Vincent Lane: Obama’s a visionary; perhaps GOP will catch up

Who knew our Commander-in-Chief had a bucket list? Certainly not the extreme right of the GOP, whose avowed goal was to make this “socialist, secret-Muslim” an asterisk in the history books. But in short order President Obama met with China on global warming, issued an executive order on immigration, re-engaged with Cuba and vetoed the Keystone Pipeline. So how will Republicans react? Governance or obstruction? Past and present performances indicate the latter.

When I was in grammar school in the 1930s, my dad, a WWI veteran, put food on the table thanks to Roosevelt’s Works Projects Administration program. There was opposition to that as well as the Social Security Act of 1935, and, 30 years later, to Medicare. Currently they are trying to repeal the Affordable Care Act, denying that humans contribute to global warming, and even trying to unsurp the president’s right to conduct foreign policy. See a pattern here? Like being on the wrong side of history?

Maybe when the streets of Miami are all canals, and Obamacare rivals Medicare in popularity, their thinking will have “evolved,” if I may be so bold as to use that word.

This story was originally published April 13, 2015 at 7:12 PM with the headline "Vincent Lane: Obama’s a visionary; perhaps GOP will catch up."