Yea.

“It's now very common to hear people say, 'I'm rather offended by that.' As if that gives them certain rights. It's actually nothing more... than a whine. 'I find that offensive.' It has no meaning; it has no purpose; it has no reason to be respected as a phrase. 'I am offended by that.' Well, so fucking what."

[I saw hate in a graveyard] -- Stephen Fry, The Guardian, 5 June 2005

I don't know, for all his problems I can't understand how anyone who actually listened to any of his campaign speeches is disappointed, he never really said much. Actually, he has done a better job than I expected in the second term.

Isn't every president seen as crappy until a good time after thier term(s)? Then glorified for a period, then exposed as slave raping dickheads and detested. The presidents that are worth noting, of course.

I am quite satisfied with Obama as a president.

Cuba relations, Iran relations (hopefully), some modicum of socialized health care, don't ask don't tell, bin laden, gaddafi, mubarak, shitty torture policies and more. All of this against an irrationally radicalized right wing who's sole purpose is "don't let obama do anything, ever, under any circumstances, ever". There's a lot of good that came from his presidency that I think needs to be recognized.

I'm just curious what you expect of a president, Hodge.

He did most of what he said he was doing on the campaign trail, you just were not paying attention. Plus introducing public preschool and free college to the dialog and trying to cut the defense budget by 700 fucking trillion dollars. But who's counting.

He got more done than Carter, who was his only competition in my lifetime. People love Clinton, but Clinton presided over the first big wave of deregulation and globalization that led to the market crash so whatever. Clinton is the Democrats' Reagan.

My point is that anyone who is disappointed with Obama must not have been paying attention, he did pretty much what I'd expect from a center-left moderate. His campaign speeches were as fluffy as any president since TV became a big deal, but that's a given.

Also people tend to thin presidents have a lot more power than they actually do, so they get credit and blame for basically everything.

Obama's pretty decent as presidents go.

Yeah dude, isn't there like two bodies of officials and a bunch of judges that have to ok just about everything? I'd imagine the president is more than just a figurehead for their respective parties but how much real actual power do they have?

I've no idea in all honesty

Old Zircon, I agreed 100% on your campaign statement. That's the thing that really annoys me about all modern presidents.

Frankly, I see Obama as a guy with a lot of wasted potential. And all too often I find people that refuse to see his obvious short comings are nothing more then partisans that live in a echo chamber.

So what specifically do you expect of a president, Hodge?

I find a great many of Obama's critics on the Left were expecting a merry king from a peaceful fairytale land, who spends all day issuing benevolent decrees and cultivating a hearty belly laugh. They were furious to discover they had instead elected a president who presides over one of three branches of government, has to deal with political enemies as well as physical threats to the nation, and cannot possibly satisfy everyone.

The trouble is that to even become president today you pretty much have to sell your soul to our Great Corporate Leaders.

^^^ What Bort said.

^^^ And OZ while we're at it.

I've been fine with Obama, like many of you (I'm assuming) he was the first President that I REALLY wanted to see in office and could vore for, so Clinton doesn't count. Gore was like "yeah, Nader's probably better but why throw it away with so much at stake" and Kerry was basically a democrat. I'm not sure it's updated very much anymore, but http://whatthefuckhasobamadonesofar.com/ is a great resource for, well, what the fuck he has done.

The only 2 significant things him and his administration have disappointed me on is the still rather hawkish approach to the middle east and putting on blinders for the whole union situation in Wisconsin.

I LOVE pissing off conservative relatives at family gatherings by saying how much I love my government healthcare. "Wait until tax season comes around and you're paying penalties for the months you weren't covered!"

My penalty for 2014 came out to . Ha ha, yuppie cunt!

I have awesome ass insurance now far cheaper than before and I can't be denied from getting another, if I so choose, due to previous health conditions.

BOOM!

"he was the first President that I REALLY wanted to see in office and could vore for"


This made me grin.



I actually voted for Hillary the first time around, becasue coming right off 8 years of Bush I was pretty skeptical of the reliance on vague emotional appeals and sloganeering that was so dominant in Obama's 2008 campaign, but in retrospect, having learned a lot more about the Clinton administration's role in the financial crisis and ties to business in general, I'm glad she wasn't the one who won.

Ironically, I had pretty god insurance long before the healthcare program was settled, thanks to MITT.

Thanks to Mitt or thanks to the Massachusetts legislature? Because I imagine Mitt drafted about as much of Romneycare as Obama did of Obamacare (exactly zero percent).

I voted for H-Dogg too initially, but at that point I was just happy knowing where I figured things were going. It's kind of like "losing" on Who Wants to be a Millionaire. You didn't get as far as you liked, but you're still walking out feeling happy. I'm sure it was like this in other places too, but in Madison Wisconsin it was like Bush didn't exist: the entire campus was Gore v. Nader, so I canvassed for Gore

Obama is a fucking great President and I will miss him when he's gone.

If the shoe fits.

You can be shitty and trashy all you want, just don't be surprised if people call you out on it.

Taking the statements of a public figure out of context to dishonestly strengthen your own position? I can't see that happening.

...the statements of a public figure... honestly strengthen your own position? I can... see that happening.

Public... Figure... Strengthen... Your... Can...

Hey man, whatever turns you on.

I'm assuming it was the The Interview thing.

I just wish he had closed fucking gBay already

Day two in office he signed an executive order to close Gitmo. The problem there was funding a transfer of prisoners stateside to a civilian prison, which was up to Congress; the Senate voted 90-6 against. (That includes a great majority of Democrats, by the way.)

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/05/20/senate-votes-to-block -fun_n_205797.html

don't let the perfect be the enemy of the good.

Also, does every US President have to let an official White House vampire have some of their blood every day?

Jesus, the man looks thirty years older, not seven.

I think it's just the age of mid forties to early 50s is where old age first happens. If you compared pictures of anyone from when they were 45 and 53, you'd see just as big a difference. Both my parents went from full hair color to stark grey in that time.

Compare it to other presidents that took office when they were older like Reagan and Bush Sr. You don't see as stark a difference.

thank you very much for that bort! Sometimes I feel like no one in power actually cares about closing Gitmo and nobody seems to be outraged enough that this travesty of the highest order is still in operation.

History books will say "USA ok with abducting and torturing" and when they do I hope they list each and every shitdog that let it continue.

If you can't think of any other reason to like Obama -- if you are one of those who refuses to allow for the possibility that he's actually trying to do some good in office -- the reality is that he's doing what he can to close Gitmo, and he's pretty much going it alone.

http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/obama-pushes-guantanam o-population-even-lower

http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/jurisprudence/ 2009/01/bad_men.html

There are now 122 Gitmo detainees rather than the 245 when Obama took office, so he's let half of them go without much help. If you visit certain online toilets like Salon, the local fucktards will yell and scream that Obama just ought to let the others go and every day he does not is proof that he's a monster. "Let them go" in what sense exactly? Open the doors, shove them out on the beaches, and let them die of exposure? Think it through, dipshits: Obama has to do more than unlock the doors.

When it comes to sending the detainees to another country, there are strict rules, for example they need to be sent somewhere that their activities can be monitored, just in case some traumatic event or other has made them decide to kill lots of Americans. So some months back, when Obama let five of them go, the Salon-tards were screaming that, if he can let five go, then he could just as easily let the rest go, and the only reason he does not is malice ... shut up fucktards, the grown-ups are talking.

I swear, the only good thing about the far Left is that they don't vote. They're every bit as unreasonable as the Teabaggers, and even if their motives aren't steeped in racism and religious bigotry, they'd still fuck things up every bit as much.