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If ever an incoming Presidency was destined to be an anti-climax, it was Obama. So I have some sympathy with the guy and believe it’s too soon to call him a failure or a success. Like most Presidents, he’ll end up being a mixture of both. The President, be he Republican or Democrat can’t be all things to all men, even if they try and give the impression they can prior to election (rather like the Lib Dems here
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Many of the problems he faces (much like David Cameron) are the result of the bad governance of his predecessor.
Iraq / Afghanistan / the economy / healthcare were never going to be easy plays. Chuck in North Korea, Iran, the BP oil spillage and the ever-growing economic/military threat of China + the ongoing Israel/Palestine sh1tfest and he’s got one hell of an in-tray.
Even so, with all this to think about, he’s still managed to give off an anti-British persona. So, balls to him.As the above said, Barack gave the impression of change – young, black, attractive, intellectual – far more than he was ever likely to deliver it.
The fundamental problem is the American political system (supported by the media), which seems designed to create inertia and prevent any breath of radical change. Biannual elections – madness, where politicians cannot be strategic, they can barely even be tactical!
You only have to look at the Tea Party, a collection of baby-boomers rallying against the state whilst being bankrolled by corporate interests.
I’m afraid America is on a headlong decline and the worry is that the more lunatic fringe will lash out as it descends.
After this past weekend’s vote on ending Don’t Ask Don’t Tell, I am reminded of how we dodged disaster in the form of a McCain/Palin presidency. For that alone Obama’s presidency will not go down as a failure. You really have to compare his term with the presidents before him-1000000 times better than Bush, better than Clinton (because so far he hasn’t lied under oath, he got the new healthcare plan through, and he ended DADT), better than Bush Sr., much better than Reagan…
At least I am no longer embarassed about my President. At least he believes in science and stem-cell research. At least he can string two sentences together without stumbling. At least his Vice President isn’t the pure embodiment of evil. At least he pays lip service to those more liberal than him, instead of ignoring or insulting us. So he
is
a change for the better.
Good post, Miss Woodford – interesting insight.
I think the best thing that can be said about this Obama presidency, is that it’s barely been noticable this side of the water. Better an American President who achieves little quietly, than the one who achieves little whilst managing to piss-off 99% of the rest of the planet in the process.
"A foreign minister of a small — but not insignificant — country put it this way to me: Obama doesn’t seem to be there. By that he meant that Obama does not seem to occupy the American presidency and that the United States he governs does not seem like a force to be reckoned with. Decisions that other leaders wait for the United States to make don’t get made, the authority of U.S. emissaries is uncertain, the U.S. defense and state departments say different things, and serious issues are left unaddressed.
While it may seem an odd thing to say, it is true: The American president also presides over the world. U.S. power is such that there is an expectation that the president will attend to matters around the globe not out of charity, but because of American interest. The questions I have heard most often on many different issues are simple: What is the American position, what is the American interest, what will the Americans do? (As an American, I frequently find my hosts appointing me to be the representative of the United States.)
I have answered that the United States is off balance trying to place the U.S.-jihadist war in context, that it must be understood that the president is preoccupied but will attend to their region shortly. That is not a bad answer, since it is true.
But the issue now is simple: Obama has spent two years on the
election severely weakened domestically. If he continues his trajectory, the rest of the world will perceive him as a crippled president, something he needn’t be in foreign policy matters. Obama can no longer control Congress, but he still controls foreign policy. He could emerge from this defeat as a powerful foreign policy president, acting decisively in Afghanistan and beyond. It’s not a question of what he should do, but whether he will choose to act in a significant way at all.
This is Obama’s great test. Reagan accelerated his presence in the world after his [mid-term] defeat in 1982. It is an option, and the most important question is whether he takes it. We will know in a few months. If he doesn’t, global events will begin unfolding without recourse to the United States, and issues held in check will no longer remain quiet."
I think world war 3 is on the cards guys. Iran and North Korea are the two biggest threats to the world as we know it. If Obama was not at the helm im sure the situation regarding both countries would of escalated by now!!
The last thing America needs is another warmonger like Bush in charge therefore it will be a terrible day if Sarah Palin gets her seal cub killing mitts anywhere near the oval office.
On the other hand America needs someone in charge who can take action when required. I think Obama has done ok and im sure he would not shy from defending America or the world for the matter if it was the only solution. He has a fighting spirit. I hope some racist imbred hillbilly who thinks Obama is a commy arab doesnt do the same as what happened to JFK, although im sure with the security now he will make it through his first term ok!!
The world is a pretty messed up place. Not looking foward to 2012.
Some very interesting replies.
I was a big fan of Obama at the start…but his policies on "Terrorism" are never going to work.
North Korea is no threat to the world. They a tiny nation. However Iran is a threat but is it really anything like Russia during the Cold War. Iran has serious chips on the bargaining table. Its a game of Poker at the moment. I doubt Iran has any intentions to attack anyone..just buying chips to increase the other players awareness of them.
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My take on America is they’re all crazy. They have this rule 2 terms and out so when aman like Bill Clinton who’s only fault was his terrible tastte in women comes along he get thrown out and in steps George W Bush who starts a war under pretence that Sadam was a making weaponds of mass destruction. Sadam was selling oil for Euro and not dollars which some say was the real reason.
Anyway no matter what Barack Obaham has inherted the worst mess in the countries history having followed the worst President in it’s history.
As President he’ll no doubt have to make decisons against his better judgment as a man because of this but that’s politics. A lot of things President do are because it’s the only thing they can do and it’s way too easy to critise when you don’t know the whole story.
The situation in Iraq Afghanistan and Iran is way to complex for the man in the street to understand as we have no idea what the real truth is or waht is going on behind closed doors.
