But Seriously...

[TradeNurkicNow]

Disappointed isn't exactly the right word for it.

My experience coming into political consciousness started when I was 15 with Bush being gifted the 2000 election by the Supreme Court, followed by 9/11, following by "They hate us for our freedom", followed by two wars, Guantanamo bay, illegal wire tapping, Enron, the housing bubble, and the bailouts.

Politics was a joke. It was obvious that the whole system was broke. Why wouldn't anyone just admit it?

Then someone did. Obama came along, told us that the system is broke and we can do it different. He was the only hope for change to have ever spoken to my generation directly. He used that to his advantage, got elected twice and continued the status quo. Was I disappointed? Sure. But it was more than that.

It was a reminder that the power structures in place are much more entrenched than one president can represent. It was a reminder that real change is as far from actualization than it has ever been. It was a reminder for my generation that if we wanted to play the game of real life, we had to learn to play by the rules of ruthlessness and lies.

It's a reaffirmation of "fuck it."

 

[Denny Crane]

Disappointed isn't exactly the right word for it.

My experience coming into political consciousness started when I was 15 with Bush being gifted the 2000 election by the Supreme Court, followed by 9/11, following by "They hate us for our freedom", followed by two wars, Guantanamo bay, illegal wire tapping, Enron, the housing bubble, and the bailouts.

Politics was a joke. It was obvious that the whole system was broke. Why wouldn't anyone just admit it?

Then someone did. Obama came along, told us that the system is broke and we can do it different. He was the only hope for change to have ever spoken to my generation directly. He used that to his advantage, got elected twice and continued the status quo. Was I disappointed? Sure. But it was more than that.

It was a reminder that the power structures in place are much more entrenched than one president can represent. It was a reminder that real change is as far from actualization than it has ever been. It was a reminder for my generation that if we wanted to play the game of real life, we had to learn to play by the rules of ruthlessness and lies.

It's a reaffirmation of "fuck it."

You do know that running against the status quo is one of the oldest tricks in politics?

 

[julius]

You do know that running against the status quo is one of the oldest tricks in politics?

I'm a DIFFERENT candidate....I'm an "outsider".

 

[TradeNurkicNow]

You do know that running against the status quo is one of the oldest tricks in politics?

I do now.

 

[MARIS61]

He is George W. Bush on steroids as far as deliberately trampling our Constitutional rights. He spits on our justice system and admitedly murders innocent American citizens. He has mounted the largest government campaign to forcibly disarm a populace since Hitler's.

He's made no attempt to decrease healthcare costs, fuel or energy costs, or any other runaway monopolies gouging Americans.

His draconian battle against legal medical marijuana providers seems to be racially selective and distinctfully cruel.

He's done nothing to save what's left of the middle class, to make college affordable, or to protect our food supply.

But in any case my first paragraph makes him a genuine traitor to my country, negating any and all of the positive changes he brought about.

This should not be interpreted as a belief that Romney would have done much differently or an endorsement of any future candidate or party. They're all just servants to the 1%.

 

[Denny Crane]

Obama is the 1%

 

[BlazerCaravan]

Obama is the 1%

Yup. He's not working for anyone but cigar chomping tycoons. The post about how the most conservative democrat wins is totally true. And in an ever-more conservative country, the difference between this decade's model of Democrat and last decade's model of Republican is so small...

 

[Denny Crane]

Yup. He's not working for anyone but cigar chomping tycoons. The post about how the most conservative democrat wins is totally true. And in an ever-more conservative country, the difference between this decade's model of Democrat and last decade's model of Republican is so small...

Top 1% makes ~$390K. The president's salary is $450K. He gets that for life, too.

 

[BlazerCaravan]

Top 1% makes ~$390K. The president's salary is $450K. He gets that for life, too.

I'm fine with that, as long as there's a cap on wealth, taxed 100% at (I'll be generous) $3million or higher. Split the rest up and send $120,000 kicker checks to everyone.

