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Old 01-26-2010, 03:40 AM   #1
Doppleganger
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Obama's Awesome Presidency.

Okay, so maybe I'm jumping the gun a tad here, but political science taught me that this kind of turmoil Obama's in was inevitable. A lot of people compared him with Jimmy Carter, but really he's just like Clinton...and will probably be remembered like Clinton was, for good oratory and a few decent accomplishments, but not a whole lot else. Clinton also didn't do a lot of good stuff for the long term either, but I think the two are more similar than Obama-Carter and far more than Obama-Lincoln.

I don't seriously think the Tea Baggers can come out as a legitimate third party, but it could happen...
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Old 01-26-2010, 05:12 AM   #2
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From a perspective in England, he's not really done alot (from what we hear). I know he's trying to get the whole NHS thing going (free healthcare) but I think all in all he gave the USA a sense of hope. Having a black guy as a president seemed to renew your faith in modern times and proved that we have come a long way. Maybe the next step is to rebuild the USA, but with the recession, who has the money?

I think he'll get re-elected two times, and in quick sucsession too.
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Old 01-26-2010, 05:45 AM   #3
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First let me point out to Treep that Presidents can serve a maximum of two terms, but all presidential terms are a concrete four years. Who holds the majority of the House and Senate does not dictate who is actually in charge of the government. Clinton presided over a Republican Congress for six of his years, while Bush had a Democratic congress for the last two of his.

Dopple, it is totally nonsensical to call Obama's presidency a failure at this point. First of all, I don't know how you're quantifying Clinton as a "good orator and having a few decent accomplishments" when he presided over one of only two times in our nations history to have a balanced budget. I'll put it to you in terms of a humorous political cartoon.

Clinton was certainly a great speaker, but he was also a pretty damned good president, certainly the best we've had in a long while, probably since JFK, possibly since Eisenhower. (That may not speak volumes about his peer-presidents, but it does show that it's a hard job to do well).

Back on the subject of Obama. Some of the accolades he's been given are fairly ridiculous (Nobel Peace Prize), but he's increased science funding to 3% of the GDP, helped stop a possible depression, he's removed the ridiculous federal restriction placed on states that went to the curb under Dubya, lobbied for Swine Flu Donations, increased funding for Global Warming research, he's granted us unprecedented transparency (you should see some of the backlogs of information we're only just now getting under the freedom of information act that Bush had stonewalled), he's shutting down unlawful detainment camps and reoutlawed torture, and, oh yes, he's working on a plan that will give the US the bare bones of healthcare that most every other advanced nation enjoys.

Another plus from Obama that I've seen from living abroad these past few years is that the opinion of the US in the rest of the world has skyrocketed. I've gone from being in a Doctor's office and being asked "Where are you from?" "Texas." "Oh. OH! Bush is from there, isn't he? He's a son of a bitch." "Yes. Yes he certainly is". To hearing the Australian news regularly report good things about us and what Obama is doing. It's nice for the citizenry of one of the five or so nations that actually continued to support us through the entirety of the Iraq debacle now actually doesn't think we're all bastards for getting them involved over there. I'm just saying.
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Old 01-26-2010, 07:48 AM   #4
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Oh. I thought it was three terms maximum of four years.
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Old 01-26-2010, 07:49 AM   #5
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Go Reaganomics! Wooo!
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Old 01-26-2010, 08:22 AM   #6
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Obviously our very own panda in a tree thinks wrongly.

....I suck at politics, so... *backs out*
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Old 01-26-2010, 11:16 AM   #7
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Quote:
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Obviously our very own panda in a tree thinks wrongly.

....I suck at politics, so... *backs out*
I am a panda, cut me some slack.
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Old 01-26-2010, 06:41 PM   #8
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>I don't seriously think the Tea Baggers can come out as a legitimate third party, but it could happen...

The "Tea Baggers" are a sensationalist group basing their whole party on a function of government that is going to happen regardless of what you do and a horrible misinterpretation of American Revolutionary history. The likelihood of them becoming their own party, let alone anything other than a conservative splinter group, is low.

Though they would have a really hilarious name.

