My greatest fear.

Face it. A Republican Congress didn’t give Obama a chance. Making no secret. Of their intent to oppose him every step of the way. They wanted Obama to fail. Even when he proposed legislation that Republicans previously supported. Partisan politics don’t come any more partisan than that. It also became racist. With the likes of Donald Trump, who started the so-called ‘birther’ movement. Alleging that Obama was an illegitimate president. That he wasn’t a U.S. citizen. That he was foreign born. That he might even be a secret Muslim. Outlandish lies. With racist overtones. And many of the racist-inclined fell for it. Believed it.  Because they wanted to believe it. It fed and fortified their racist persuasions.  Yes, that’s how Trump got started in politics. It was his single issue. Little wonder that Trump was endorsed by the Ku Klux Klan. By all sorts of white supremacist groups. Makes me sick to think about it. My spirits were buoyed. When Obama was first elected and then re-elected as president.  I took it as an indication that America had turned a corner. But now I have doubts. A racist element seems to have  taken over the American political scene. Of course, I hope beyond hope. That I’m wrong. That I’m misreading the state of our politics. But my greatest fear. Is that I’m right on target. --Jim Broede