How Would You Rank Obama?

[BLAZER PROPHET]

If one excludes the 5 Presidents leading up to Lincoln (my all-time worst Presidents), where do you place Obama on the list of Presidents as of this point in time?

For me, he'd be in the lower 10%.

For 2 years he had a supermajority in the Senate (no cloture) and a full majority in the House and pretty much all he got through was perhaps the single worst piece of legislation in the history of the country. He raised the deficit and debt so much that it doesn't even seem real or possible to the point it guarantees insolvency for the federal government. The economy continues to struggle and the majority of jobs created are minimum wage and/or part time. Benghazi was an unforgivable mistake that resulted out of pure incompetence. He's proven to be a bully led by punitive actions (see the remains of the coal industry as an example), steadfastly refuses to be an adequate compromiser and doesn't seem to have the ability a chief executive needs to either lead or bring people together. Add to that the pure divisiveness of his administration and it's a pretty poor scorecard.

On the plus side, Benghazi aside, I think he has handled foreign affairs pretty well. That said, this new strategy in Afghanistan of keeping troops dying there indefinitely is just wrong to me. I also like many of his ideas on the environment.

Now, I am not starting this to pass judgment on Bush (another bottom 10%'er), so I'd like to keep him out of this.

 

[julius]

I think he's pretty much like every other so-so president. in the middle.

I think Bush was the worst president since Nixon, but I think a lot of what made him worse is some of the things that Obama hasn't or won't fix/overturn.

There are qualifiers for each president of course, but until Obama leads us into two wars (one of which could maybe be justified, and neither were well thought out), tanked the economy, or broke into the other parties HQ or escalated a war in Vietnam (BOTH Johnson and Nixon there), I'm not sure he's among the worst.

He's not among the best, but I don't think any President in the last 65 years, realistically, is on the list or even the top 10.

 

[oldguy]

He handled foreign affairs well?

He supported the Muslim Brotherhood, after being warned they were bad guys. His staff said the MB were non-violent and not religious. Bull.

He supplied Mexican drug cartels with fully auto weapons, which have been used on countless murders.

He wanted to freak'n bomb Syria.

I said Iran will not get the bomb on his watch. It maybe hasn't happened yet, but it will.

He's insulted the Brits, one of our few true allies.

There's more, but I don't have time.

Yeah, he's in the bottom 10%, at best, imo.

Go Blazers

 

[BLAZER PROPHET]

I think Bush was the worst president since Nixon, but I think a lot of what made him worse is some of the things that Obama hasn't or won't fix/overturn.

I feel about Bush II as I do Eisenhower. Both had a perfect slate to do really good things and just sat there and pretty much did nothing. Neither were prepared to be a President and never really grew into the job (like Kennedy did). As to Nixon, Watergate aside I uised to think he was a medium President but as I learn more about his administration the less I think of his Presidency.

 

[julius]

I feel about Bush II as I do Eisenhower. Both had a perfect slate to do really good things and just sat there and pretty much did nothing. Neither were prepared to be a President and never really grew into the job (like Kennedy did). As to Nixon, Watergate aside I uised to think he was a medium President but as I learn more about his administration the less I think of his Presidency.

we're not supposed to be civil!!!

btw Re: Nixon.

his good side (China) doesn't outweigh everything else. And you're right, some Presidents are handed a good deal and blow it/make it worse/do nothing to make it better (the two you mentioned) and some are given a shitty deal.

 

[Denny Crane]

One of the worst two in my lifetime.

Carter got a peace prize for bribing Egypt to make peace with Israel. Fair enough. But I cannot think of anything else good that came out of his 4 years and I can think of all sorts of bad things, from the hostage crisis to days of malaise.

Obama got a peace price for... I give up, you tell me.

His signature accomplishment is in meltdown, and he's accomplished very little else. And I cannot see how anyone thinks his foreign policy is good, nor his economy.

As far as foreign policy goes, I really have to question whether Hillary was any good at it at all, as well. What did she accomplish? Do tell.

Nixon wasn't a bad president. He was a criminal who was a very good president. Aside from watergate and coverup (the bad things), you'll be hard pressed to find he was bad at his actual job. He made peace with the Russians and the Chinese. He ended the Vietnam war. His social agenda wasn't unlike LBJ's; many social programs started by him.

 

[julius]

In meltdown due to republicans purposely trying to sabotage it, and iirc, a group that flooded the website and caused it to crash.

 

[Denny Crane]

In meltdown due to republicans purposely trying to sabotage it, and iirc, a group that flooded the website and caused it to crash.

No excuses.

Republicans didn't make his WWW site, nor did they write the bits in the law that are causing insurance companies to cancel policies by the millions.

No excuses.

 

[Denny Crane]

The two best presidents in my lifetime were Reagan and Clinton.

Bipartisan choices, but the truth as I see it.

 

[Paxil]

He handled foreign affairs well?

He supported the Muslim Brotherhood, after being warned they were bad guys. His staff said the MB were non-violent and not religious. Bull.

He supplied Mexican drug cartels with fully auto weapons, which have been used on countless murders.

