"Grossly Incompetent"

   This weekend, the president accused his predecessor of being "grossly incompetent," but walked away from the microphone without providing evidence or background to the remark.
   Earlier, he coined the term "Obamagate" to imply that the former president was guilty of criminal activity, but when asked for details, he responded, "You know what they are," and left.
   Historical background: The most recent economic downturn, known as the Great Recession, began during the administration of President George W. Bush, a Republican. The crisis was inherited by Democrat Barack Obama, who led the country out of the crisis and back to prosperity, balanced the federal budget and posted a surplus for several of his final years in office.
   So much for an allegation of incompetence.
   Since Donald Trump took office in January 2017, the surplus he inherited evaporated and the federal budget plummeted into historically high deficits.
   As for allegations of criminal activity by Obama, there is only the current president's word that such activity exists, since he refuses to provide details. Meanwhile, allegations of his own criminal activity are numerous, and refer to things that occurred both before and during his term in office. Moreover, he refuses to divulge personal financial information, and has fought all the way to the Supreme Court investigations into his business dealings before he took office, claiming that as president he is immune from prosecution, even for things that allegedly happened before he took office.
   SCOTUS heard some of the charges last week, and is expected to release its decision soon, certainly before Election Day in November.
   So much for allegations of criminal activity.
   In any other situation, such talk would be clear grounds for a libel suit. Politicians, however, must put up with such talk as the price they pay for being in the public eye. Nonetheless, Trump has warned news media and others several times that if they say negative things about him they will face a libel suit.
   So far, that has been just talk. The news media's response has been, in effect, bring it on. We'll see you in court and we'll read you the First Amendment to the Constitution.
   But until then, perhaps it would be useful if Trump finally got around to reading the document that he pledged to defend.