Courtesy of
Washington Monthly:
When it comes to the story about Obama accepting speaking fees, it is important to note that the story was launched by Fox Business News. All of the sudden what previous presidents – both Democrat and Republican – had been doing for years was scandalized because we’re now talking about Obama. Our current so-called “populist” president once even bragged at a rally that he used to be paid a lot of money for speeches (as much as $1.5 million for a single speech).
Of course the folks at Fox knew this would trigger a dust-up on the left because of the fact that Hillary Clinton’s speaking fees had become such an issue in the 2016 primary. And of course, an awful lot of liberals took the bait.
I’m not saying that all of the arguments about speaking fees are without merit. Perhaps Democrats should have a proactive conversation about whether former presidents should continue to do so. But taking the bait Fox served up and using it to suggest that a particular former Democratic president is threatening our democracy is akin to the kind of circular firing squad for which Democrats have been famous over the years.
The article goes on to point out that before there was ever any mention of this speech that the former President had already spoken, for free, to young people in Chicago about gang violence, job skills, and employment opportunities.
Also from the article:
For the people who think that accepting fees for a speech indicates an erosion of our democracy, they should at least acknowledge that former President Obama is actually spending the majority of his time working with young people on civic engagement as well as reducing violence, poverty and unemployment around the country. Otherwise they are simply getting played by Fox News.
Personally I found it troubling that both Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders allowed themselves to get played by Fox News.
Warren said she was "
troubled" by this news, however Sanders went much farther saying he found it "
distasteful."
Do you know what I find distasteful, so called "liberal leaders" who allow the conservative media to pull their strings so effectively.
Remember this is the same thing the Russians did to split the Democrats during the primary, and to convince the so-called "Bernie Bros" that the nomination was stolen from their candidate, which led to many of them skipping the general election in frustration.
A bit of information that was tragically under reported about this so-called Wall Street speaking engagement is that the speech is being given at a health care conference.
How could we possibly expect the President who passed such an expansive health care reform, which was not in such danger of being undermined or repealed, NOT to show up something like that?
No the criticism directed at President Obama concerning this speech is completely unwarranted, and worse yet it is another indication that even the liberals are easily led around by the nose.
