Who is Obama?

[blkmusclmachine]

Because I don't know, anymore...

[leftofcool]

1. You mean the man from 2008? The arbiter of all things that are hope and change?

The President that will save the Democratic party? The president who says he does not believe in torture but refuses to prosecute war criminals, preferring to call some of the patriotic? The president who has no problem with NSA spying. The President who wants a bill to pass that kills the middle class and gives more money to Wall Street? As far as I can tell, DU wanted Obama, the Democratic Party wanted Obama, The PTB of the Democratic Party (see Pelosi and Kennedy) wanted Obama, so deal with it. We bought the hype and drank the Kool-Aid and nothing changed. So there it is.

[F4lconF16]

2. +1

I think by now we know exactly who he is. The farther we go in his presidency, the more the truth shows through.

[INdemo]

8. Well what Obama should have taught us in the last few days

is that we don't want another Obama. We don't want another Servant of Wall St. and big banks.
This is why Hillary will not be nominated as a Democratic candidate.

After the showing among Democrats in the Senate in the last few days should have proven to us that they don't care if a Republican occupies the White House.

Just maybe they are content to serve in the minority. What the hell. What did they actually do in the Majority?

[Scuba]

91. If we're going to get Republican policies, we might as well have Republicans to blame them on.

[pangaia]

100. Interesting thing is,

republicans are/ will be saying, :See I told you so. You drank the Kool-Aid." EXCEPT, we did not drink the Kool-Aid they think we drank.

[WorseBeforeBetter]

171. This guy had it right.

[Jamastiene]

179. Some of us wanted Kucinich, but

voted for Obama because we were told to get in line. We did and now this. Is it too early to say we told you so?

[wildbilln864]

202. absolutely k & r! n/t

[joshdawg]

3. I thought I knew who he was/is, but now...........................

I really don't know. To say one would be disappointed would be an understatement. He has done a lot of good things for the country, but this giveaway to Wall Street is just wrong.

[polichick]

4. The latest corporate servant ponied up to con the people.

[TBF]

31. ^ This. nt

[pocoloco]

78. Who would have thought we would have that 3 dimensional chessboard

stuck up our ass?

[SamKnause]

5. He is the man

Last edited Sun Dec 14, 2014, 09:34 AM - Edit history (1)

trying to fast track the TPP. This will be the final blow to the U.S. job market.

He is the man who protects Wall Street at all costs.

He is the man who was going to rework NAFTA but decided to sign Free Trade Deals with South Korea, Panama, and Colombia instead.

He is the man who kept us from being able to bargain on drug prices or get single payer health insurance.

He is the man who ordered drone strikes on 3 U.S. citizens on foreign soil. An innocent 16 year old America boy was killed with one of those drones.

He is the man who manned the phones with his BFF Jamie Dimon to get the Cromnibus Spending bill passed.

He is the man who stated we tortured some folks but the citizens of the U.S. shouldn't be sanctimonious about it.

He is the man who told us to look forward not backwards.

He is the man who filled the White House with Wall Street insiders.


He is the man I voted for.

He is the man that I watched being sworn in as tears poured down my face.

He is the man who promised me hope and change.

He is the man who crushed all hope that I had for change.

[RiverLover]

14. Nailed it. REC'g this post!!! nt

[INdemo]

15. And we could have another President just like him

We could elect a Republican or

We could elect a Republican lite

Either way we have the same agenda as Obama's and that is just follow the script set forth by Wall St.

Isn't it great living in a Democracy

[Jesus Malverde]

17. Preach it brother....DU Rec

Jesus

[CanonRay]

23. Right on the nose

[PADemD]

24. +1000

[woo me with science]

35. +1000000000000000

Carefully placed by Wall Street to carry out exactly this bait and switch.

[SamKnause]

50. You are 100% correct.

Wall Street has made their selection for 2016.

I will not vote for Hillary !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Have you watched the video on the front page ???

It is an interview by Bill Moyers with John R. MacArthur.

He lays it out in simple terms.

I wish every citizen in the U.S. would watch that video.

If I was wealthy I would make sure every mailbox in the U.S. had a copy of it.

There is an additional video and excellent read at the website.

Please watch and read.

Please share with your family, friends, co workers, etc.

We have a very small window to stop the destruction that this country will face if another rep of Wall Street is elected.

Have a safe and pleasant day.

[nruthie]

121. I have to agree.

[jschurchin]

99. +1 My Friend

To bad you don't play baseball, they have never had a 1.000 hitter.

[pangaia]

102. not ebem a .420 hitter in MLB

[11 Bravo]

148. Ross Barnes hit .429 in 1876. Hugh Duffy hit .440 in 1894.

"Wee" Willie Keeler hit .424 in 1898. Napoleon Lajoie hit .426 in 1901. Ty Cobb hit .420 in 1911 (Shoeless Joe Jackson hit .408 that same year making him the first man to ever hit .400 and not win a batting title.) George Sisler hit .422 in 1922 (Ty Cobb hit .401 that same year making him the second, and so far last, man ever to hit .400 and not win a batting title.) Rogers Hornsby his .424 in 1924.

(I'm kind of a baseball nut.)

[pangaia]

157. Well, Bravo.

Show's you how much I know.

[11 Bravo]

166. I played in HS, and had offers to play college ball ...

but I got a little nicked up attending the University of Southeast Asia in '71, and that was that. Both of my sons played, and the oldest starts for his college team.

