Opinions on Barack Obama's presidency - Page 2 - Politics Forum.org | PoFo

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Polls on politics, news, current affairs and history.

I think that Barack Obama was a (n)..........president.

outstanding.
1
2%
near great.
1
2%
above average.
16
31%
average.
6
12%
below average.
4
8%
poor.
5
10%
very poor.
12
23%
too early to pass judgment.
No votes
0%
I regard US presidents as mere figureheads, they hardly influence policies.
6
12%
other (please elaborate).
1
2%
#14831104
Potemkin wrote:The American people seem to want a revolution without a revolution. They are inevitably going to be disappointed.


The major problem is that America is the richest country in the world and its wealth is growing. As the wealth grows, the middle class is shrinking. This is obvious by now. You can hide it using statistics but the reality won't change this. Communists are more sober about this, so either there is going to be a large left wing swing in the next 10-20 years or you will have a communist state of America in 30-40. :|

@mikema63

People don't care what are the reasons for Obamas failure. Nobody will care what are the reasons for Trumps failure if he fails. This is very simple.

There are leader who have succeeded despite all of the opposition and the odds against them(Ceasar, Napoleon) and there those that fail even with everything being in their favour( Commodus, Willhelm the 2nd).
#14831113
Potemkin wrote:The American people seem to want a revolution without a revolution. They are inevitably going to be disappointed.

They want reform and not a revolution. They wanted a healthcare reform and they got some, and the economy is also in a much better shape than it was when Obama became president. Now they want immigration reform and will get some probably, although I'm not sure if the Republican Party can achieve that. That's all presidents can do basically, no matter what promises they make, and it's foolish to expect more from them. The American people will be disappointed of course if they do. Although Trump's campaign was really unusual and both his rhetoric and tweeting are novel indeed, there is nothing revolutionary about him at all.
#14831127
Beren wrote:They want reform and not a revolution. They wanted a healthcare reform and they got some, and the economy is also in a much better shape than it was when Obama became president. Now they want immigration reform and will get some probably, although I'm not sure if the Republican Party can achieve that. That's all presidents can do basically, no matter what promises they make, and it's foolish to expect more from them. The American people will be disappointed of course if they do. Although Trump's campaign was really unusual and both his rhetoric and tweeting are novel indeed, there is nothing revolutionary about him at all.


Obamas reform recovered the economy but made the middle class shrink and shrink. Do you think people "enjoy" these kind of reforms ? Should they pat him on the back for a job well done?
#14831171
Very poor, just George Bush in blackface. They might as well have let the republicans have two more terms, the country and the world would be no different if that had happened. Outside of right wing people's imaginations, what did "Done 'em" Obama do that the Republicans would not have done? The was a war monger and a torturer and used the government's (the people's) money to pay a massive amount of money to the banks as a reward for failing. They guy was right wing capitalist government personified.
#14831289
Thank you for the very interesting and informative responses, I thoroughly enjoyed reading them and learned a lot from them!

I tend to agree that Obama seemed like a well-meaning guy and did not generally go overboard when it came to making blanket condemnations of political opponents. However, he was eventually not that successful in helping relegate the subject of race in political discourses to the backstage. Quite a few white people voted for Donald Trump because they felt a sense of alienation with the political establishment (personified by Obama) and had the suspicion that their interests were no longer considered intellectually valid, so Trump's meteoric rise could in part be attributable to the Obama administration's inability to heal the deep divisions within the United States. However, Obama has shown decorum by refusing to jump on the bandwagon and be overly critical of Trump (once the latter assumed power in January 2017), maybe for the sake of national unity.

As an Eastern European, I am personally disappointed that the Euromaidan resulted in death and destruction as well as talks of a Third World War. I firmly believe that Viktor Yanukovych would have lost the next Ukrainian elections anyway, so it's sad that there was no repeat of the Orange Revolution that had a peaceful conclusion for all the parties involved. It's difficult to judge to what extent Obama's administration was guilty of fanning the flames of discontent in Ukraine, but I would be quite disappointed if it turned out that Obama or members of his staff had contributed to radicalizing the protesters.

The negatives of the US intervention in Libya also seem to have outweighed the positives, though (as pointed out by the other posters) Obama was not that keen on it in the beginning, so he can probably be let off the hook, at least in part.

