A great orgasm of far-right, conservative fanaticism inevitably swept through the depraved opium den that is national politics last Monday. Billionaire real estate mogul Donald Trump paused between alimony payments and bankruptcy filings, declaring to the world on his Fox News soapbox that he had a “big announcement” to make about President Obama.
Trump, a vocal Romney supporter, promised his announcement would have a significant impact that would undoubtedly change the entire landscape of the presidential election, characterizing it as “serious dirt” on President Obama.
Conservative media personalities squirmed with gleeful anticipation.
Indeed, Trump’s primary objective was to relaunch a malicious personal assault against the president in order to not only distract voters from the real issues surrounding the 2012 election, but also to undermine the legitimacy of the Obama presidency by suggesting the leader of the free world is a fraud and a liar.
In the form of a YouTube video shot from his New York office, Trump made his groundbreaking announcement last Wednesday: The American business magnate offered to give $5 million to the charity of Obama’s choice if the president publicly releases his college transcripts and passport records by Oct. 31.
By doing this, the notoriously shady billionaire not only called President Obama’s citizenship into question once again, but also his educational achievements.
To be clear, Obama graduated Magna Cum Laude from Harvard Law School, and he has already publicly released his birth certificate, proving he was born in the United States — yet, for some reason, figures like Trump and many others still remain skeptical.
Despite the ample evidence provided by the Obama administration in the past to refute these right-wing extremists’ wildly unsubstantiated claims, should the president continually bend to the will of the “birthers,” conspiracy theorists and attention whores?
Of course not. The president is by no means obligated to pander to these ludicrously baseless solicitations. Moreover, the necessary information has already been verified, thereby rendering further inquiries irrelevant.
But the Trump deal is different.
There’s no denying that $5 million can create a significant amount of good as a charitable donation for those in need, rather than the likely alternative of going toward another one of Trump’s yacht purchases or another excessively priced piece of art.
By merely providing the public with his easily accessible college transcript and passport forms, President Obama will now have the opportunity to give funding to programs that fight to end poverty and further social justice, for instance.
The irony is quite amusing when you contrast how hard it is for Obama to gain Congress’ funding approval for similar social support programs to how easy a process Trump is offering the president. Why not take advantage?
Even Trump outlines in concrete terms how beneficial this deal would be for Obama.
“I will give to a charity of his choice — Inner City Children of Chicago, American Cancer Society, AIDS Research — anything he wants, a check, immediately for $5 million,” Trump said in his video.
Not only will taking Trump’s deal be a great service to a philanthropic cause, but it will also be politically beneficial to Obama.
If Obama releases his passports and college records, it will erase any kind of doubt that could be potentially held by “on-the-fence” voters. Essentially, Obama will be able to prove Trump’s conspiracy theories are innately stupid and a waste of time.
It’s a two birds, one stone type of deal. The president should take advantage of this failed attempt at portraying him as a con and use it as an opportunity to extend benevolence and an ethic of giving help to those in need.