(Like I said, kind of a nut.)

[pangaia]

167. I played, Little League, Babe Ruth,

American Legion.. that was it....Grew up watching Mickey Mantle et al.. even saw DiMaggio. Duke Snider, Robinson....
I'm more a minor league fan now. Batavia Muckdogs ! Also nearby are Rochester Redwings, Syracuse Chiefs, Buffalo Bisons, Auburn Doubledays....


Love the game.. I pretty much refuse to talk to anyone during a game...

[MissDeeds]

105. Excellent post!

You nailed it!

[merrily]

122. I cried with joy election night.

By inauguration day, Rick Warren and many of Obama's nominees had me questioning. By the end of March 2010, I was getting the full message.

[Octafish]

141. Nailed it.

[fredamae]

153. Exactly Yes........ n/t

[840high]

158. ...^ that

[SammyWinstonJack]

199. ...

He is the man who crushed all hope that I had for change.

[SummerSnow]

254. K&R ...he's not perfect but he has done alot...

we should be asking who the hell is Congress?

[SamKnause]

255. I hear you.

People who have absolutely no concerns for the needs and wants of we the people.

People who don't care about what is right for the country.

We should also be asking WTF is up with the 'Supreme' Court.

Did you hear about their 8-1 ruling today ?

Only corporations get representation in the United States of America.

They are destroying this country.

The United States in a tinderbox waiting to implode.

You cannot live with a two tier justice system and have any kind of a Democratic Republic.

We are being forced to let criminals govern and control us.

[KG]

6. just another go-along-to-get-along dem politico. just like the last one, just like the next one

[yuiyoshida]

7. Okay I will say it...

Its who we voted for over MCCAIN and ROMNEY... YOU THINK they would do better? You would rather be under that form of government? THAT WAS our choices.. okay? Wait till next time, when a worse REPUBLICAN is running this country... than you can tell us how great it was under Obama.

[djean111]

10. So, we should just sit down and shut up and vote for the next corporate candidate, because the GOP

is worse? And - what a legacy - not as bad as McCain or Romney would have been.
In any event, words won't hurt Obama, he is not running again, and will be insulated by plenty of money from the likes of Jamie Dimon. Unless, of course, he is being played for a fool like we are. I will not support another Corporatist, and I fear that there will not be much left to dismantle after the next two years, anyway.

[yuiyoshida]

12. excuse me

You tell me what choice we had...I WILL be waiting.

[djean111]

19. What choice we had to vote for? Obama was carefully groomed for the spot.

Hope, change, the whole boondoggle.
What I am saying is now is the time to recognise what happens, and not just submissively take the next corporate candidate the Third Way DNC serves to us.

What choice about that bill? The GOP would have cheerfully shut down the government to get amendments they disagreed with stripped out. Not that the Dems have the balls to put in amendments that help people not corporations.

[yuiyoshida]

25. Hello?

You either voted, Republican, Independent,Green party, or Democrat. That's your choices right there, not some fantasy land hero that was never on the ballot. What the hell is wrong with people that can not understand that?

There was one other choice..DON'T VOTE. Some people chose not to vote. I would sincerely hope they were not the ones complaining because they had their chance to vote.

[malaise]

30. Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!

+1,000

[yuiyoshida]

33. JUST love you my Mayonaise Malaise!!!

[malaise]

39. LOL

Mayo is bad for yah

[yuiyoshida]

44. yes but it goes awesome

with avocado! And I love Avocado!

[malaise]

55. We had sliced avocado with breakfast a short while ago

(no mayo) I don't think anyone loves avocado more than I do

[yuiyoshida]

61. Raises hand!!!

I do!!! CALIFORNIA.. where fresh Avocado grows!!


A quick story. One time I was living in Santa Barbara. I was short on cash so decided to walk to the store and get a few things...it had been just after a freak thunderstorm.. Up the street there was a huge branch in the road... and on those branches, all the ripe Avocados I could fit into my pockets. OMG..I had a feast when I came home, and for several weeks, lots of fresh Avocados. If I had bought them at Safeway they would have been $1.60 each.

[malaise]

81. That's a great story

I bought two at the market yesterday here in Jamaica for J$1.60

[djean111]

38. Oh, I know exactly what you mean. I believe people are now starting, tho to say hey, let's not just

submissively accept the candidates that are chosen for us. What is going to happen, I believe, if we keep on getting corporate candidates, is that people will rightfully feel there is no point in voting, because the candidate with the most money wins, and then things just get worse for the 99%. I can see why someone would feel why play the game, it is a giant shell game.

Be interesting as fuck to see what happens when tax revenues get smaller and smaller because people make less money, and corporations are homing in on no taxes at all. I read elsewhere that in 81% of counties in the US - total income is smaller. We are not better off, really, and any civil rights gained, I feel, are just sops that did not cost any actual money. People keep acting as if of COURSE we have a Sophie's Choice between civil rights and economic help. People have swallowed that hook, line, and sinker. Sickening. When someone says hey, maybe we are losing jobs and infrastructure is crumbling and the banks are raking in billions, but at least gay people can get married now! - they have been played for fools. There did not need to be an either/or.