On the plus side, I guess that Obama deserves a lot of credit for the Cuban thaw (in addition to the Iranian one). However, it’s notable that his popularity in Israel, a very important ally of the United States, was quite low in comparison to most other US presidents. I am saying this in the context of the fears expressed by some analysts that Trump will damage the relations between the US and friendly countries such as Germany. By the same token, many Jewish people’s lack of trust in Obama may have been a cause for concern for quite a few US citizens in the period between 2009 and 2017.

http://www.timesofisrael.com/barely-a-f ... oll-shows/

http://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-1.798015

In essence, I am not sure what grade to give Obama… I guess I see him as an average US president.
#14831409
I think Obama was a fantastic figurehead as far as public relations. He made America look good.

As far as his effectiveness as far as policy, he was checked and blocked at every turn by Republicans (the party of dysfunction). Even ObamaCare (the Affordable Care Act) which was originally a Republican plan, was watered down to get it passed, then defunded and hampered by Republicans at every turn. And now they are squabbling over repealing it and don't have something to replace it with.

While he could not even close Gitmo because the Republicans made a bit about how easy it was for perps to obtain guns in America! LOL

I think Obama's presidency was effectively defunct because his party didn't control the house. This is the folly of block voting and block political parties (or just the two party system in total).

Had he been able to pass policy without the bickering, his Presidency would have been vastly different.
#14831580
The major problem is that America is the richest country in the world and its wealth is growing. As the wealth grows, the middle class is shrinking. This is obvious by now. You can hide it using statistics but the reality won't change this. Communists are more sober about this, so either there is going to be a large left wing swing in the next 10-20 years or you will have a communist state of America in 30-40.


I wish there was a way to make this understandable to the hinterlands. Sadly, so many of our people simply lack the sophistication to understand it. You are absolutely correct. This is exactly what is likely to happen.

The American people seem to want a revolution without a revolution. They are inevitably going to be disappointed.


It remains to be seen. A hard left turn might happen. I doubt it with the gerrymandered districts we have now. When the American people finally figure it out however it is not going to be them who will be disappointed. It will be all of the right-wing shit heads who hung their political hats on the second amendment.
#14831584
As US president Barack Obama managed the collapse of the postmodern world pretty well. A progressive healthcare reform and a functional economy will be his legacy, as well as he reinstated the country's reputation as much as it was possible through reasonable foreign policy. He did above average I think.
#14831601
Tailz wrote:I think Obama was a fantastic figurehead as far as public relations. He made America look good.

Agreed


As far as his effectiveness as far as policy, he was checked and blocked at every turn by Republicans (the party of dysfunction). Even ObamaCare (the Affordable Care Act) which was originally a Republican plan, was watered down to get it passed, then defunded and hampered by Republicans at every turn. And now they are squabbling over repealing it and don't have something to replace it with.

This plan, which I think he figures he could easily pass was a mistake. Leaving insurers, or profit mongers in place guarantee high costs, in spite of his efforts to avoid this.


i think Obama's presidency was effectively defunct because his party didn't control the house. This is the folly of block voting and block political parties (or just the two party system in total). Had he been able to pass policy without the bickering, his Presidency would have been vastly different.

Agreed. People might have been given real healthcare (although this is not what he campaigned on in 07) and proper pay rises. Half of Americas issues are underfunded families. The working poor can't vote their own pay rises, and it's nuts that people working full time need foodstamps. Taxpayers are funding Walmarts' employees.
#14831623
Beren wrote:A progressive healthcare reform and a functional economy will be his legacy

Why do you consider the ACA to be progressive? It's an attempt to keep for profit healthcare in place by making insurance more accessible. Universal healthcare would be progressive. Maintaining profit driven healthcare is conservative.
#14831650
Well, to be fair, it was more progressive than the earlier status quo. Fewer people were flat out denied health care for pre-existing conditions, etc. To me, there's no sense in insurers, but ACA is an improvement.
#14831657
Drlee wrote:I wish there was a way to make this understandable to the hinterlands. Sadly, so many of our people simply lack the sophistication to understand it. You are absolutely correct. This is exactly what is likely to happen.



It remains to be seen. A hard left turn might happen. I doubt it with the gerrymandered districts we have now. When the American people finally figure it out however it is not going to be them who will be disappointed. It will be all of the right-wing shit heads who hung their political hats on the second amendment.


The issue is more complex than that. It is not only the Hinterlands but also the bigger cities who are the problem. The bigger cities simply do not understand the needs of the Hinterlands of sorts and visa versa.

This creates a climate where the bigger candidates (Presidential nominees or close to them) simply abuse the system with rhetoric to gain support. So the problem is not in the Hinterlands per se but also in the political system/candidates.

