Francis A. Avila Jr.: Obama’s real legacy? Election of Donald Trump
The Bee’s valedictory statement – “As Obama exits, how to judge his legacy” (Page A11, Jan. 14) – on Obama’s “legacy” is an exercise in editorial myopia.
His signature domestic achievement, Obamacare, is collapsing under its own contradictions with major insurers fleeing exchanges and two years of double-digit premium increases. Obama’s “pen and a phone” circumvention of Congress means many of his executive orders are submerged in constitutional quicksand.
Regarding foreign policy, Obama’s “smart power” and “leading from behind” were euphemisms camouflaging American disengagement. His premature departure from Iraq led to the formation of ISIS. His legacy nuclear agreement with Iran has staked his credibility on the Ayatollahs, whose sponsorship of terror and ongoing low-intensity warfare against us continues unabated. His vanishing “red lines” in Syria left that stricken country to the tender mercies of Russia, Turkey and Iran. Vladimir Putin must have been amused by Obama’s lecturing about him being “on the wrong side of history.”
The Bee intones “fair minded” people should agree America is better off today. To think otherwise you must not be “fair minded,” perhaps even deplorable. In that sentence The Bee’s editors midwifed the forces that led to Obama’s most significant legacy, the election of Donald J. Trump.
Francis A. Avila Jr., Modesto
This story was originally published January 24, 2017 at 6:55 PM with the headline "Francis A. Avila Jr.: Obama’s real legacy? Election of Donald Trump."