OT: Is Obama a bust?

[Devilzsidewalk]

he might be the Joe Alexander of the election

campaigned on change, but all we're seeing is more bailouts at the expense of social programs, special treatment for the mega corporations, he strikes down any possibility of single payer healthcare, and the military/cia/private contractors still does what they want, where they want, when they want

He's doing some good things too, but a lot of the major issues are going along like they've always gone along.

I give him 5 out of 10

[Esohny]

Since I expect all politicians to make questionable to poor decisions, regardless of party, campaign platform, whatever, yeah, I'd give him a 5/10...average.

[john2jer]

Wonder if we can trade him to England for Tony Blair and a politician to be named later?

[Devilzsidewalk]

or a bunch of minor leaguers to boost our farm system

[Worm Guts]

It's been 4 months, and really the stuff you're complaining about isn't at the top of priority list.

[Devilzsidewalk]

the economy, healthcare, and the war isn't at the top of the list?

[Worm Guts]

the economy, healthcare, and the war isn't at the top of the list?

You didn't mention the war or the economy, at least not in the big picture sense that's important. The economy is getting better and we're moving to a slow withdrawal in Iraq.

[C.lupus]

Your calling someone a bust 4 months into his rookie season? C'mon guys, you're better than that.

[Krapinsky]

I think he's just implementing one thing at a time. If he does everything at once he's going to polarize the country again. A lot of the decisions he making right now are appeasing the right. He just wants to get them on his side, and then hopefully by the 5th or 6th year of his administration he'll pull the chair out from under them and we'll have all of his campaign promises in full effect.

[Devilzsidewalk]

his career is already 1/9 completed though, time does fly. The signs of potential are not there - giving the finger to the ACLU, blank checks to mega corporations withOUT getting a stake in ownership (bad investment), and the house just approved another 100 billion to fund further operations in Iraq/Afghanistan

Obama needs to step up his game!

*edit, without, not with*

[john2jer]

We should make a call to the bullpen. Bring in JOE THE BIDEN! I always feel the need to add in the word "the" in Joe "The" Biden's name. It's like Alexander The Great instead of just Alexander Great. Conan The Barbarian instead of Conan Barbarian. It just makes sense.

[horaceworthy]

If this is an example of how Joe The Biden spends his time, I'm all for it.

http://www.theonion.com/content/news/sh ... rans_am_in

[deeney0]

his career is already 1/9 completed though*

1/25th. Not that I want to predict an election 3 and a half years in the future, and not that I want him moving forward assuming he'll get another 4 years, but I'd say based on his approval ratings he's likely to repeat.

He gets a 7 or 8 out of 10 from me. I'm not happy with some of the deviations from what he talked about in the campaign, but overall he's a hell of a lot better than the last guy and it seems to me he's done all he can do to get the economy on the right track.

[Devilzsidewalk]

1/12, my math was wrong, I have trouble with fractions, addition signs, numbers, etc

[C.lupus]

Not trying to be partisan here but he did inhereit a major mess. He's trying to fight wars on two fronts and a major global economic crisis. And he got thrown a potential pandemic virus on top just for good measure. He needs a bit of time to get these crises manageable and then build his foundation.

It's like moving into a new house that has a major roof leak and a cracked foundation, then your water heater busts and floods your basement and people are wondering why you haven't landscaped your lawn yet.

[Devilzsidewalk]

I agree, but if you move into said house and your solution for the leaks is to put pans under the leaks and the solution for the cracked foundation is to even out your tables and chairs with wads of paper under the legs, then you'd say "hey bud, those solutions are temporary, you need to dig deeper." Sometimes you have to go all out for a real solution, sure it might hurt in the short run, but in the long run its for the better.

I'm no genius, but I listen to and read those that are, and they sound like they know what they're talking about, and they think these "solutions" for the economy and the war are pretty weak. Particularly regarding the economy, he seems to have stocked up on advisers that helped get us into these messes in the first place.

[Calinks]

That's like drafting a rookie Kobe Bryant to a Al Jefferson-less wolves and calling him a bust for the wolves playing subpar ball 4 months into the season. He came into a team that was already a mess, it's going to take time for the team to gel. I think its way too early to declare the guy a bust. Most people didn't officially think George Bush was a but into like 6 years in. How could Obama be in 4 months?

[collin_k41]

Nowadays I don't expect miracles from any president. Notice how we always go back and forth between Republican and Democrat Presidents? It goes like this: that one sucked let's go the other way, oh this one sucks too let's see what the other party has and so on. I've come to the conclusion that the President shouldn't but does take on the responsibility of whatever happens during his time in office. They really don't have THAT much control over everything they can only hope to sort of guide it.

That being said Obama hasn't done too bad so far. A concern of mine is how much he's spending but I guess that's a problem for almost every President. It seems as if he's spending a lot more than usual though mostly not his fault. Right now his main concerns should be the economy and the war. Like it was said before he was put into a mess and first he has to try and get us out of it before his campaign promises can be fulfilled. It's hard to say how long that will take though as there is really no way to fix either problem. We're in quite the pickle right now. However, the people sure support him as a whole but I just hope he uses that influence in a positive way. I'll admit I did not vote for him but I knew he was going to win anyways and really do want him to succeed as President not just for him but for America. Do I think he can get it done? No, not likely but I hope he does and we'll have 4 or 8 years to see if he does.

[john2jer]

I think it's because a good portion of the population is sitting on their hands waiting for Obama to be their savior, when really, he's just our President. This economy isn't going to magically get turned around by any President or policy. It's going to take a change in mentality for a good portion of the people.

[Devilzsidewalk]

That's like drafting a rookie Kobe Bryant to a Al Jefferson-less wolves and calling him a bust for the wolves playing subpar ball 4 months into the season. He came into a team that was already a mess, it's going to take time for the team to gel. I think its way too early to declare the guy a bust. Most people didn't officially think George Bush was a but into like 6 years in. How could Obama be in 4 months?

most people are dumb as hell, those that pay attention knew Bush was an idiot years before he became president

Obama doesn't need to develop like some rookie, he needs to find the best minds in the world for the different situations and heed their advice, but for some reason he stocked his cabinet and advisers with a bunch of retreads. There's nothing historical in the works so far, just the same old same old. Doesn't mean I'd rather have McCains dumb ass, I just want see some actual progressive decision making like promised.