Disrespect of a great president

 *  The July-1 Tennessee Voices column by Ryan Haynes set me to wondering why many of my kin and friends are attracted to the Republican party.  Like a Rush Limbaugh broadcast, the article is a stream of unsubstantiated and misleading invective against President Obama and the ACA.  I take implacable umbrage with Haynes’ declaration: “The effort to restore dignity to the White House must begin now.”  This could come only from someone so immersed in racist company as not to recognize racism.  It is hard to recognize a characteristic shared by everyone at the barbecue.

 *  Based on my experience of 13 presidents (beginning with Roosevelt), I conclude that Obama is among the more informed, rational, sober, capable, ethical, even tempered and dignified of our presidents--far more than Bush II, who led the unethical, expensive and harmful invasion of Iraq to distract from Afghanistan stalemate, which destabilized Syria and upset the power balance in the neighborhood–also far more than Donald Trump, now leading Republican polls.

 *  Talk about “untethered...from...reality”.  The Republican myth that people “know their health best and how to properly manage it”, is untethered from reality.  When trying to pay for shelter, transportation, food, clothing, communication, education and entertainment in a safe neighborhood, people neglect retirement saving and insurance.  Democratic programs address these two natural neglects with Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and ACA.  Republicans count on Democrats to save America from Republican doctrines.

 *  Were it not for Democratic social programs to expand the fraction of our population with a stake in our economic system, we would probably have seen Wall Street and Greenwich Connecticut burn long ago.  Contrary to mythology of both parties, we cannot forever solve our societal problems by economic growth, accelerating the conversion of resources to waste.  Eventually, we will have to share a more steady-state economy/society–or burn.