[yuiyoshida]

53. People need to groom the next

Candidate for the ballot. They need money, and public backing. They certainly did that with Obama, he came out of no where, or so it seemed. I wanted to vote for Howard Dean, at one time, but the REPUBLICANS TURNED him into a laughing stock. This new guy came along and I said I would vote with who the party puts up there. They selected Obama.. he won in a landslide gosh sakes.. now, people are like..


gEE..IF ONLY blah blah were on the ballad.. I would vote for him. Well, why wasn't blah blah on the ballad? Because we have to put them there. Your choices are who you get.. America votes them there.. why is that so hard to freaking understand?

[djean111]

62. No, lesson learned. People are now just pointing out the difference between what was campaigned on

and what was done. Is that so freaking hard to understand? People are thinking hey, Hillary seems like just another corporatist, let's see if we can do better, even though a mighty pile of money from Wall Street is currently blocking the way.
Seems to me that, if people were to behave the way you want them to, maybe candidates should not say anything, just show up wearing a jersey with a D or R or G or I or whatever on it. People have a right to complain if what was promised is not what happened. And to at least try and get something different, something better.

Right now it seems like we are being told that of course it take billions to run, and then of course the winner has to please the people who gave (invested) the billions. Why not just make the giant billboard in Times Square like a telethon display, and the candidate with the most money wins, no need to campaign or count votes.

[yuiyoshida]

67. Well Just because Hilary is running

She doesn't have to be the one. IF Bernie Sanders is Running, there is another choice. There will always be other choices until it comes down between Republican vs Democrat.

If anyone here votes Republican, they are on the wrong website! If you guys don't like Hilary, than find someone you can vote for at the next Democratic Primary! Get involved, join the local party and push for your candidate.. IT doesn't have to be a Corporate candidate.. fight against the damn Corporations. Get a ground swell of grass root voters in every state.

[djean111]

70. That is what is happening now. I participate in a Bernie's Team thing at present.

If we are not vocal on sites like this, we cannot get the word out.
Plus, I think (hope) it is instructive to the powers that be, that we remember what is said during campaigns, we have that stuff on youtube, we are watching, now, and there will be repercussions.

[yuiyoshida]

74. Candidates promise a lot of things...

Not all those things get done, but you have to admit, there was a huge Roadblock by Republicans against getting things done. We need super efforts to find the right person, who will say.. Screw you Republicans, you have it wrong, and I am going to push this through Congress.. as hard as I can, if I even have to get off the damn horse and push all by myself!!

[djean111]

85. I agree.

[merrily]

124. +1 The primary is supposed to be the time we get choices.

If primaries are supposed to be our choice, even in theory, why did the Party even both to create super delegates? Why was there no primary in 2012? Why did the Hillary coronation attempt go public even before election day 2012? Why were we supposed to take loyalty oaths before anyone even announces for the primary?

[Albertoo]

42. Perfectly put. (nt)

[1StrongBlackMan]

26. Why inject realityinto this latest rant ...

{sighhh} "There would gave been a better alternative ... if only there had been a better alternative; but since there was no better alternative, we must rile against the better alternative and ignore that the alternative that we had was worse ... because there should have been a better alternative, if only there was a better alternative."

(Or something like that.)

[yuiyoshida]

28. This has to do with logic.

PEOPLE COMPLAINING CAUSE there was no REAL COMIC BOOK SUPERMAN on the ballot...SORRY CLARK KENT IS NOT AVAILABLE.

[RiverLover]

40. But a wolf in sheeps clothing is available.

[woo me with science]

68. Exactly right. A Trojan horse candidate.

Chosen to deceive us. To promise one agenda to help us, but implement another that is driving this nation into the ground.

[Albertoo]

43. Clark Kent IS available. I'm he. ;) (nt)

[yuiyoshida]

46. Wait..so who is that behind

the foster grants?

[woo me with science]

51. Is this going to be the Third Way strategy to manage this thread exposing what Obama really is?

Make it all a big funny joke that our own government is carrying out deliberate fraud on the people, running fake candidates who lie their way through elections promising what they have no intention of doing, and looting us all into poverty while building a police state and excusing torture?

Because if that's the plan, I'm not sure what it hopes to accomplish.

[yuiyoshida]

77. um...

I am not apart of a Third way.. I want to see a government who serves its people the way it did years ago. Not some corporate wet dream that looks like something out of ..LOGAN'S RUN!

[merrily]

125. Not technically, maybe.

[CrispyQ]

140. ~ha!

That made me

[merrily]

142. Good.

A merry heart doeth good like a medicine: but a broken spirit drieth the bones.

Proverbs 17:22

(Many other sources are to the same effect.)

Third Way is a think tank. Most people who espouse its philosophy and back its candidates are not technically part of it.

[Number23]

174. Join the club! All of the black posters here are THIRD WAY, THIRD WAY!! even though 90% of us had

never even heard of THIRD WAY, THIRD WAY!!! until it became the Biggest Boogitty Man that DU's boogiest boogies could ever come up with a few years ago.

So not at all surprised to see the THIRD WAY, THIRD WAY!! pejorative tossed your way as well. You ARE Asian after all, and as the good folks here have made it clear over and over and over and over again, they will ALWAYS speak for us/tell us what we are/know what's best for us, even if they don't have Clue #1 about how to take care of and fix their own damn selves.

[OilemFirchen]

201. It's distressing, of course.

But not at all surprising.

