The Washington Post did the bidding of the former Obama administration Friday by publishing an op-ed signed onto by 149 African-American staffers who worked in his administration. To be honest, you will likely not recognize any of the signatories except for one – Valerie Jarrett. Her name is tucked away in the middle of the list, so as not to be too conspicuous.

The op-ed can be read here. The reason behind the piece, other than to reiterate that the Orange Man is bad, is to protest his controversial statement directed at the four far-left female freshman congresswomen. “If they are not happy here, they can leave.” All four are specifically named in the piece, along with a standard laundry list of “demands” of the left. The staffers were careful to include some loaded language – the “original sin” of America, as well as the “racist foundations” of the American criminal justice system.

We are proud descendants of immigrants, refugees and the enslaved Africans who built this country while enduring the horrors of its original sin. We stand on the soil they tilled, and march in the streets they helped to pave. We are red-blooded Americans, we are patriots, and we have plenty to say about the direction this country is headed. We decry voter suppression. We demand equitable access to health care, housing, quality schools and employment. We welcome new Americans with dignity and open arms. And we will never stop fighting for the overhaul of a criminal-justice system with racist foundations.

To drive home the premise of their op-ed, the Washington Post includes a YouTube video for dramatic effect.

They go on in the op-ed to accuse President Trump of “racism, sexism, homophobia and xenophobia”, which at this point is just tiresome. Republican presidents have been accused of racism for as long as I can remember. Absent from this truth to power moment, however, is the acknowledgment that President Obama was known as the Deporter-in-Chief and deported more than three million people. Is that xenophobic? Obama was against same-sex marriage before he was for it (conveniently in time for his re-election campaign). Is that homophobia? President Trump employs more women in top jobs than President Obama did. Is that sexism? And, most importantly, President Obama divided Americans along racial lines more than any of his predecessors. The Barack Obama known for his excellent speech delivered at the 2004 Democrat convention was long gone by the time we got President Obama.

Our love of country lives in these demands, and our commitment to use our voices and our energy to build a more perfect union. We refuse to sit idly by as racism, sexism, homophobia and xenophobia are wielded by the president and any elected official complicit in the poisoning of our democracy. We call on local, state and congressional officials, as well as presidential candidates to articulate their policies and strategies for moving us forward as a strong democracy, through a racial-equity lens that prioritizes people over profit. We will continue to support candidates for local, state and federal office who add more diverse representation to the dialogue and those who understand the importance of such diversity when policymaking here in our country and around the world. We ask all Americans to be a good neighbor by demonstrating anti-racist, environmentally friendly, and inclusive behavior toward everyone in your everyday interactions.

Former President Obama weighed in to support his staffers via a tweet.

I’ve always been proud of what this team accomplished during my administration. But more than what we did, I’m proud of how they’re continuing to fight for an America that’s better. https://t.co/0cfDltjueP

— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) July 27, 2019

“An America that is better.” Better than what? That is my question after that tweet.

The trope presented by the former Obama staffers, and their willing cohorts in the press, is that Barack Obama was a president who brought Americans together, that he rose above the fray. Nothing is farther from the truth. While they re-write history, conservatives like me can remember continual attacks, whether it was demanding a boycott of Fox News or Valerie Jarrett herself asking for the names of people prominent in social media that opposed the passage of Obamacare. She encouraged Americans to turn in the names of bloggers, for instance, who wrote unfavorably about Obamacare. I’m old enough to remember all of that. Remember when Barack Obama rushed to the side of his friend in Cambridge who was mistaken by white cops as a burglar at his home? Excuse me if I’m not rushing to sing his praises now.

If you ask me, this op-ed has Valerie Jarrett written all over it. Obama didn’t make a move without her consent and with his tweet supporting this piece coming out, it looks a little too staged to be spontaneous. The 2020 campaigns of some Democrat candidates have hit some bumps. We know from reports that Obama encouraged Kamala Harris to run. Joe Biden is sinking in the polls, though he still has strong African-American support, especially in states like South Carolina. Perhaps Team Obama has decided that now is the time for them to go on the offense and start helping out some of the candidates running against President Trump.