He wanted to freak'n bomb Syria.

I said Iran will not get the bomb on his watch. It maybe hasn't happened yet, but it will.

He's insulted the Brits, one of our few true allies.

There's more, but I don't have time.

Yeah, he's in the bottom 10%, at best, imo.

Go Blazers

The handling in Syria was genius I think, explain a scenario better then them giving up their chemical weapons, without us having to attack?

ATF allowing guns into Mexico started under Bush... though I doubt either president knew anything about them until the shit hit the fan. Claiming that 'he' supplied drug cartels with weapons is just ignorant.

You seriously think Iran will get a nuke? Seriously? They have been crippled by sanctions and for the first time I think they are actually thinking about giving up the quest.

Honestly I don't know how I'd rate him yet, but the most of what I see people complaining about seems pretty lame.

 

[julius]

No excuses.

Republicans didn't make his WWW site, nor did they write the bits in the law that are causing insurance companies to cancel policies by the millions.

No excuses.

If someone sabotages your attempt at something, how exactly is that your fault?

How is it an "excuse" to say that there was a cyber attack on the website, therefore causing it to lag?

Yeah, they should've been better prepared for that, but if those attacks didn't happen, it wouldn't have been an issue.

 

[Mediocre Man]

The two best presidents in my lifetime were Reagan and Clinton.

Bipartisan choices, but the truth as I see it.

Mine as well.


I think Obama is one of the worst Presidents in history. I'm not sure he is THE worst....maybe not even the worst in my lifetime, but he probably is.

 

[julius]

The handling in Syria was genius I think, explain a scenario better then them giving up their chemical weapons, without us having to attack?

ATF allowing guns into Mexico started under Bush... though I doubt either president knew anything about them until the shit hit the fan. Claiming that 'he' supplied drug cartels with weapons is just ignorant.

You seriously think Iran will get a nuke? Seriously? They have been crippled by sanctions and for the first time I think they are actually thinking about giving up the quest.

Honestly I don't know how I'd rate him yet, but the most of what I see people complaining about seems pretty lame.

or hyperbole and Glenn Beck inspired.

 

[Denny Crane]

The handling in Syria was genius I think, explain a scenario better then them giving up their chemical weapons, without us having to attack?

ATF allowing guns into Mexico started under Bush... though I doubt either president knew anything about them until the shit hit the fan. Claiming that 'he' supplied drug cartels with weapons is just ignorant.

You seriously think Iran will get a nuke? Seriously? They have been crippled by sanctions and for the first time I think they are actually thinking about giving up the quest.

Honestly I don't know how I'd rate him yet, but the most of what I see people complaining about seems pretty lame.

Putin sure pulled his fat out of the fire, didn't he?

Amazing how you can spin this as positive for Obama. He was about to bomb Syria on his own, with not a single nation supporting us.

 

[Denny Crane]

If someone sabotages your attempt at something, how exactly is that your fault?

How is it an "excuse" to say that there was a cyber attack on the website, therefore causing it to lag?

Yeah, they should've been better prepared for that, but if those attacks didn't happen, it wouldn't have been an issue.

Wow. You get your news from one biased news source, apparently.

The truth is it took thousands of people and years to build up a site like Amazon or Google, one that can handle a lot of traffic. They stand up to withering cyber attacks constantly (as does S2, FWIW). The govt. had virtually unlimited funding to throw at this, so there is no excuse for some puny cyber attack or whatever the next excuse du jour is.

 

[julius]

Wow. You get your news from one biased news source, apparently.

The truth is it took thousands of people and years to build up a site like Amazon or Google, one that can handle a lot of traffic. They stand up to withering cyber attacks constantly (as does S2, FWIW). The govt. had virtually unlimited funding to throw at this, so there is no excuse for some puny cyber attack or whatever the next excuse du jour is.

Yeah, the website has been a failure, no one is denying that. that doesn't = ACA is a failure.

 

[BLAZER PROPHET]

I don't really see the website issue as an indictment on his administration, per se. I mean, the fact it failed can happen in this age of uber-technology. So no problems there. But the fact the web site was a non competitive bid to a company where the main cog is a personal friend of the first lady is my gripe. Where's the due dilligence?

 

[Denny Crane]

Yeah, the website has been a failure, no one is denying that. that doesn't = ACA is a failure.

How is ACA not a failure? There are more people without insurance now than before it was passed. Millions more. Millions who had insurance to begin with.

It hasn't made insurance cheaper, either. It's putting insurance out of reach of affordability (so much for the A in ACA) of the middle class.

Not a bit of sabotage involved, your protestations to the contrary.

 

[Paxil]

Putin sure pulled his fat out of the fire, didn't he?

Amazing how you can spin this as positive for Obama. He was about to bomb Syria on his own, with not a single nation supporting us.

You think they would have agreed to anything without the threat? I don't. Previously without the threat they didn't. They were not part of the UN Treaty banning use of chemical weapons. They are now. There is no way Putin could have pushed for that to happen without our threat of force.

 

[donkiez]

Q: How would you rank Obama?