The New Left reminds me a lot of the Old Left at the beginning of the seventies. They appropriated a well-coordinated amalgam of groups dedicated to social justice, turning it into a Culture of Cliques, thereby flipping the movement on its head. No longer a political tsunami, there remained splinters of exclusive fraternities - among them partying anarchists, egotistical fashionistas, red snobs and faux communists (some of which became religious cults, some and others of which became rightwing survivalists). Missing from these remnants were minority participants, who continued their struggle without the middle-class white punks who had peeled away to enjoy only the style and fuck the substance.

I'll continue to harp on this until the last string is broken. There is no noticeable leftwing political movement in this country. There are, instead, Klaque Kings and Kweens who commingle, puffing their chests in a show of Kewl. They don't give one tiny shit about anything other than their self-absorbed little egos. Not privacy, not war, not economics, not the environment and certainly not minorities.

Though I've never needed evidence, it was provided to me by a Facebook friend who was decrying the lack of black faces at a weekly protest of the Beavercreek, OH police killing of John Crawford. Imagine that! A rally of a dozen, organized and communicated by and to a group of white, reliable, protest junkies, and not one black face! I'd like to say that my response was sardonic, but I felt nothing more than embarrassment and pity.

So real activists - those with a focused cause and legitimate grievance - are given more than short shrift by the perpetually (and purposefully) perturbed. Those activists are dismissed because they've failed some purist manifesto by only demonstrably giving a shit about their own community.

Well fuck the Emotarians and nostalgic hippies. They are not your allies.

[Number23]

207. Spectacular post. And exceedingly true. One of the reasons that black people have historically

formed their own sub-sets within movements (feminism, worker's rights, gay rights, disability rights etc) is that all too often, the voices of minorities have been drowned out by (supposedly well meaning) whites convinced that they and only they know the Real Truth and the Real Way.

It is patronizing. It is destructive. It is racist. And -- most importantly -- it is WRONG AS SHIT. If you consider yourself the Arbiter of All Liberal Truth and Justice but 90% of people with melanin leave the room when you walk in, you can do two things: 1) revamp your mindset and your strategies. Stop TELLING people of color that you have our backs and SHOW them. Stop automatically assuming that you are smarter/know better than we do and that our efforts to discuss what is important to us are just "distractions" from the REAL issue; or 2) console yourself that we just "don't understand" that you "have our backs and our best interests at heart" and that your incessant minimizing and put downs of people/issues/events that we consider to be important are just you trying to show us The Light and what's REALLY important which we'll come to realize the very second we become as smart and enlightened as you are.

I mean, one of those options is a recipe for mutual understanding and respect and, dare I say it, PROGRESS. The other is a recipe for a gigantic kick up somebody's ass. And what's really sad is that there are alot of folks that may have the best of intentions but are simply not smart/collaborative/compassionate enough to tell which one of these recipes is going to work and get them where they want to be.

So real activists - those with a focused cause and legitimate grievance - are given more than short shrift by the perpetually (and purposefully) perturbed... They are not your allies.

THIS we already know.

[1StrongBlackMan]

233. +1 ...

Great Post.

Can I add one term that seems to get thrown around ... a lot ... that seems to have come out of the "Culture of Cliques" ... "Hippy-punching."

I have no doubt, your observation will be discounted as mere, hippy punching.

[TheKentuckian]

215. Speak for yourself

[Number23]

220. lol! Thanks for the permission

[1StrongBlackMan]

223. Oh, the irony of that ...

"Speak for yourself, you not as smart as me woman of color. I know better!"

[TheKentuckian]

249. The poster declared all black members as accused of Turd Way, I do not resemble that remark and am

not alone.

Everyone of color is not in your clique or of your mind. Of course I know a hell of a lot better than anyone about what I think, believe, and aspire to.

[TheKentuckian]

250. No, permission to speak for me was withdrawn. Hence, the "speak for yourself"

I didn't get a ballot to vote for you or anyone else to speak for me or for black people in general.

[Number23]

253. I would never DREAM of speaking for you, darling. PLEASE believe that

I guess I should have qualified that I was talking about something many of the black posters here that actually post in the AA forum or in threads on black issues have been accused of.

So you can take the bee out of your bonnet now. Though I did mention this in a roundabout way when I mentioned "90% of people with melanin" in my previous post. If I was talking about all of us, I probably would have said 100%.

[1StrongBlackMan]

54. Rule 1 on DU of late ...

Suspend reality/ignore your daily lived experience in favor of a world where pretending that non-existent choices, or making no choice, leads to a better result than choosing the imperfect choice.

Now, excuse me while I decide whether to goo out for breakfast (but I'm broke and might have to walk to work,later in the week) or cook breakfast at home (I hate cooking).

[yuiyoshida]

57. agreed.

enjoy breakfast. Believe or not, I haven't been to bed yet, up all night. I love this time of the morning though.. right before sleep!

[1StrongBlackMan]

65. Ahhh ...

to be young again!

[AnalystInParadise]

169. Yep

criticism of the one must not be tolerated in your reality. I get it dude, by now we all get it, you really can't act any other way.

[1StrongBlackMan]

188. Yeah, that's it ...

that's exactly it!

BTW, who/what is "the one"?

[NoJusticeNoPeace]

187. Some have the luxury of waiting for the perfect candidate, some do not

[1StrongBlackMan]

189. I don't even know that it's having the luxury ...

so much as having the/a delusion that there is "the perfect candidate."

