President Obama’s Message of Hope: ‘Democracy Bigger Than Any One Person’

Last updated on July 17th, 2023 at 09:33 pm

Even facing the dismantling of his hard-won legacy, President Obama has time to share us hope in our grief. He sent out a tweet this morning saying that “American democracy is bigger than any one person.” It is obvious Donald Trump begs to differ. For Donald Trump, everything, including especially American democracy, takes a back seat to Donald Trump.

Here is the president’s tweet:

“The next American president and I could not be more different…But American democracy is bigger than any one person.” —@POTUS

— The White House (@WhiteHouse) November 16, 2016

In another tweet, Obama stressed,

"We must make clear that governments exist to serve the interests of citizens, and not the other way around." —@POTUS

— The White House (@WhiteHouse) November 16, 2016

These are valid points, and certainly one the Founding Fathers were behind with their fear of populism and even political parties. Yet Donald Trump can’t even help making the selection of cabinet posts about himself:

Very organized process taking place as I decide on Cabinet and many other positions. I am the only one who knows who the finalists are!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 16, 2016

Most adults don’t talk this way, let alone president-elects. Not only does the petulant man-child Trump think he owns the Republican Party now, he thinks he owns the United States of America. Not that he wants to live in a house that doesn’t have his name on it.

President Obama is right. American democracy isn’t about the individual but the entire village and it is not limited to one ethnic group, whatever Trump advisers like Steve Bannon might claim. The corporate-minded Republicans and the man who would be CEO of the USA have it backward. The government, as Obama reminds us, serves the people, not the other way around.

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Hrafnkell Haraldsson

Hrafnkell Haraldsson, a social liberal with leanings toward centrist politics has degrees in history and philosophy. His interests include, besides history and philosophy, human rights issues, freedom of choice, religion, and the precarious dichotomy of freedom of speech and intolerance. He brings a slightly different perspective to his writing, being that he is neither a follower of an Abrahamic faith nor an atheist but a polytheist, a modern-day Heathen who follows the customs and traditions of his Norse ancestors. He maintains his own blog, A Heathen's Day, which deals with Heathen and Pagan matters, and Mos Maiorum Foundation www.mosmaiorum.org, dedicated to ethnic religion. He has also contributed to NewsJunkiePost, GodsOwnParty and Pagan+Politics.

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