband, Bill, are still questionable and Hillary was deeply involved in recent years there as well. Besides, it’s highly likely she will soon have to appear in court in connection with those as well. Then, as secretary of state, she used a private email account and a private server in transacting official State Department business that included possibly classified information.
Regardless of how anyone judges Obama’s eight years in office politically, it’s indisputable that the 44th president has already notched up one historic achievement: He will probably be regarded as one of the most honest and cleanest presidents in history and his presidency as one of the most scandal-free in the last 100 years.
As far as anyone can tell in the last seven years: No affairs, no blatant lies, no intrigues, no crooked dealings, no hidden shenanigans with shady characters. In view of the filthy campaign being waged by Obama’s would-be successors and the depressing mob wanting to be the 45th president, that’s no small accomplishment.
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