No, Its’ Not The Republicans’ Fault, Nor The Democrats
Norah O’Donnell did a very good job of representing the Republican caucus and their views of President Obama being deliberately inhospitable to work with. The line of questioning, and it’s tone was cast in a resentful light, that somehow the President placed race ahead of politics and governance. This is what happens when an African-American is voted to the highest office, in a country that has historically racialized its population for political and economic gains.
I sense the difficulty in confronting and working alongside such a leader whose comeuppance in the American Dream runs counter to the institutions that republicans (formerly of the southern democrats and some current democrats) have defended under the ideology of conservatism. It would be discomfiting to have this realization be a watershed moment of pious platitudes that gave way to policies that they staunchly defend against — those absurdly liberal ideas that contemplate an increasingly inclusive and equal society.
I guess it would be disconcerting to stand in the face of unwelcomed change that would beg the question, should republicans even respect the office of the presidency with some decency? Albeit not directly but indirectly through the irrational and counterintuitive sentiments of government overreach, spending, and regulations intended to make institutions more accountable, inclusive and equal (and ironically a Trump presidency would see a more facist state of the union).
It would seem therefore typical that White House Senior Advisor Valerie Jarrett would respond in defense to those notions that no president should espouse let alone stoop to in representing the American people. This is absolutely President Obama’s fault why America has come so far to now only lament and return back to what has been touted as greater times.