PS: The only thing anyone remembers Clinton for anymore is Monica. A shame, since he actually did do worthwhile things.
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Old 01-26-2010, 06:54 PM   #9
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Old 01-27-2010, 03:29 PM   #10
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Speaking on behalf of Britain, which I don't do often, we'll swap. Hell, you can have Blair as well seeing as your country seemed to love him on the whole. 2 for the price of 1!
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Old 01-27-2010, 03:50 PM   #11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Jerichi View Post

PS: The only thing anyone remembers Clinton for anymore is Monica. A shame, since he actually did do worthwhile things.
Weren't you in diapers for like, the latter half of his presidency?
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Old 01-28-2010, 03:06 AM   #12
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Muyotwo View Post
Dopple, it is totally nonsensical to call Obama's presidency a failure at this point.
I'm calling it that because he's clearly lost influence. At least, I'm responding to a Republican winning Ten Kennedy's congressional seat. It was obvious from when he was first elected that his enemies were just sitting there, smiling, waiting for the public to start souring toward him before they struck. And strike they did! He's got the stimulus package under his belt but I doubt anything else will. Did that HC bill finally get ratified?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Muyotwo View Post
First of all, I don't know how you're quantifying Clinton as a "good orator and having a few decent accomplishments" when he presided over one of only two times in our nations history to have a balanced budget. I'll put it to you in terms of a humorous political cartoon.
None of those people were ever fiscal conservatives. There technically hasn't been one in office since Herbert Hoover, everyone since Keynes has been a deficit spender.

As far as the balanced budget goes, he did impressively generate one, but the excess money wasn't actually used to repay holders of US debt instruments, it was brought over to Bush's administration. Bush chose to issue a tax break instead of buy back bonds, which is suboptimal from an economics point of view but did some temporary good, and he didn't dig a deeper deficit...until the war.

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Originally Posted by Muyotwo View Post
nt, certainly the best we've had in a long while, probably since JFK, possibly since Eisenhower. (That may not speak volumes about his peer-presidents, but it does show that it's a hard job to do well).
Personally, I don't think Kennedy was a very good president at all. When he screwed up, he screwed up big (Bay of Pigs). But, like Obama, he was good at endearing himself to the public, and he did show guts in the Cuban Missile Crisis. His death actually allowed Johnson to accomplish more than Kennedy or Johnson alone could have - the Civil Rights act passed through Congress relatively unmolested.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Muyotwo View Post
Back on the subject of Obama. Some of the accolades he's been given are fairly ridiculous (Nobel Peace Prize), but he's increased science funding to 3% of the GDP, helped stop a possible depression, he's removed the ridiculous federal restriction placed on states that went to the curb under Dubya, lobbied for Swine Flu Donations, increased funding for Global Warming research, he's granted us unprecedented transparency (you should see some of the backlogs of information we're only just now getting under the freedom of information act that Bush had stonewalled), he's shutting down unlawful detainment camps and reoutlawed torture, and, oh yes, he's working on a plan that will give the US the bare bones of healthcare that most every other advanced nation enjoys.
I'm not going to diminish those accomplishments, but most of them are simply reversals of Bush's policies, which would (should) be fairly easy to do because they were widely reviled. The science funding is good, but it' being funded by deficit spending, and from my experience a lot of capital is needed to push the next bounds of engineering and technology. I don't know if 3% is enough.

Good point about the transparency. The healthcare bill, while a noble idea, is bad in practice and will kill us in the long run if it's implemented into law as-is.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Muyotwo View Post
Another plus from Obama that I've seen from living abroad these past few years is that the opinion of the US in the rest of the world has skyrocketed. I've gone from being in a Doctor's office and being asked "Where are you from?" "Texas." "Oh. OH! Bush is from there, isn't he? He's a son of a bitch." "Yes. Yes he certainly is". To hearing the Australian news regularly report good things about us and what Obama is doing. It's nice for the citizenry of one of the five or so nations that actually continued to support us through the entirety of the Iraq debacle now actually doesn't think we're all bastards for getting them involved over there. I'm just saying.
He's very popular in other countries, for different reasons. You'd never guess why Japan likes him...
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Old 01-29-2010, 11:50 PM   #13
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Weren't you in diapers for like, the latter half of his presidency?
And your point is?
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