OBAMA-Good or Bad?

[hammondjam]

It is MY belief that Joe Wilson's stunt was to get votes in an upcoming election. There is a growing number of folks out there that really don't have a clue but still pray at the altar of talk radio that think Wilson is a patriot for yelling that three word exclamation at the president. These SAME people probably kept their kids out of school in the fear that Obama would "indoctrinate" their little ones which, in turn, would do the same for the parents. That says little against the president but speaks volumes about the parents!

[Cimarron]

Apart from the push for socialized medicine, how is Obama all that different from Bush?

After all, Bush was in the process of "bailing out" the banks when he left out.  Obama just picked up that ball and ran with it, extended it to the auto makers and the "stimulus".

Bush started the wars, Obama campaigned on ending them. They are still going on, our soldiers are still being killed, and there is no real end in sight.  In fact, there is talk of escalating the war in Afghanistan, but for what objective?  Another thing that Bush started, that Obama is just running with.

Now, there's a report that Obama supports extending the Patriot Act.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32863188/ns/politics-white_house


Isn't that the same Patriot Act that the libbies were in a dither about? Just one more ball that Bush threw and Obama is running with.

Good or bad, Bush II or different, we are stuck with 3 1/2 more years of him.

[hammondjam]

There is ONE school of thought that says that it will take time to undo what Bush did in his private war on an oil rich country. Between oil and his religious beliefs/fantasies concerning the Muslim world, he has successfully poked a hornet's nest and THAT, IMO, will not be easy to fix. Add to that the use of paramilitary contractors(who don't necessarily fall under the jurisdiction of US military commanders) and you get a "beast with many heads" in the Middle East.

Whatever happens there, I think we need to stengthen our borders so we know who comes in and who goes out. If we had a 10th of the overseas military/contractor presence along the borders, we could keep the enemies of our country out. Again, IMO. Considering that we have recruiting going on RIGHT HERE in our country by anti-American groups, we don't need any new enemies getting in.

I voted for Obama because he was the lesser of two evils. Sarah Palin was too much of a risk to let her in. She went on to prove my suspicions. I DON'T have any allegiance to Obama at this point. He works for us and I'm watching my employee to see what he's doing. I'm a bit concerned about the banks STILL giving their CEO's multi-million dollar bonuses out of the stimulus money. That money is going overseas and won't do many of us any good. I'm waiting to see what's going to happen with healthcare although I really don't use the system. I've worked inside it for years and know the tricks that they use on the innocent public. But...that's a discussion for another day.

[Cimarron]

As for the borders, neither party is securing them. You have to ask "why"?

As for the banks, the other shoe hasn't dropped yet on the banks.  Evidently there's an entire group of subprime negative-am loans that are due to go up in another year.  That means thousands of more defaults and bankruptcies ahead.

As for future terrorism, some terrorist groups fight in more than one way. If things are going the way some want, where they can work/undermine from within, then violence is no longer necessary.

[Hagrid]

I'd say the jury is still out on Obama. He's 'managed' fairly well so far, but I'd like to see him develop an identity of his own and get from the shadow of his predecessor. The whole war thing and the financial collapse were biggies though and he's had to deal a lot with that in addition to trying to work the bugs out of the healthcare system. For those size bugs though, we'd have to jack up ORKIN to Canada size I'm thinkin...

[Whoo]

Well, at least he is remaining steadfast in trying to actually put a plan in place.  It likely won't be very good the first time around, and will definitely need to be tweaked multiple times, but the importance lies in getting some things fixed.  I want to see how much regulation is going to be thrown in from the get-go.

[Moonglow]

I like Obama, u can understand him and he is a common man like the rest of us, he does not come from a rich family dynasty, of course that is why I liked Clinton. And he was slick.Could talk you outta yer pants, he-he, reminds me of me. :P

[Whoo]

Woof.  Wooof, Moonglow ;D

Congrats to President Obama for being selected for the Nobel peace prize!  I'm not so sure he normally would've received the honor, but I think the committee aptly gave him the nod because he is trying to undo all the ill will The Idiot fostered over 8 years. :mad:

[Hagrid]

AMEN to that, Whoo! It's what happens when the U.S. elects a charasmatic leader who projects all the latent goodness our country posseses. A leader who articulates ideas related to peace and appoints a Cabinet loaded with enough talent to accomplish great things.

The healthcare policy push is consuming a great deal of time and resources, but it's overhaul and reform are all ludicrously long overdue.

We start getting some of these reforms rolling along, we might be setting ourselves up for yet another Pax Americana, where we can start feeding the world's hungry, curing diseases and developing third world countries into viable and reliable trading partners.


Just a thought, but it's a good one.

[Whoo]

Well, after 8 years of nothing toward domestic issues, it is good to see someone paying attention to the needs of this country and the people.  Typically, that's the way things go; the Pubes look at business and forget about the US (hello, outsourcing has about killed the US), then the Dems come in and do domestic policy changes.  I do hope Obama will convince Congress it is long overdue to review the various systems we currently have in place and bring them current to meet today's realities, not 70 years ago.  I'm not saying all change is good, but an antiquated system needs to be revamped.

[hammondjam]

First, Wall St. and the big banks get billions and give millions in bonuses to their CEO's while other American citizens are being laid off. NOW, Wall St. is getting the H1N1 shots ahead of other, more at risk, places like hospitals and clinics.

Obama is a one termer if only because of the bad PR! This is happening on HIS watch. A lot of folks would expect this out of Dubya. It seems some things never change!

[Hagrid]

I'd agree he'll be a one-termer only if the Republicans go all out and nominate Palin or someone vaguely similar. Most Americans have short memories, but I don't think they're going to forget a candidate who says she can see Russia from her back porch! Or can't name a magazine she subscribes to. Or passes legislation to hunt wolves from helicopters. Or believes dinosaur skeletons were planted by the devil to make people believe in evolution. Or that science is a dodge, global warming is a myth, or that she's not in the pocket of Big Oil.

[Mr T]

You are such a sweetie-pie! :smile:  You still believe.

[Whoo]

"Vague" - how appropriate!!!! ;D ;D

[hammondjam]

You know me. It's not an either/or situation. Palin is a joke. She pissed off the wrong people in her party and THAT is the biggest reason she probably won't be on any tickets in the near future.

Does anyone remember the sci-fi movies where the one, single corporation is the world's government? After reading about the current economic mess and the reasons for it, I firmly believe that reality is truly imitating fiction. Right now, corporations RULE and politicians do their bidding. I'm not a conspiracy nut, I just have eyes and ears. I truly think Obama is as "owned" as George W. was. There are things that the Dems will be able to do that fall within the confines of what I believe in but in the end, money will set the agenda!