This is what a real President sounds like
After devastating fires swept across California, destroying entire communities and leaving people running for their lives, even as first responders risked their own lives, the President stepped up last night and said exactly what needed to be said about it. The catch: he’s the former President.
Barack Obama posted this message on Twitter: “Michelle and I are heartbroken for everybody who’s lost so much in California, and grateful for the heroism of the firefighters who’ve been risking their lives around the clock to save others. Please do what you can to help our fellow Americans in need.” He then included a link to a New York Times article titled “How to Help Those Affected by the California Fires.” Thank goodness he did.
President Obama’s tweet might have hardly been noticed if not for the fact that the current “President” hasn’t been able to bring himself to do anything but make the fire situation even worse. Over the past two days Donald Trump has addressed the fires by ranting about imaginary “gross mismanagement of the forests” and threatening to cut off funding for fighting the fires. No really, he did this while people were running from the fires. Then he added “With proper Forest Management, we can stop the devastation constantly going on in California. Get Smart!” Some comfort.
What’s stunning about our current situation is that Donald Trump is so far removed from being a President, we effectively have no President – and it’s fallen on former leaders like Barack Obama to try to fill the leadership void. Obama’s tweet got twenty-five thousand likes in the first fifteen minutes, a sign of just how thirsty Americans are for real leadership during this current vacuum. In any case, to find the helpful New York Times article that President Obama wants you to read, go here.
