Discussion: Obama Hints He May Speak Out Against Trump If 'Necessary'

President Obama said on Sunday that while he will respect Donald Trump when he
takes office, but he suggested that if Trump’s plans or actions go
against certain “values” and “ideals,” he may speak up.

If Trump acts on some of his most revolting campaign promises and Obama openly criticizes him for it, you can be certain there will be howls of outrage that Obama is violating the “norms” of civility. Never mind that Trump will be the most abnormal president in history, a man who’s violated just about every norm there is, letting his relatives run a bogus “blind trust” for his businesses, failing to reveal his tax returns, and firing off tweets attacking his critics – among many other offenses against ethics and common decency.

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Well I (points thumb at self) don’t feel so constrained and it should be transparently obvious to the regulars around here that I don’t come anywhere near the class of our current President. Hence that sort of frees me to be the low brow idiot I am. I get to call that “Walking Shitgibbon Clusterfuck” (WSC for short) exactly what I think he is. It’s my right at a citizen to do so as enshrined somewhere or other (yeah, I know where). Btw…partial (as in major) credit for the creation of that version of the moniker should go to @ralph_vonholst who’s creative writing skills I admire.

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And well you should. I think Barry Bamz would be the last person to say you shouldn’t yell about everything Trump is, does, and stands for. But he himself is threatening to speak out against Trump for actions as President that violate our traditions and values, even as he’s speaking with restraint in the interim. He’s still the damn President and still runs the executive branch. He’s top dog. It’s beneath him to start scolding Trump at this point. And more subtly he’s saying he’s being restrained for now as a show of respect for the office and the election process. In other words he’s positioning himself as a defender and valuer of the institutions themselves. It’s a direct if subtle and subversive rebuke to Trumpism itself, the idea that you should have all the institutions upended and authoritarian rule. Just don’t underestimate him at this late date. He’s explicitly saying he might step in and play a role again. I think there are interesting implications to consider there.

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This !

I am impressed with Pres.Obama’s precise formulation of his position, he knows what he is doing, and I am sure a lot of decent Americans recognize it. His understated style wins more hearts than namecalling…

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He does. I think if it came to a crisis where there were a showdown over the direction we would go, whether we’d abandon our traditions and become a kleptocracy or not, I don’t think there could be a stronger voice or a person with greater moral authority to speak for your millions of decent Americans. And in a time of doubt and fear he’d be the calm, steady voice he’s always been. And he really, really doesn’t like Donald Trump. : )

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Thanks Matt. Well said. Obama is the consummate gentlemen and would expect nothing less of him. I think “if necessary” will become “more likely”. I am sure he is going to respect his office and all that goes with it until he leaves. I have no doubt in my mind he will be working with the Democratic Party to fix the mistakes and work on getting those dumb, selfish 6 million millenials who refused to vote in a presidential election and hopefully get them to be more involved especially voting in the mid terms

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That is an understatement but very true.

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Yes I know and I respect that. It’s just my Irish gets the better of me at times. I have a history of being in demonstrations. True, it was a long time ago but the attitudes have not mellowed with time.

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“I certainly don’t want them to do what Mitch McConnell did when I was elected — meet the day of and say our sole objective is to not cooperate with him on anything even if the country is about to go into a depression so that we can gain seats in the mid-terms and ultimately defeat him,” Obama said.

I love this man and have the utmost respect for him. On the other hand, the practices he refers to here seem to have been extraordinarily successful. Over the past 8 years Democrats have lost the Presidency and both houses of Congress, and are about to do great harm and damage to our country. The whole being nice guys and finishing last thing gets a little old after 50- 60 years.

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