[NoJusticeNoPeace]

191. Perfect is the wrong word, but I dont think you will find many people who have been the target

of endless institutional racism, bigotry, willing to sit back and NOT vote thus allowing someone like Romney or Paul taking over

Something about someone who HAS experienced and DOES live these things, understanding the value of the better alternative.

[1StrongBlackMan]

194. +1 ...

Something about someone who HAS experienced and DOES live these things, understanding the value of the better alternative.

As a Black, man in America, I have voted in every election (local, state and federal) ... I can count the number of candidates that I believed could deliver for ME, on one hand.

[helpmetohelpyou]

87. At this point none

We are stuck with Obama but the Democrats could have fought fire with fire
Instead they roll over like sheep or they don't give a shit about the middle class and poor( take your pick)

You want to add an amendment to roll back Dodd Frank

We add one to raise the minimum wage to $15.00 an hour

[yuiyoshida]

92. We are stuck with Obama?

Your dream candidate wasn't available in the last presidential election, or the one before that. OBAMA was the dream Candidate over George W. Bush at the time. Don't believe me, check and see how many people showed up at his inauguration.

People keep spitting out this Candidate and that one.. OKAY fine, where the hell were they when it came time to run? Guess what.. in 2016 we get a new President. You got a dream candidate? Go jump in their campaign, make sure they win..

[helpmetohelpyou]

109. Care to respond to my post about Democrats adding an amendment to

raising the minimum wage to $15.00 or did you just want to pretend you didn't read that part?

[yuiyoshida]

113. California has raised their

Minimum wage to 15.00 per hour. I think the Feds should do so, but you got A TON OF freaking Republicans who don't want that, and next year you can say TWO TONS, cause the shift goes to the Republicans thanks to ..(what was that?) Poor Voter turn out? ...

[helpmetohelpyou]

118. No Republicans want it but they also wanted to roll back Dodd Frank and pass

this budget deal , Obama wanted this budget deal .

So how do Democrats start to help the poor ? They add their own amendment to this budget deal just
like the Republicans did in the last minutes .

It gets voted on up or down. If it fails then the negotiations start with the President (yes the President gets involved to push
for the minimum wage increase in the budget deal ).

I give you this .I roll back Dodd Frank , you give me this , raise the minimum wage over the next 5 years to $15.00 an hour.

It could had happened if every Democrat in both houses and the President really wanted to see this happen.

[yuiyoshida]

119. Things are working out well in California

I love this state, and will stay here until it falls into the sea, than I guess you can either call me Ariel or dead.

[CountAllVotes]

144. $15.00/hr.??

California Minimum Wage Rates
CALIFORNIA

Basic Minimum Rate (per hour)

$9.00, effective July 1, 2014

It is sure as hell not $15.00 where I live here in northern California!

Last time I checked there were lots of folks in this neck of the woods earning less than $8.50/hr. How can this be the case you might ask (I'd hope ...). Many of said persons in this situation work for the Indian tribes.

Maybe it is more where you live, but not here!

Link:

http://www.dol.gov/whd/minwage/america.htm#California

[yuiyoshida]

173. I could have sworn that was in the last eletion

on the ballad regarding minimum wage.

[2banon]

184. That's the point. We don't have any real choices. That's the problem. This is not a democracy.

[yuiyoshida]

192. YOU don't have choices?

There were many Candidates in the primary..IF YOU DON'T LIKE who is there , or who will be there, you GET off your butt, go join a local party and start campaigning for YOUR CANDIDATE.. maybe they will be good enough to be in the Primary this time around and you can vote for them. If not pick someone else.

People bitch and complain its not fair, bla bla bla, while doing absolutely nothing about it. Go join your local party and pull up your sleeves and do some work.

[2banon]

196. Excuse me youngster, don't presume to know what I've done in my life politically, or what I haven't

done.

I've been INVOLVED in this bullshit for over 6 decades. Don't tell me what YOU think I should be doing. You're obviously still quite wet behind the ears and don't know jack about what's going on.

That's alright. Go have fun with your rose colored glasses, and thick veil over your eyes and live your fantasy world, but know this: there are people here that are as old as I am, and have been INVOLVED for much longer than you've been on this planet.

Best to bear that in mind before you start lecturing us on what we should be doing.

[yuiyoshida]

197. I know enough to join my local party have done

tons of volunteer work. People bitch and complain because they fail to get off their butts and do anything about it. So let me ask you, are you going to let young people like me do all the work???

[2banon]

200. LOL! You just did it again.

Presuming that I don't volunteer. That I don't go to my city council meetings, that I don't canvass, that I'm not actively involved in local initiatives, that I'm not involved with my local community work. I have a right to bitch and complain because I DO the work. And I know what the fuck I'm talking about.

Put that in your pipe and smoke it.

[yuiyoshida]

203. And let me add if you don't like a Candidate

Consider running yourself...that's how change is made.. I don't smoke, sorry. I been working my ass off here in California for my party. Its good if you volunteer. People should be fired up and ready to go. ITS obviously worked here in California, as we have a majority Democrats in the State.. The rest of the country not so much...

[2banon]

205. Gee, ya think?

let's get a little more pedestrian, shall we? Don't you know enough by now not to preach this spiel to a veteran activist yet?