This is also a relatively newer phenomenon actually. The middle class was struggling before the recession but it was not shrinking, it was still growing. People turned a blind eye to the whole situation. But now, the situation has changed to a point where 1) The middle class is shrinking 2) The economy is growing 3) Candidates are starting to loose faith of the voters 4) General trust in the democratic process is being eroded.
#14831694
Stormsmith wrote:This plan, which I think he figures he could easily pass was a mistake. Leaving insurers, or profit mongers in place guarantee high costs, in spite of his efforts to avoid this.

But that is the point, it was not really Obama's plan from the beginning. It was then modified to keep in the profit motive as Republicans love capitalism and think it will solve all problems. So what became the Affordable Care Act was not what was envisioned and then was blocked at every possible moment. All because the plan came from a black man.

Stormsmith wrote:Agreed. People might have been given real healthcare (although this is not what he campaigned on in 07) and proper pay rises. Half of Americas issues are underfunded families. The working poor can't vote their own pay rises, and it's nuts that people working full time need foodstamps. Taxpayers are funding Walmarts' employees.

Obama was lucky to get anything through. Heck one of the things he campaigned on was halving military spending and using half the saved money to pay down American Debt, and the other half on rebuilding American infrastructure. He got Boo's from the republicans for it, yet when Trump said the same thing there were cheers. Yet since Trump has upped Military spending, I wonder where the cash for infrastructure is going to come from? Coal jobs? Coal jobs that have been taken over by Mechanisation or killed off from cheap gas from fracking or Solar/wing power? LOL
#14831699
Why would capitalist care what color Obama is? He was the first President to get anything done despite Americans demanding it for decades, and you think it wasn't better because he was black? This has to be one of the silliest arguments I have heard for our poor healthcare.
#14831706
One Degree wrote:Why would capitalist care what color Obama is? He was the first President to get anything done despite Americans demanding it for decades, and you think it wasn't better because he was black? This has to be one of the silliest arguments I have heard for our poor healthcare.

It was not until the arrival of Obama as the first Black President that the viterol in American politics towards the standing President became so poisonous and so blatant.
#14831708
Tailz wrote:It was not until the arrival of Obama as the first Black President that the viterol in American politics towards the standing President became so poisonous and so blatant.


Well, I somehow missed that. His approval ratings don't show it and somehow he got reelected. So, I don't see any unusual vitriol from the public. Any opposition from Congress appeared to be typical political posturing. I would grant Congress may have been a little more obstructionist than normal, but I saw no reason to believe that had anything to do with his race. It is more likely it was due to his popularity and the fear of another Democrat getting elected on his coattail. His agenda had to be disrupted.

Edit: you might read more about some of our other presidents. Several had to deal with a lot more vitriol than Obama.

Edit: Sample of what others were faced with...

Who never did a noble deed/Who of the people took no heed/Who is the worst of tyrant’s breed – Van Buren! Who rules us with an iron rod/Who moves at Satan’s beck and rod/Who heeds not man, who heeds not God – Van Buren! Who would his friends his country sell/Do other deeds too base to tell/Deserves the lowest place in Hell – Van Buren! And when November comes around/Who then shall hear the fateful sound/Magician, thou art wanting found – Van Buren!
Last edited by One Degree on 10 Aug 2017 02:32, edited 1 time in total.
#14831716
The issue is more complex than that. It is not only the Hinterlands but also the bigger cities who are the problem. The bigger cities simply do not understand the needs of the Hinterlands of sorts and visa versa.


Quite true. Rural folks have been systematically made redundant.

This creates a climate where the bigger candidates (Presidential nominees or close to them) simply abuse the system with rhetoric to gain support. So the problem is not in the Hinterlands per se but also in the political system/candidates.


The problem is in the hinterlands because:

Support for right wing candidates does not come from big cities by and large. So the solution to this problem, a move to the left, will come from the big cities. They act as a counterbalance to the flyover states.

This is also a relatively newer phenomenon actually. The middle class was struggling before the recession but it was not shrinking, it was still growing. People turned a blind eye to the whole situation. But now, the situation has changed to a point where 1) The middle class is shrinking 2) The economy is growing 3) Candidates are starting to loose faith of the voters 4) General trust in the democratic process is being eroded.


Of course. And that is a good thing.
#14831722
Ned Lud wrote:Given t constant sabotage by racists, I think that President Obama was remarkable - a gentleman amongst a long succession of crooks.


Agreed. He did not start twitter wars or slam critics in a crass way, so I would say he behaved with class and intelligence.

mikema63 wrote:There were worse and there were better. All summed up I think he was fine as president, but I'm biased by the presidents he's been bookended by.


Agreed. He looks really good compared to W and Trump. :lol:

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