As we move closer toward the 2016 presidential elections, the stakes are getting higher and the drama is increasing. This is clearly exemplified by the recent health crisis haunting the Hillary Clinton campaign. Donald Trump has been claiming for quite some time that Hillary Clinton is not healthy enough to be president. There have been all kinds of rumors about this, but recently, Secretary Clinton did have a really scary public health event. A videotape showed her collapsing and being helped into a limousine after attending a 15 year commemoration event for the 9/11 debacle. The image was shocking.
The press and others are decrying Secretary Clinton’s lack of “transparency,” because it took her at least a week to admit that she was ill. Allegedly, she found out that she was diagnosed with pneumonia on the Friday before the 9/11 event, but did not share this with the public until after she was filmed collapsing. As a result, people are once again accusing her of being less that forthcoming with the truth. They are wondering if this is the only health problem she has, considering the fact that she had been seen coughing during the previous week, a condition that she attributed to “allergies.”
It is really strange and unnerving that citizens are reacting so strongly to this situation. During the first President George Bush’s term, he actually collapsed during a dinner. He later recovered, but there was no great fallout. The second President Bush (“W”), collapsed after choking on peanuts. He ended up with bruises, yet, after a joke or two, discussion died down shortly after the event. People did not seriously question his ability to serve out his term, based on his health. Actually, people seem to expect that the president of the United States should be some type of perfect super human with no warts of any kind. This is unrealistic – anyone who plays politics is bound to have some dirty laundry that begs to be aired. So far, Secretary Clinton has admitted her errors, albeit after being confronted with the evidence.
Donald Trump, on the other hand, does not seem to know how to apologize. He also does not evidently know what “transparency” means. The Trumpster is as slick as a thousand eels, and no matter how ridiculous his actions are, supporters are willing to give him a pass. They applaud him because he points out Clinton’s dishonesty while totally ignoring what he has done. It is really amazing: he has the support of probably every white supremacist on the planet, openly admires a Russian leader with a less than democratic stance, refuses to attend the NAACP National Convention, refuses to share his tax information, has not shared any details about his health, is accused of discriminating against Blacks in his real estate businesses, and has openly mocked women, the handicapped, a Gold Star family, a Hispanic judge, and all Muslims, yet he gets away without being accused of a lack of transparency by supporters. Trump, after basically ignoring Blacks, did an about-face when criticized about this. He suddenly attended several basically all white rallies wherein he talked about the problems in the Black community saying that the community should choose him because “they have nothing to lose.” Incredibly, this condescending claptrap has been swallowed up by some Black leaders; especially certain preachers, even before he belatedly visited a Black church. Why can’t they see through this obvious dishonesty?
It is apparent that Donald Trump is about as transparent as a 20-foot-thick lead wall. He has been caught in several obvious lies. Remember, he was an ardent “birther” who refused to believe that President Obama was born in the United States. Apparently, his type of “Trumpsparency” does not matter to the emotional sycophants who are willing to overlook his obvious flaws. Black Americans, however, had better closely examine his actions logically, without emotion, in order to understand the underlying truths fueling his candidacy because the community stands to lose a lot if this is not done! A luta continua.
