Trump/Obama: no comparison

Dear Editor:

Donald Trump takes great delight in promoting himself as “all-knowing and welleducated.” He’s been taking pot shots at Barack Obama from all angles including: place of birth; citizenship, moral character and of course, education. For someone that proposes to be well-rounded and welleducated, he has sure made some asinine statements in reference to Obama.

One only has to compare educational notes between the two. Really, there is no comparison. Trump graduated from Wharton School of Business. It is well touted by many as it is part of the University of Pennsylvania. He graduated with a Bachelor’s degree.

Obama, on the other hand, attended Occidental College, Columbia University (B.A. degree and Masters), Harvard University and Harvard Law School (Post Grad), where he achieved a JD or Juris Doctorate degree (the highest level of law study.)

Obama has never “blown his own horn” from an education standpoint, unlike Trump. He has never had to. Trump is always touting his intelligence and education. I am wondering if he does this because he knows he’s somewhat educationally inferior to many others, Obama included. As a consequence, in order to build himself up, he uses the tactic of bringing someone else down. Trump is a prime example of the Peter Principle in operation. He truly does succeed at his own level of incompetence as pointed out by Peters in his book.

There is one distinct difference between Donald Trump and Barack Obama as presidents. That difference is that Obama was presidential. He didn’t have to act presidential as Trump does.

Does Donald Trump know what’s in the U.S. Constitution? Evidently not. Either he doesn’t understand it or he sees that, in his mind, that it doesn’t apply to him. He has made claims of banning mail-in balloting (he was in favour of mail-in ballots in 2016) and stating that if state governors don’t fall into line, he will force them to.

If one were to read the Constitution, nowhere does it say that mail-in ballots are illegal, nor can anyone prevent them from being used. Also, nowhere in the U.S. Constitution does it give presidents unlimited or dictatorial power over state governors, although there are certain areas where the president has oversight authority. Here again, Obama’s education and understanding trumped Trump.

Ron Barillaro

Penticton