The reason this man disappointed me is not because he's underperforming his job, or showing himself incapable. Many people, including myself, are reasonable and patient and don't expect miracles overnight.

No, the real reason he disappointed me is that he promised a change in tone, and what's happened is the very opposite of that. He ran as a "unifier" and said, quote, "reconciliation and unity are in my DNA" or something like that, referring to his mixed ancestry, of course. After the polarization and the bickering of the Bush years, after the toxic political atmosphere, that seemed like a welcome change.

But under this president, racism increased, extremism increased, and fear and xenophobia increased, all of these a throwback to the Bush era. As a matter of fact, not only has there been no change in tone, it's actually gotten worse, because Bush was at least considered an entity (positive or negative take your pick) whereas this president is considered a non-entity, who can be heckled and interrupted even at the highest levels of power.

Nobody knew what electing a black president would entail, but it was reasonable to assume the country would come together and let go of the toxic wars of the past. That was Possibility A. Possibility B was that there'd be a counter-reaction, and the country would actually be worse off, and that seems to be exactly what happened.

He may be a capable and wonderful man, but the irony is that the country is more racist and toxic now than it ever was in recent history. His ascent has actually fuelled what he wanted to put behind us.

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"The favorite American pastime is not baseball, it's moral crusades."

quote:

Originally posted by HardTranceProd The reason this man disappointed me is not because he's underperforming his job, or showing himself incapable. Many people, including myself, are reasonable and patient and don't expect miracles overnight. No, the real reason he disappointed me is that he promised a change in tone, and what's happened is the very opposite of that. He ran as a "unifier" and said, quote, "reconciliation and unity are in my DNA" or something like that, referring to his mixed ancestry, of course. After the polarization and the bickering of the Bush years, after the toxic political atmosphere, that seemed like a welcome change. But under this president, racism increased, extremism increased, and fear and xenophobia increased, all of these a throwback to the Bush era. As a matter of fact, not only has there been no change in tone, it's actually gotten worse, because Bush was at least considered an entity (positive or negative take your pick) whereas this president is considered a non-entity, who can be heckled and interrupted even at the highest levels of power. Nobody knew what electing a black president would entail, but it was reasonable to assume the country would come together and let go of the toxic wars of the past. That was Possibility A. Possibility B was that there'd be a counter-reaction, and the country would actually be worse off, and that seems to be exactly what happened. He may be a capable and wonderful man, but the irony is that the country is more racist and toxic now than it ever was in recent history. His ascent has actually fuelled what he wanted to put behind us.

what? he's COMPLETELY AND UTTERLY under-performed. which to add to your expectations of not being able to work miracles, is not to say he's failed. but has he performed? simply, no.

you hired a non-executive, a career committee man - a legislator, to the highest level executive position on the planet. wtf did you expect?

none of this is about race. 10% and climbing unemployment isn't about race. univeral healthcare isn't about race. cap and trade isn't about race. staggering fiscal imbalances isn't about race. race is a bitch's argument.

all that "black man" needs to do is perform, then i guarantee you none of you will talking about whether he's black. it's stupid

i'm out

quote:

Originally posted by Q5echo what? he's COMPLETELY AND UTTERLY under-performed. which to add to your expectations of not being able to work miracles, is not to say he's failed. but has he performed? simply, no. you hired a non-executive, a career committee man - a legislator, to the highest level executive position on the planet. wtf did you expect? none of this is about race. 10% and climbing unemployment isn't about race. univeral healthcare isn't about race. cap and trade isn't about race. staggering fiscal imbalances isn't about race. race is a bitch's argument. all that "black man" needs to do is perform, then i guarantee you none of you will talking about whether he's black. it's stupid i'm out

I don't disagree.

A big part of the problem is that we have a legislator instead of an executive. America usually elects as presidents people who were governors, because they get things done.

Regardless, my post wasn't about the cause of the current strife, but about the situation "on the ground." Even if race wasn't originally an issue, it's somehow been injected into the conversation, because when I see ordinary people carrying signs with the "Joker-face" (thick African lips and all), I can't help but think that what Joe Wilson really wanted to say was "You lie, BOY!"

That's not the kind of era I envisioned when I voted for Obama. Just sayin'. The more things change, the more they stay the same.

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"The favorite American pastime is not baseball, it's moral crusades."

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Originally posted by Q5echo what? he's COMPLETELY AND UTTERLY under-performed. which to add to your expectations of not being able to work miracles, is not to say he's failed. but has he performed? simply, no.

He's done more positive things for this country in 9 months than Bush did in his entire 8 years in office.

quote:

you hired a non-executive, a career committee man - a legislator, to the highest level executive position on the planet. wtf did you expect?

Yes, but you hired a dumbass for president. I'll take Obama any day.

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none of this is about race. 10% and climbing unemployment isn't about race. univeral healthcare isn't about race. cap and trade isn't about race. staggering fiscal imbalances isn't about race. race is a bitch's argument.

10% unemployment on account of a recession which you can't in any way blame the current president for. Universal healthcare which every first world country in the world has except for us. Staggering fiscal imbalances started with Republicans, handed over to Obama, who was forced to increase it because of a huge recession. It's amusing watching Republicans blame EVERYthing bad on Obama, with absolutely NO substance to back it up...LOL...every criticism of Bush actually had some weight behind it.