 

[barfo]

I think he's doing fine. But then, I'm a moderate democrat. I never believed Obama rode on a pink unicorn to save the starving puppies, nor do I think he's a socialist communist fascist weak-kneed incompetent power-hungry dictator.

He's made marginal positive changes, which is about all you can hope for under our system of government. He's screwed up a few things, and it is certainly possible to wish for someone better... but overall things are fine and getting better.

Maybe the next guy will be mondo super cool greatest president ever. Maybe not. We'll see.

barfo

 

[maxiep]

Wow. If this thread doesn't confirm why Barack Obama managed to fool the country not once, but twice, nothing else will. #LIV

 

[Eastoff]

Wow. If this thread doesn't confirm why Barack Obama managed to fool the country not once, but twice, nothing else will. #LIV

I just want to say, I should have expected Obama to be a liar, but I didn't. But with what he said he was going to do, and what he actually did, still seems better than what McCain said he was going to do or what Romney said he would do. And that's giving them the benefit of the doubt, that they also aren't typical lying politicians.

 

[jlprk]

If the media were neutral, it would be easier for liberals to oppose Obama's conservatism. But we have to spend all our time defending against media lies planted by Republicans, so Obama seems harmless in comparison. For example, here's a refutation of the Republican spin that Social Security will die.

http://www.latimes.com/business/hiltzik/la-fi-mh-abby-huntsman-20140314,0,489874.story#axzz2wWnPWZLZ

 

[MarAzul]

I just want to say, I should have expected Obama to be a liar, but I didn't. But with what he said he was going to do, and what he actually did, still seems better than what McCain said he was going to do or what Romney said he would do. And that's giving them the benefit of the doubt, that they also aren't typical lying politicians.

I suppose we were destined to get a Liberal Democrat the first time Obama was elected. And that was partly due to very bad decision making by the Republicans to run John McCain for President.
He was hard for me to take, not President material. I still voted for him though over Obama who simply appeared to be the pipe piper to me. I strongly objected to his presentation style, all technique and no substance. Hell, I have been to that class.

We, as people though, really booted it by not electing Romney, he is a very smart man and we needed him. Now we are in deep do doo.

 

[The_Lillard_King]

So I am not entrenched in politics and only follow it on a superficial level, but here are my impressions:

Obama is what I thought he would be:

-I like him foreign affairs (traveling to different countries I feel a lot more respect and less hatred towards US than when Bush was in office)

-I don't like him on economic issues (while the stock market has anything but crashed as some predicted when he took office, I don't think the US is reaching their potential economically)

- as I've been saying for 8 yrs, he decided to take on a national problem that is/was going to be a catastrophic problem in the US . . . health care. This is probably going to be Obama's legacy and put him in a category of failure. The health care problem in the US was not going to be solved where everyone is happy, but Obama seems to be trying to fix an almost unfixable problem while trying to keep everyone happy . . . I just don't think that is possible.

Grade: C+

 

[BLAZINGGIANTS]

So I am not entrenched in politics and only follow it on a superficial level, but here are my impressions:

Obama is what I thought he would be:

-I like him foreign affairs (traveling to different countries I feel a lot more respect and less hatred towards US than when Bush was in office)

-I don't like him on economic issues (while the stock market has anything but crashed as some predicted when he took office, I don't think the US is reaching their potential economically)

- as I've been saying for 8 yrs, he decided to take on a national problem that is/was going to be a catastrophic problem in the US . . . health care. This is probably going to be Obama's legacy and put him in a category of failure. The health care problem in the US was not going to be solved where everyone is happy, but Obama seems to be trying to fix an almost unfixable problem while trying to keep everyone happy . . . I just don't think that is possible.

Grade: C+

Yes, because he (and his wife) have often made fools of themselves introducing themselves in new countries (or at least in the first couple of years as president).

I generally agree with your overall assessment, though.