Reader's view: Columnist ignored Obama’s many accomplishments

Duluth businessman Tom Wheeler’s “Local View” column stated it was “the people” who voted President-elect Donald Trump to victory (“It’s time for Washington to make America whole again,” Dec. 2). He ignored that Hillary Clinton won the popular vote by 2.4 million votes. I think that means people. 
Wheeler disparaged President Barack Obama’s legacy but ignored that unemployment dropped from 10 percent in 2010 to 4.9 percent, violent crime is at its lowest since the 1970s, we have 9.3 million more jobs, corporate profits are up 166 percent, the Dow and S&P stock market indexes are at record highs, a record low number of Americans lack health insurance and troop levels in Iraq are down significantly. Also, there were no significant scandals under Obama. He remained a man of grace and dignity, even as he was hung in effigy, his religion was questioned, and his family was ridiculed. He also received the Nobel Peace Prize for strengthening international diplomacy and cooperation.
Wheeler wrote it’s time to run “our nation in a more business-like, common-sense manner.” If I’m to believe Trump’s words and actions, such a business would stand for racism, bigotry, fraudulent advertising (fake university), misogyny, the paying of no taxes, torture, human-rights violations, religious discrimination, the elimination of regulations that protect employees, and benefits that don’t cover women’s health care needs or even provide a minimum wage. The only criteria for success would be the bottom line. I, for one, wouldn’t want to patronize that business or be an employee.
I’m all for “making America whole,” as Wheeler suggested, but “whole” is not forgetting what Trump campaigned on and holding him accountable for the division he fostered. I believe his hyperbole was genuinely him. His appointments for strategists, cabinet positions, etc., support an unwholesome environment. We can become united in actions to thwart this unwholesome business model.
Gay Trachsel
Duluth
The writer cited as sources for this letter CNN, CNN Money, FactCheck.org, and Uniform FBI Crime Reports.