We are in the waning days of the Obama administration. If you label yourself a conservative, this is a beautiful thing regardless of who you supported this past presidential election.
What’s next is something the GOP has waited for these past 8 years. Finally a Republican will be in the White House again. If the America of George W. Bush seems so long ago, that’s because it was. Back when Bush 43 was finishing up his second term, Snapchat hadn’t been invented yet and Kim Kardashian had only one marriage under her belt.
Increasingly, both sides of the aisle are preaching that progress is better than tradition, and new routes must be taken. This isn’t only popular among social justice addicts, but also among Trump supporters.
But it’s too easy to let the addiction of a Republican win dull our senses. What would have been questionable under Obama is just as questionable under Trump. The label of “Republican” seems to be the Get Out of Jail Free card. Trump is our guy, so the question of what is appropriate isn’t asked as often. The problem is that it should be.
Greg Gutfeld over at FOX News demonstrated this perfectly when calling out his colleagues – and the network itself – for an obvious hypocrisy. On The Five’s Thursday night show, the group discussed Trump’s “victory tour” which would kick off that evening.
President-elect Donald Trump is embarking on a post-election “thank you” tour …The Five went back and forth about it…
Juan Williams said he hopes Trump focuses on unity and building support for his policies. Eric Bolling said this is about speaking to the people who voted for him and felt ignored by the media and the political elites.
Greg Gutfeld then noted, “If Obama did a victory lap, this network would explode. We would be frothing. We’d have pitchforks running down Pennsylvania Avenue!”
Well, that was a bit awkward. But Gutfeld isn’t wrong.
Imagine a 2008 or 2012 victory tour wherein Obama went around the country to proclaim his election win. Is that something that would sit well with Republicans? I think not. For some reason, a Trump tour is not only acceptable, it is applauded. Maybe I’m in the minority on this one, but to me this is glaringly hypocritical.
This may seem like a minor example, and it is, for the most part. The real question is whether or not this is the beginning of a continuing double standard. Will being a Republican excuse Trump from defaulting on stated promises? Are we more likely to shrug off behavior that we would have condemned if it came from the Obama administration? Most of the questions along these lines have yet to be answered, but Trump’s campaign and the cult-like following it inspired have already sown seeds of doubt.
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