[yuiyoshida]

206. oh stop the bitter pill thing okay?

You either make change or you don't. I am done here, have a nice day.

[2banon]

209. LOL!!!!!!!!

What a piece of work. LOL!

[Scuba]

93. If we're going to get Republican policies, we might as well have Republicans to blame them on.

[yuiyoshida]

98. Come on now Scuba...

Do you really want a Republican in the White house? WHAT if it TED CRUZ... what then? Hello, Fuck that, IF Ted Cruz is in the white house then they BETTER DEPORT ME TO JAPAN. No doubt they will, even though I was born here.

[Scuba]

112. If we're going to get Republican policies, we might as well have Republicans to blame them on.

[yuiyoshida]

115. So blaming them is going to do what exactly??

They have messed up this country, but you want to yell and shake your fist at the white house when TED Cruz is there? He will send out a militarized Police force to round everyone up and put them some where, where no one will ever find them. Welcome to an even worse Fascist America.


Send me to Japan, I don't want to fucking be here if that's the case.

[GummyBearz]

133. I think his point was,

If we're going to get Republican policies, we might as well have Republicans to blame them on.

I may have missed something though. But any way, if you are actually afraid of getting deported to japan i might as well be afraid of getting deported to ireland

[yuiyoshida]

134. I bet you I would get sent there first...

I don't want any Republicans in the White House, or the House, or the Senate or anywhere near my rights. I was born in San Francisco from Parents who lived a few generations in Hawaii. I am allowed to vote or run for office, if I felt so inclined, but don't want that kind of responsibility. I will vote and continue to vote for Democrats who cherish my rights as a US citizen despite the color of my skin, or how my eyes look.

[GummyBearz]

168. I guess you didn't go to many history classes...

You do know that during WW2, japanese citizens were sent to internment camps during the presidency of FDR... who is widely considered the greatest democratic president of the last 100 years, right?

Now, if you are honestly afraid that a legal US citizen such as yourself will get deported to their ancestor's home country, you are insanely delusional. I would suggest making friends with those whacko survivalist right wing types who also think the government is coming for them... thats what your argument sounds like.

"The govmint is coming for me cuz my eyes are different!" wow... just wow.

[yuiyoshida]

175. Sir i do indeed know about the Internment Camps...

Having learned enough from George Takei. You might be right, that I maybe rounded up with many of my Asian friends ..simply because we are NOT WHITE. Are you Asian sir? Are you non white? You don't think the Republicans love us Asians do you??? Seriously? Well maybe if they can make money off of us.. they might love us a little more.. but no, that's not going to be the case, now is it??

[GummyBearz]

176. I'm white

I have an asian wife and her family is all from vietnam. I have a phd in engineering and needless to say all my best friends and coworkers are asian. Amazingly you are the first one afraid that they will get deported, including my aunt-in laws who are actually canadian citizens living in the US illegally.

Again, go join a survivalist group and head for the high sierra's if this is a real fear of yours. For anyone with an ounce of common sense it is just hilarious grandstanding. Something along the lines of "look at me! I am in danger of deportation! Even though no one talks about it but me... its real!"

I'll put a dollar on it that they deport me back to Ireland before they deport you back to Japan. If it never happens its a draw. By the way... neither will happen

[yuiyoshida]

216. I will not be going to any Survialists group camp...

I figure if things get really bad, the state of California will be come its own country... and I would be perfectly happy with that.. San Francisco has many Asians here, its not hard to blend in.. now is it.

[GummyBearz]

228. No its not

Which is why your fear of ted cruz deporting you sounds so silly... Now I have spent enough time on this. If ted cruz sends you back to japan just PM me your address there and I will send that $1 to settle the bet

[treestar]

246. We do. they had the house the last four years

And now they will have the Senate too. There is no way to get a budget without them.

[840high]

159. At this point I don't

know if Romney would have done better or not.

[Albertoo]

9. Obama will clearly go down in History in the top half of Presidents.

He steered calmly, without major drama, while having inherited one of the worst financial meltdowns ever.

He passed a major law providing health care for all.

He muddled through the islamist quagmire without creating new enemies.

And the mere fact he was half black helped soothe old scars.


I'll settle for that P&L.

[Thespian2]

22. Obama

will go down as one of the WORST presidents. Spend some time recognizing that he made the meltdown worse through his appointments of Wall Streeters to fix the mess they had created. He did not provide health care for all...a patched together system leaving insurance companies and big pharma in charge. Ran like Hell from single-payer. To say he created no new enemies is simply turning a blind eye to what is happening in the middle east. He has healed no racial scars. How many black people have been killed by police while he was screwing the middle class? He is a murderer because of his ordered drone strikes. He has been nothing more than a Wall Street puppet...another eight years of Republican rule. If he gets the TPP, America will be totally finished as a democracy.

I hope that is enough for you, because there is much more evil he has allowed.

[Albertoo]

36. Obama was a very good president

he made the meltdown worse through his appointments of Wall Streeters to fix the mess they had created.

Uh? Worse like GH Hoover made 1929 get worse?

He did not provide health care for all...a patched together system leaving insurance companies and big pharma in charge. Ran like Hell from single-payer.

Did anyone do better?

To say he created no new enemies is simply turning a blind eye to what is happening in the middle east. He is a murderer because of his ordered drone strikes.

