Just Being There Is Enough

"If I had known I'd be running for president, I would have been less controversial." Donald Trump, Interview with Ainsley Earhardt, FOX News, August, 2016

August 17, 2016

By: Linda Case Gibbons

          When you're in trouble, your friends show up. They don't have to do anything. Just being there is enough.

          So let's say you're in Baton Rouge, and you're watching the rising Amite River wash away your worldly possessions.

          Or you are a world leader, marching with other world leaders, in a show of solidarity, after the Islamic terrorist attack in Paris.

          Or you're a fisherman, and you've just seen your livelihood wiped out by a oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

          Don't count on the president, because he's not coming. And neither is Hillary.

          There is so little time and so many golf balls to be hit, so many people to schmooze on Martha's Vineyard, important campaign contributors, like Cher.

          And what's to see in Louisiana? Just people.

          As journalist Laura Ingraham pointed out, Democrats aren't interested in people.

          When Donald Trump visited the flooded area, he was responding to an emergency, going there, the way he would if there was an accident on one of his construction sites.

          Compassion is not that simple, however. Obama felt upstaged by Trump, and Hillary's faded blue eyes snapped with indignation.

          "Visiting Louisiana would be a distraction to flood relief efforts," was Hillary's alibi, as she made her way to fundraise on Martha's Vineyard and finalized plans to attend a $33,000-a-plate fundraiser at Justin Timberlake's home.

          And the president? He's always had a peculiar timeline when it comes to crises. He shows up late, if he shows up at all.

          Nine days to get to the BP spill; MIA during the Benghazi attack. And Paris? He just never went.

          It's as though he thinks "emergencies" need to be planned better, that tragedies should wait on his convenience.

          Obama was visibly piqued at Trump. He dismissed Trump's visit as "political," adding peevishly, "First of all, one of the benefits of being five months short of leaving here is I don't worry too much about politics."

          Does that mean if he had more time in office he'd have come to Louisiana sooner? Or that he would talk about Black on Black crime in Chicago more? Or would invite a couple of cops to the White House?

          But we know Trump better than Obama does. We know he's a compassionate, gutsy sort of fellow.

          Remember when Trump climbed a fence to get to his rally in California in April? Even as violent protestors made the site a veritable powder keg, he went so he wouldn't disappoint people who had waited on line for hours. 

          "That was not the easiest entrance I've ever made," he joked. "It felt like I was crossing the border, actually."

          Remember when he waded into the mess in Milwaukee two days after that city was set ablaze? He went there even though the Secret Service strongly advised a change of plans.

          Sounds like something a "Presidential," even-tempered, real man would do.

          But don't be too tough on Obama and Hillary. As Dr. Ben Carson observed when asked if it was wrong for Obama to continue with his vacation and not go to Louisiana.

          "Everyone has a right to live their lives according to their priorities," Dr. Carson said. "Americans can then look; it's revealing."

          So Obama vacationed, and Hillary busied herself trying to hide her campaign's Russian/Tony Podesta/ uranium connection. 

          The bottom line is this: If you need a friend, buy a dog, but don't bother calling Obama or Hillary. They'll always be busy with something more important than you.

          And if you find yourself on a roof, fighting for your life, in Benghazi, or waiting for someone to pick up the phone at 3 a.m., you'd be better off dialing Trump Tower.