BY JOHN FEEHERY
Reprinted from TheFeeheryTheory.com

A made-up controversy over where the President was born trumped a real tragedy that unfolded in the President’s adopted hometown, which tells you a lot about the nature of this campaign.

Donald Trump somehow wormed his way into the campaign coverage by continuing to question where the President was born. Trump is a private citizen and he can have all of the doubts he wants about Mr. Obama. It’s not really relevant to a bigger national discussion about where we are going as a nation.

The Obama campaign is more than happy to keep the focus on the Donald and off what is actually happening in America, more specifically what is happening in the City of Big Shoulders.

Imagine how the headlines would blare if 10 American soldiers were killed and 42 were wounded in Iraq or Afghanistan. Now juxtapose that with what happened in Chicago over the weekend, where 10 Americans were killed and 42 were wounded in an explosion of violence.

Experts are blaming the hot weather. If President Obama were George Bush, they would be blaming him, but since President Obama is President Obama, he gets a free pass.

The President’s former Chief of Staff is now running the Windy City, and by the looks of it, he looks exasperated. You can put all of the cops on the street that you want, but this is not a cop problem. This is a complete breakdown in the moral fiber of certain sections of one of America’s greatest cities.

Where is the Presidential leadership? Why isn’t President Obama touring the streets of the South Side of Chicago, of Englewood, of the West Side, and inspecting the carnage? Why isn’t he showing some moral leadership and telling these kids and their parents to straighten up and fly right?

You would think that with his limited time left in the White House, he would provide something more than lip service to an ongoing gangland war in his hometown.

Maybe he could give a phone call to his buddy Al Sharpton and prod the preacher into doing a show on the killings of Chicago. Al seems to only want to highlight controversy when there is a racial element involved, a la Trayvon.

But how about when a 7 year old is wounded outside her home, or a 13 year old is gunned down in a pizzeria, or when a veteran is killed walking home from a Memorial Day party?

You can blame the weather all you want, but as newly medalled Bob Dylan once sang, you don’t need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows.

The President’s team wants to keep the focus on Donald Trump. That is not leadership. Leadership is when you start solving real problems. And we have a real problem in the City of Chicago.

Editor’s Note: John Feehery worked for former House Speaker Dennis Hastert and other Republicans in Congress. Feehery is president of Quinn Gillespie Communications. He is a contributor to The Hill’s Pundits Blog and blogs at thefeeherytheory.com.