Murderer? Because he ordered jihadists dead? What would a jihadist do to your family, given the chance?

He has healed no racial scars. How many black people have been killed by police?

OK. I get your point. Obama personally ordered every police violence incident.

He has been nothing more than a Wall Street puppet...another eight years of Republican rule. If he gets the TPP, America will be totally finished as a democracy.

Free trade will kill us all. Let's all get back to the happy protectionist medieval times. Like Hoover did.

[Fearless]

89. My god, false equivalences much?!

[Thespian2]

164. Don't

live in the real world much, huh.

[SidDithers]

151. ...

What a pantload.

Sid

[Thespian2]

165. Read

SamKnause's post. Then empty your pants.

[vi5]

80. "providing health care for all"

I don't think that phrase means what you think it means".

[Albertoo]

83. Shoot: what do you have on your mind? (nt)

[vi5]

132. "providing health care for all"

that would mean universal or single payer healthcare, guaranteed for all citizens. Now the argument as to whether or not that was feasible or possible, or if the ACA is better than nothing, is one thing I wouldn't even necessarily disagree on those points. But the President in no sense of those words did anything close to providing health care for all.

He signed a bill which made it mandatory for all to purchase health insurance from private insurers, and in some cases provided some people money to do that. There are still many for whom heath coverage is far out of reach financially.

[merrily]

11. The man who very much wanted to be elected President twice--and was.

[Katashi_itto]

13. Just another Corporate whore.

[RiverLover]

18. What? I don't know what this even means, and yet I'm somehow offended.

???????????

[1StrongBlackMan]

34. LOL ...

You just need to expand your readings:

http://www.dineshdsouza.com/books/the-roots-of-obamas-rage/

And all will be made clear!

[RiverLover]

49. OMG what utter BS propaganda. Who is this poster?

Thanks 1SBM. But I think I'll skip reading that particular brand of insanity.

[1StrongBlackMan]

60. Okay, you don't want to read ...

Then just you-tube that faux-news expert "psychologist" ... he has a lot to say about President Obama (and violates the ethics of his profession, every time he does).

[woo me with science]

59. I guess trying to make this thread into a big joke *is* the Third Way plan.

See post 51.

Ha, ha ha ha ha. Setting up an elaborate bait and switch to deceive a nation and working systematically with Wall Street to continue dismantling democracy, looting millions into poverty, and establishing a torturing, surveilling authoritarian state out of the remains of the United States of America.

What a funny joke.

That tells us everything we need to know about the Third Way.

[1StrongBlackMan]

69. Trying to pick a fight? ...

I was responding to a specific comment, that deserved my humorous response.

But to your post ... What is YOUR plan? And if it starts with a proposition that requires suspending reality ... start over.

[woo me with science]

73. The Third Way taunts and mocks.

'What are you gonna do about it, sucker?!'

Ugly words coming from the telescreens, blaming the people for what has been done to them.

I couldn't do that type of work. My conscience is worth too much to me.

[SidDithers]

75. ...

Sid

[1StrongBlackMan]

84. Well ...

I couldn't do that type of work.

That much is clear ... posting to the internet is a much more noble endeavor.

Now ... What is YOUR plan? And if it starts with a proposition that requires suspending reality ... start over.

[woo me with science]

103. A baldly disingenuous, diversionary question. A Third Way messaging tactic.

Last edited Sun Dec 14, 2014, 11:49 AM - Edit history (1)

You already know exactly what is being advocated.by those who refuse to accept corporate talking point swill that we must continue to go along with the lesser of two evils. There are endless threads about organizing in the manner of Occupy and politicians like Bernie Sanders, and building a national movement to throw out the corporate criminals and get corporate money out of our government.

You want to divert from the topic of Obama's presidency and the important observation here that we are not dealing merely with difficult political terrain and differences of opinion, as the Third Way is always telling us.

We are dealing with deliberate fraud perpetrated on the American people. We are dealing with criminal oligarchy, systematic corruption, and deliberate, planned, and systematic deception of the American public to elect a Trojan horse to enact a predatory, antidemocratic agenda.

The Trojan horse, bait-and-switch presidency of Barack Obama was deliberately designed to *promise* hope and change but to *deliver* expansion of Wall Street theft and corruption.

Democracy is an illusion. We are ruled by a fraudulent, corrupt, looting, torturing corporate cabal. And like all governments that turn authoritarian, they have put in place a propaganda machine to spew exactly the Third Way garbage that we see repeated throughout this thread.

[1StrongBlackMan]

222. ...

[Number23]

208. I don't know whether to vomit or giggle manaically at the absurd response you are responding to here

Think I'll do both

[NoJusticeNoPeace]

190. Jesus FUCKING christ did you just call 1sBlackman a 3rd wayer?

[1StrongBlackMan]

225. Yes ...

The preferred term is currently in use by a white woman married to a Black man with biracial children.

[NoJusticeNoPeace]

234. So it is the children who are the 3rd Way LOL amazing

[1StrongBlackMan]

235. I, probably, should retract that comment ...

I think about it and decide later.

It's just that both invectives seem to be spewed in the same manner.

[NoJusticeNoPeace]

236. Did this anti 3rd way stuff emerge AFTER Obama was elected?

Hey, I think Obama is anything but a left leaning liberal, because I am and he and I have lots of problems.