A: Incomplete

Any other answer is riddled with self prejudices and canned partisan responses.

 

[BLAZER PROPHET]

Q: How would you rank Obama?

A: Incomplete

Any other answer is riddled with self prejudices and canned partisan responses.

No it's not.

As I stated, how do you rank him as of his work to date.

 

[julius]

How is ACA not a failure? There are more people without insurance now than before it was passed. Millions more. Millions who had insurance to begin with.

It hasn't made insurance cheaper, either. It's putting insurance out of reach of affordability (so much for the A in ACA) of the middle class.

Not a bit of sabotage involved, your protestations to the contrary.

None of what you said in this post is true (or at best, misleading)

 

[MARIS61]

Eisenhower came into office amid a successful coup-in-progress which stonewalled most of his power, but he had the stones to expose the plot to the country and the world.

John and Bobby Kennedy fought the coup tooth and nail and were murdered for it.

In my lifetime, those are the three greatest Presidents. I say three because only murder prevented Bobby from becoming President, and because as Attorney General he did more for America than most Presidents ever did.

Every President since then has known the score and simply followed orders, making them nothing to be proud of and their "accomplishments" suspect at best.

 

[blazerboy30]

If someone sabotages your attempt at something, how exactly is that your fault?

How is it an "excuse" to say that there was a cyber attack on the website, therefore causing it to lag?

Yeah, they should've been better prepared for that, but if those attacks didn't happen, it wouldn't have been an issue.

This is ridiculous excuse making.

Many people said that the government will screw up health care. The fact that they couldn't even get the website working correctly, securely and robustly is just proof.

Google is attacked every day, by many groups around the world. They don't come crashing down because they know what they're doing. This government has no clue what they're doing.

 

[DaLincolnJones]

If someone sabotages your attempt at something, how exactly is that your fault?

How is it an "excuse" to say that there was a cyber attack on the website, therefore causing it to lag?

Yeah, they should've been better prepared for that, but if those attacks didn't happen, it wouldn't have been an issue.

pure comedic gold

 

[donkiez]

No it's not.

As I stated, how do you rank him as of his work to date.

Yes it is IMO. His signature plan is still being worked out. Depending on how ACA shakes down will have a significant impact on how he is ranked historically. Currently everyone is reacting to it very emotionally and basing their love or hate of it based on partisan propaganda and inconclusive premature results.

In other areas, foreign policy he is doing ok. The economy is rebounding and the stock market is soaring again..... this could be argued as a falsely propped up economy, but at this point results are results.... Again he has three years to make this better or make this worse.

He has been a fantastic president on social issues. Gay marriage, abortion and such, also religeous freedoms (not the crack pot religious right freedoms, but the religious freedoms of everyone else). Welfare is doing what it is suppose to besides what the entitled elite of the country will tell you.

The NSA stuff is bullshit, but honestly I wouldn't expect anything different from any other president. The security/freedom is always a balance and the government will always try for extra security at the expense of freedom. People hate loosing their freedoms but if something bad happens all the complain about is "what was our government doing, why couldn't we stop this." Its our job to push back on government in this area.

The ACA website is a total disaster. This part irks me more than anything as there was a ton of money spent on it and Obama and the dems knew that if this didn't go off without a hitch the crazies would actually get some traction. Personally though I wouldn't be surprised to find some sort of sabotage in this area and I believe once the program get off the ground it will do plenty of good.

So, as I said before inconclusive, but theres my reasoning.

 

[HailBlazers]

Obama got a peace price for... I give up, you tell me.

Speaking greatly about peace and change.

 

[Denny Crane]

You think they would have agreed to anything without the threat? I don't. Previously without the threat they didn't. They were not part of the UN Treaty banning use of chemical weapons. They are now. There is no way Putin could have pushed for that to happen without our threat of force.

I think Russia is one of Syria's only allies, period. And Obama came out looking like a fool. Maybe Obama should give his Nobel to a more deserving person... Putin.

Not only couldn't he get the Brits to join his coalition of the willing, he couldn't convince the Russians to do anything.

 

[Denny Crane]

None of what you said in this post is true (or at best, misleading)

You don't recognize the truth?

 

[MarAzul]

The Best Presidents in my life time have been Reagan and Truman. I might also note that the Democrats of Truman's day were closer to Republicans of today.or another way to say it,
Democrats have not always been liberal Progressives at least not all of them.

The worst in my life time had been Carter and Johnson where Nixon has a slim margin as the least objectionable.

Obama is in close contention for the worst of all time. With Lincoln still holding the position of last.
I have character typed Lincoln and Obama as INFP character type. (Others have also listed Lincoln as an INFP) The only Presidents of this type which is a highly unusual type for a Chief Executive in any organization. Idealistic Quester, characterizes this type and it shows through out Lincolns writings In righting wrongs, Lincoln leads the Nation into Civil war instead of away from war. Ignoring the Constitution in multiple ways in his quest.

Obama has been on a quest to right many wrongs as he perceives them, sense he took office and he pursues this quests without regard to the Constitution. Obama has divided the nation as no other since Lincoln. My God! He has three years to go.