FBI Director James Comey has admitted that the assertions by President Donald Trump claiming that former President Barack Obama directed a scheme to wiretap Trump’s offices are unfounded. There’s no evidence to support those claims. That seems to imply that we’ve been misled, lied to, or “bamboozled” as Malcolm X once said.
Then Comey informed us that an investigation is currently underway to determine if Trump’s team had dealings with Russia that may have helped the New York billionaire secure the recent presidential election.
It’s all like reading a best-selling novel — except it’s actually and tragically true.
So, what are American citizens to glean from all this – and how are we being perceived by others around the world?
We’ve grown accustomed to giving the sitting president of the U.S. the benefit of the doubt. But should we do that in this instance? Whatever happened to providing solid evidence before making claims that cannot be proven? Have we entered an era where it’s acceptable to make unsubstantiated claims?
Whether you voted for Trump or Hillary Clinton is not the issue now. What does matter is whether we can actually believe the words that come out of the White House – whether we should give credence to the far-too-many tweets that our president posts, seemingly done without considering the consequences that those few characters could or will have on American citizens and others around the world.
We would like to believe that Mr. Trump truly has plans, as he proclaimed during his campaign, to “make America great again.” But it’s looking like the road to greatness may be paved more with fairy tales, false notions and “alternate facts” than the gospel truth.
One can only hope that the many elaborate smoke screens cooked up by those who now lead America and which often obscure what’s really going on have come to an unceremonious conclusion. The American public deserves the chance to escape poverty, to secure affordable healthcare, housing and education and to know without a shadow of a doubt that we still live in a place where those promises of “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness” are more than just words affixed to an obsolete piece of parchment.