The petrodollar story going around the net is damn scary if it is true because the only way round it would be to start another war.
We’ve all gone to look for America…
The most powerful and richest country in the world; imbued with a great sense of itself and containing within its borders some highly intelligent and rational people; yet, it will forever remain a great mystery to me why on earth they would ever elect a doddering, bumbling B-movie actor and later, a tongue tied, fumbling, verbally challenged imbecile ( whose father also held the honour
) as the President of the United States Of America ?Barack Obama must seem like a God-send after those two.
Gambling Only Pays When You're Winning
I rather thought Ronald Reagan was generally adjudged to have been a good president.
I rather thought Ronald Reagan was generally adjudged to have been a good president.
Worse than Bush. At least Bush was incompetent enough to not get everything he wanted done. Reagan did, and we’re still suffering from it.
http://www.examiner.com/images/blog/EXI … artoon.jpginsomniac is correct.
in terms of the various polls giving historical rankings to presidents, Reagan comes out way best of those since JFK.
certainly better than GW Bush, and also ahead of the man that he (Reagan) succeeded (and so, along with his own successor HW Bush, is most measured against), Jimmy Carter:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Historical … Presidents
i fear ultimately the verdict on Obama as president will turn out much the same as on Carter – judged a better man than he was a president.
midway through Carter’s presidency (ie even before the Soviets went into Afghanistan to his open-mouthed shock and before the Iran hostage crisis), there was a June 1978 article that pegged Carter as "a process president", meaning that he put:
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
…. "greater emphasis on methods, procedures and instruments for making policy than on the content of policy itself."
……..his passion in government is for how things are done, rather than what should be done.
He believes that if the process is good the product will be good. In other words, if he sets up a procedure for making policy that is open, comprehensive (his favorite word), and involves good people, whatever comes out of this pipeline will be acceptable (within certain budgetary limits).
A concern for process is not a bad thing. Some past presidents made a fetish of chaos in policy development, often resulting in proposals that had not been fully explored.
But process is only a tool for getting from here to there – it is not a substitute for substance. And good processes can produce conflicting, competing and confusing programs.
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http://hnn.us/articles/444.html
In foreign policy, Obama has continued the Bush trajectories, seemingly believing that inherently they are not wrong, its just that Bush didn’t articulate them to the world in a warm/fuzzy/sympathetic way.
Domestically, Obama got through the Democrats’ totemic healthcare policy on which Carter failed 30 years previously only because of the intra-necine rivalry he faced from Ted Kennedy.
Partly Obama kept Kennedy onside, partly 30 years on the Kennedy ambition was no longer a factor.
Obama has yet to do anything on the world stage to mark him out.
I think he will be defined by the accommodation he has to reach with Iran to address Iraq one side of it and Afghanistan the other side of it.
And then – once US resources are thereby released from Iraq/Afghanistan – – how he addresses the recent expansionism of each of Russia and China.
It probably won’t be on Obama’s watch that the dollar collapses as the world’s reserve currency, so someone else will need to deal with all the plates that crash to the ground when that happens – though in 2 years time Obama may well be dealing with the same kind of inflation rates that dogged Carter’s re-election bid.
Good post Wit.
As you said the Dollar will be re-defined prob in favour of the Yen. In fact its not a bad neccessarly for America.
I agree that expectations were too high after Obama’s campaign; he hasn’t benn able to live up to the promise, which makes hime like every other elected politician.
He inherited 2 disastrous, unnnecessary and expensive wars from Bush, he took over just after the banking collapse and during a deep recession, and the racist Right has tried to undermine him at every stage, even where it undermines America’s authority across the world.
Too early to judge, I reckonObama has been a terrible President. His health care scheme and spending will bankrupt us. He cannot work (unless forced) with anyone who does not share his viewpoint and has become a first class hypocrite. Telling people we must all make cut backs and have "some skin in the game" while going on six expensive vacations per year with his family.
I never thought I would say this but there are no Repubs worth voting for and I would love another Bill Clinton Presidency right now. But that is not going to happen.
Craig
Looks Like Obama is set to regain the white house in 2012. The american economy is growing ahead of schedule and is just pefect timing. With withdrawals now going to start from the wars and a number of significant bills passed its looking like its going to be a 2 term president.
However Sarah Palin is making it easy for him…no one in their right mind could vote for her. She is a calamity and the moderate republicans will either abstain or maybe vote democrat. She far too extreme.
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Americas sacrificial lamb is certainly doing a lot better than the UK’s …. Nick Clegg anyone?
Obama can only operate within the political system he has inherited no matter what rhetoric is spouted in his rousing speeches. Any good intentions are quickly undermined by an ignorant, republican, corporate backed racist media and opposition.
Some folks in the USA do not care what they say as long as they get some mud to stick to Obama. They then hide behind the ridiculous "Free Speech" banner. Talk about desperate and corrosive. It’s the old divide and conquer policy coming to the fore yet again. Big business runs America and it’s driven the country into the ground using old chestnuts like "red", "commie",
"socialist", etc to run down any reformist. Big Business attacks any restraint to their often illegal, thoughtless, entirely self serving aims. Companies like Haliburton have destroyed America using its core values to trick the public while undermining same for gross profit.People saying Obama’s health care bill will run the country into the ground are nothing but mindless sheep being herded by their globalised shepherds of commerce. What have the HMO’s ever done for Americans? Good health care has not bankrupted any democratic nation so far. Bad management, idiotic overuse of consultancy and over employment of jobsworth, corrupt public servants has and will always do more damage to any society.
It will take an enormous effort for Obama or anyone else to pull the USA back from the brink. Crikey, I shouldn’t have started and I’m only just getting warmed up!
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) as the President of the United States Of America ?
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