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quote:

Originally posted by Krypton 10% unemployment on account of a recession which you can't in any way blame the current president for. Universal healthcare which every first world country in the world has except for us. Staggering fiscal imbalances started with Republicans, handed over to Obama, who was forced to increase it because of a huge recession. It's amusing watching Republicans blame EVERYthing bad on Obama, with absolutely NO substance to back it up...LOL...every criticism of Bush actually had some weight behind it.

Wasn't it Obama who said that unemployment wouldn't go over 8% if the stimulus was passed? Now, we can agree that he stepped into office when the recession already hit but he has done nothing to prevent it from getting any worse. It has gotten worse and it is getting even more worse. All of which is now happening under his eye. So this, he will take part of the blame for.

In Bush's defense, he too was handed a recession. The Clinton era looked so darn great because his presidency was during the boom of the Dot Com bubble and by the end of his term, it burst and was then handed over to Bush. Bush and Co. made the mistake of keeping interest rates too low for too long and allowed for wall street to package up bad loan deals, which created the housing boom and inevitable bust. So now the torch has been passed to Obama and he is doing the same exact thing that Bush did, only worse!

quote:

Originally posted by DOOMBOT Wasn't it Obama who said that unemployment wouldn't go over 8% if the stimulus was passed? Now, we can agree that he stepped into office when the recession already hit but he has done nothing to prevent it from getting any worse. It has gotten worse and it is getting even more worse. All of which is now happening under his eye. So this, he will take part of the blame for.

Just because Obama made a statement about unemployment levels which proved to be wrong does not mean it's Obama's fault for high unemployment. We'r in a recession and high unemployment is a natural effect.

quote:

In Bush's defense, he too was handed a recession. The Clinton era looked so darn great because his presidency was during the boom of the Dot Com bubble and by the end of his term, it burst and was then handed over to Bush. Bush and Co. made the mistake of keeping interest rates too low for too long and allowed for wall street to package up bad loan deals, which created the housing boom and inevitable bust. So now the torch has been passed to Obama and he is doing the same exact thing that Bush did, only worse!

Don't forget it was the Democratic Clinton Administration who handed Bush a surplus, only to have the so-called "fiscal conservatives" hand Obama the largest deficit ever in the middle of the second worst recession in the last 100 years. I also don't think the dot-com bubble was anything but a capitalist speculative bubble, which means it wasn't Clinton's fault. Just the normal business cycle. I'm not pinning the subprime mortgage crisis on Bush as it was caused by many factors coming together in a perfect storm. But I certainly blame his administration for the current fiscal crisis we are in.

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Last edited by Krypton on Sep-14-2009 at 06:13

quote:

Originally posted by Krypton He's done more positive things for this country in 9 months than Bush did in his entire 8 years in office.

Let's be quite clear. Bush is not Obama's benchmark. If that's how we judge our presidents, God help us all. You'd do better to stop trying to make useless comparisons like this. Got it?

quote:

Originally posted by Shakka Let's be quite clear. Bush is not Obama's benchmark. If that's how we judge our presidents, God help us all. You'd do better to stop trying to make useless comparisons like this. Got it?

Seconded.

Also, "the recession continued after Obama's election" is a pretty poor reason to call Obama a failure, considering there aren't any economists who believe we could have slowed things down (aside from Krugman, whom I have a hard time believing DOOMBOT likes).

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quote:

Originally posted by Shakka Let's be quite clear. Bush is not Obama's benchmark. If that's how we judge our presidents, God help us all. You'd do better to stop trying to make useless comparisons like this. Got it?

I'm talking to a Bush supporter, so in that remark, it had context.

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quote:

Originally posted by Q5echo what? he's COMPLETELY AND UTTERLY under-performed. which to add to your expectations of not being able to work miracles, is not to say he's failed. but has he performed? simply, no.

Yeah, he's been sitting in the oval office doing jack shit all day every day. He doesn't do anything, he probably just jerks off instead of do actual work.

quote:

you hired a non-executive, a career committee man - a legislator, to the highest level executive position on the planet. wtf did you expect?

Exactly. He knows nothing about America or the economy, or law-making, or anything that a president should know. He's practically a redneck republican!

quote:

none of this is about race. 10% and climbing unemployment isn't about race. univeral healthcare isn't about race. cap and trade isn't about race. staggering fiscal imbalances isn't about race. race is a bitch's argument.

Actually, I have no sarcasm in quoting this, it's not about race at all. It's a matter of opinion, but I think the original point was that some people were afraid to understand Obama's opinion just because he's black and they don't trust him. Do I think that's what is happening? Not really, but that was what the whole "race argument" was about.

quote:

all that "black man" needs to do is perform, then i guarantee you none of you will talking about whether he's black. it's stupid

He probably won't perform, just because no matter how much work he does, it is never good enough for the mighty Q5Echo. God, President Bush took 879 vacation days during his presidency, are you fucking serious? Do you actually think President Obama is "under performing"? He's writing legislation and putting plans into action at breakneck speed, some people actually think he's moving too fast! Get a reality check, jesus.

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Set Archive | TA DJ Challenge

ziptnf, Obama is a white man hating, liberal, socialist, communist, fascist, Afro-leninist, muslim, terrorist, illegal alien who is the reason we have high unemployment!!!1

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quote:

Originally posted by Krypton I'm talking to a Bush supporter, so in that remark, it had context.

Sorry--didn't mean to direct that so pointedly at you. I'm just getting tired of that argument. It's pretty meaningless in the grand scheme of things. Not to mention too many variables involved.