Trump Scandals, Obama Scandals

A good way to get a Trumpista's head to explode is to state the fact that there were no major scandals during President Obama's eight years in office. Obama recently stated that this is something of which he is especially proud. There were no grand juries investigating the executive branch. No FBI investigations of massive wrongdoing. No pardoning of White House aides. No indictments of Cabinet members.

Sure, there were many imaginary Obama "scandals" that only gained traction in the Fox/Breitbart/Red State/Newsmax/Alex Jones/Rush Limbaugh media bubble. Benghazi TM, Fast & Furious, Uranium One , and IRS-gate come to mind. But none of these were actual scandals. After careful examination by reputable reporters, none of these silly kerfuffles were found to merit the term "scandal".

But the lack of any actual scandals during the Obama Presidency did not keep the far-right media from generating false controversies. Let's compare some of the real scandals of the first fifteen months of the Trump Presidency with what happened during Obama's eight years in office:

Trump's Attorney General lied during a Congressional hearing about his contacts with Russia. In a letter, he lied about justifications for firing James Comey. Obama's Attorney General, Loretta Lynch, took intense right-wing heat for speaking to former President Clinton on an airplane.

Donald Trump, Jr met with Russians and corresponded with Wikileaks' Julian Assange. Ivanka Trump received coveted Chinese trademarks for her business on the day after she dined with the Chinese President. Obama's daughters were condemned for wearing their dresses way too high.

Trump had extramarital affairs with a porn star and a Playboy bunny and paid them to keep it quiet. Obama was ridiculed by the right for wearing "mom jeans".

Melania Trump worked in the US illegally before getting her work visa. A promised press conference on the topic never happened. Mrs. Trump posed for naked pictures (link NSFW) in British GQ Magazine. Michelle Obama suffered brutal attacks from the right because of her efforts to improve school lunches and for wearing sleeveless dresses.

Trump said some of the Nazi marchers in Virginia were "very fine people". Obama was accused by the right of inciting a "war on cops" when he spoke-out on the national problem of black people being killed by police.

Trump and his companies have been slapped with legal suits 3,500 times for stiffing contractors and non-payment of wages. Obama was derided for wearing a tan suit.

Trump has played golf at least 102 times since taking office. At his current rate, Trump would play golf 772 times over the course of an eight year (dear God, no!) period. The right wing media frequently criticized Obama for playing golf. Obama played only 333 rounds over eight years.

Trump claimed that John McCain is not a hero because he had been a POW. Trump proceeded to attack a Gold Star family. Obama was crucified by the right as unpatriotic for saluting a Marine while holding a coffee cup in his hand.

Trump leaked classified information to Russian dignitaries during an Oval Office visit. Trump's leak may have jeopardized the life of an Israeli intelligence operative. Obama sent shock waves through the right-wing world when he propped his foot on the Oval Office desk.

Trump defends dictator Vladimir Putin, no matter what. Just this week, he congratulated Putin for winning his county's Potemkin election. He refuses to criticize Putin for attacking one of our closest allies. He has ignored Congress' call for sanctions on Russia for interfering in our elections. Obama was bashed by the right for ceremonial bows to the Saudi King and the Emperor of Japan.

Trump was issued a court summons for violating the emoluments clause of the Constitution. Obama was lampooned by right wing pundits for spending too much time on his NCAA basketball brackets.

Trump's Cabinet is a herd of hogs at the taxpayer trough. His Treasury Secretary spent a million dollars on air fare in nine months. His HUD secretary spent $35,000 on an office dining room set. His EPA Chief spent $25,000 on a "cone of silence". His HHS head resigned in disgrace because he was too good to fly with the hoi polloi in commercial aircraft. Obama's Secretary of State used the wrong server for her e-mails.

We are now living in in a whole different world. The days that major presidential "scandals" involved the First Lady's wardrobe choices and the President's March Madness bracket picks are over. In just the first fifteen months, the Trump Administration has made serious scandal a daily occurrence. This is not normal.