Former president Barack Obama exudes an air of superiority and self-assurance that inspires those to whom he’s speaking to believe everything he says is true.  He has spent twenty years leveraging his soaring rhetoric to deceive the easily duped.  That’s why it’s no surprise that we are now learning that the former president has tried to harm political opponents by saying one thing publicly and doing the exact opposite in private.

Since 2004, America has received warnings from Barack Obama about threats he believes Americans should watch out for, including issues related to democracy, the rise of authoritarianism, free speech, misinformation, election denial, and hyperpartisanship.  The former president has consistently portrayed himself as the embodiment of whatever he claims to be the ideal, and every warning about potential issues is always delivered with the suggestion that none of the negativity related to the topics he discusses applies to him. 

Although admittedly not a fan of the fundamental rights cited in a Constitution he once said “reflects some deep flaws in American culture, the colonial culture nascent at that time,” Obama has effectively positioned himself as the spokesperson for some distorted version of democracy.  Ignoring the fact that America is a constitutional republic, in speeches he delivered in 2016 and 2021, Barack Obama stated, “The peaceful transfer of power is part of what makes democracy work.”  Oh, really?  In light of what we know about his treasonous meddling in elections, disingenuous statements like the one about “the peaceful transfer of power” should make every American pause and question anything Obama claims to stand for, revere, or pretend to be the guardian of.

With a seemingly inordinate emphasis on “democracy,” Obama continually warns Americans that democracy, as he defines it, is not self-sustaining.  At the 2020 National Democratic Convention, Obama cautioned Democrats, “Do not let them take away your democracy.  Make a plan to vote.”   Little did the voters know that at the time, the person democracy needed to be defended against was the one issuing the warning.

Similar to how three months after he took office in 2009, the former president labeled half the nation “right-wing extremists“ for the sin of being pro-life, pro–legal immigration, pro-military, and pro-America, Obama, the consummate despot, has also repeatedly warned Americans about what he considers “rising authoritarian trends.”  Lacking even a hint of self-awareness, Obama frequently cautions America that politicians who can’t match his level of authoritarianism are the real authoritarians. 

Giving a new meaning to “pathological,” and after illegally inserting himself into the outcomes of two, possibly three, recent elections, the former president recently dared to accuse Donald J. Trump of being an authoritarian for questioning the results of an election Obama knew full well he had meddled in.

Barack Obama has never been shy about sharing his thoughts that there should be limits on First Amendment rights.  The former president frequently warns that to preserve democracy, Americans need to be cautious of political falsehoods spread on social media, the “lies” coming from certain unnamed media outlets, and to reject any First Amendment statement he personally opposes.  Without explicitly defining what qualifies as “misinformation,” it seems the former president believes that America would be best served with his guidance on what speech should be sanctioned or censored. 

Immediately following the controversy surrounding the 2020 election, Obama began regularly warning Americans about the dangers of participating in election denial.  Citing a lack of proof, the former president criticized anyone who questioned the 2020 election results.  How dare Americans question an election that, for all intents and purposes, seemed shady, to say the least?  The emerging problem for Barack Obama is that, although he has warned Americans not to question election irregularities, it is likely that he played a part in manipulating the ballot box.

Another area where Barack Obama appears to view himself as the ultimate authority is in the realm of political polarization.  Whenever he has the chance, the most left-leaning, one-sided, polarizing president in American history warns Americans about the dangers of extreme loyalty to one party over another and how such allegiances undermine democratic norms and harm civil discourse.  What Obama is subliminally conveying is a message to partisans who swear loyalty to the political party he despises.  If you’re a Republican, faithfulness to the party furthers political polarization, but if you’re a Democrat, those rules do not apply.

In 2016, Trump’s victory represented a national denunciation of what the 43rd president aimed to accomplish during his previous two terms.  All Barry’s self-aggrandizing rhetoric wasn’t sending “thrills up America’s leg“ anymore.  That level of rejection did not sit well with a smug dude who has repeatedly proven that he doesn’t deal well with rejection or differing opinions.  Therefore, Trump, the quintessential “tea bagger,” whose vision of America sharply contrasted with Obama’s goal to “fundamentally transform” the nation, had to be stopped by any means necessary. 

Despite all his deceitfulness, Barack Obama has thus far managed to portray himself as a champion of democratic fairness.  However, when ordinary Americans, whom he claims to represent, voted for change in 2016, 2020, and possibly even 2024, it seems that it was Barack who covertly tried to thwart that change.

It appears as if, finally, Barack Obama’s “chickens are coming home to roost,” and the ulterior motives behind everything he’s said and done are being laid bare.  The mask Barack Obama has hidden behind, when saying one thing and doing another, is being stripped off as America finds out that the supposed guardian of democracy is nothing but a big con man.  Obama’s participation in the coup to oust a duly elected president proves that every holier-than-thou emphatic reproval America has received concerning democratic ideals, hyperpartisanship, and authoritarianism was dispensed by somebody who adhered to none of what he was selling.

Jeannie hosts a blog at www.jeannieology.us.

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