But, I live in the real world, so does he, maybe he really is that and unable to live it where he is, dont know.


Just seems to me that after "that one" was elected, all kinds of groups sprang up

[1StrongBlackMan]

237. The first time I heard anything of 3rd-way ...

was sometime around 2009 ... but then, after people drew attention to the clear Bill Clinton/President Obama double standard, it was retro-actively (like the Mitt hedge fund retirement) applied to Clinton (so as to hide the racial element(?) of the double standard).

But, I live in the real world, so does he, maybe he really is that and unable to live it where he is, dont know.

Why live in the real world when all you have to do to make everything right is log onto an anonymous message board and yell, 3rd-way, 3rd-way? The former is so much more difficult than the latter.

[randome]

21. You're not very smart, are you?

Typical.
[hr][font color="blue"][center]A 90% chance of rain means the same as a 10% chance:
It might rain and it might not.[/center][/font][hr]

[TBF]

32. Oh look - they left us one

to play with!

[randome]

20. A Kenyan changeling, of course.

Jesus Christ, do you know anyone in your entire life as much as you yearn to know Obama? He's a human being and he's a politician. And he seems to want to do the right thing. You may not agree with everything he does but so what?

In a representative government, our representatives call the shots. That's how it works. Don't like it? Elect someone else.
[hr][font color="blue"][center]A 90% chance of rain means the same as a 10% chance:
It might rain and it might not.[/center][/font][hr]

[RiverLover]

29. Well, he just pushed through a bill with a Citigroup rider attached

that puts our economy at risk & is all about further deregulation. It triples the amount individuals can give campaigns. Goldman Sachs was his biggest donor, so it really shouldn't be a surprise. And now he wants to push through the TPP which gives corporations more power than local governments & pretty much guarantees no protections for labor or the environment. And that's for many nations, not just the US.

I voted for the candidate Obama, which was the opposite of the real thing. He actually told us he would fix NAFTA! Oh my God, what a lie. Slightly painful, ok really painful. But he is not representing US, he's representing Wall Street and Corporations.

[randome]

41. You call it a lie, I call it a confrontation with reality.

If Obama did not have to wade through the muck that is Congress, I think we would have 95% of the changes we want today.

So long as America keeps tilting toward Conservatives, Obama has to tread a fine line. Maybe he isn't doing all he could but I think he's doing the best he can under the circumstances.

That doesn't mean we give him a blank check. But like I said, we either get as many allies on our side as possible or we purge the party and start over, a much more time-consuming process that may never work out well.
[hr][font color="blue"][center]A 90% chance of rain means the same as a 10% chance:
It might rain and it might not.[/center][/font][hr]

[1StrongBlackMan]

45. Quick ...

What else was in the CR, other than the 5 things that progressive have come out against?

I doubt anyone came do so.

(No fair using the google, at this late date ,,, we have already condemned this as the last of the worst thing ever, since the last thing.)

[RiverLover]

52. They put in at the last minute to sneak it through. They could have taken it out.

And they Should have. Citigroup wrote it for them. Citigroup controls our treasury. They could have fixed it and then passed it.

But they didn't & Obama will sign it instead fixing it because he works for Wall Street too.

[1StrongBlackMan]

63. How could they have taken it out ...

and maintained the fragile coalitions needed to pass a CR?

[RiverLover]

72. Warren(D) and Vitter(R) had amendment to take it out

But our senate is BOUGHT & PAID for by Wall Street, so the amendment died.

[1StrongBlackMan]

82. That doesn't answer my question ...

what does the fact that the amendment died tell you about the fragile coalition needed to pass the CR? Other than, that the senate is bought and paid for.

[genxlib]

108. I think you just debated against your own point

If the Senate is bought and paid for, how is it obama's fault that this deal was the best he could get.

I am not happy about the fact that he lobbied o get it through but I recognize the reality that the Government needs to stay open and this deal keeps it open for a year.

On what planet would a short term CR work better when it will simply come due again when the Republicans control both houses.

Obama was in the position of taking the shitty deal or holding out for a worse one.

[ucrdem]

101. Oh baloney. It went through the same process the rest of it did. From AP:

Liberals are particularly upset by the process that led to the inclusion of a revision to the 2010 Dodd-Frank law that regulates large banks, relaxing constraints on how Wall Street firms engage in risky trades. It had been approved in the House Financial Services Committee on a wide bipartisan vote, then approved on the House floor with modest Democratic support, and it was attached to a spending bill in the House Appropriations Committee.

- http://readingeagle.com/ap/article/big-bill-includes-a-lot-of-contention#sthash.f8YLPpal.dpuf

But don't let facts get in the way of a good meme

[ucrdem]

94. What a load. Obama's biggest 2012 donor was U of California, not Goldman Sachs.

GS isn't even in the top 20:

http://www.opensecrets.org/pres12/contrib.php?id=N00009638&cycle=2012

Peddle your propaganda elsewhere.

[RiverLover]

106. Split hairs much? Or just lie? here ya go~

University of California $1,799,460
Goldman Sachs $1,034,615
Harvard University $900,909
Microsoft Corp $854,717
JPMorgan Chase & Co $847,895
Google Inc $817,855
Citigroup Inc $755,057
US Government $638,335
Time Warner $617,844
Sidley Austin LLP $606,260
Stanford University $603,866
National Amusements Inc $579,098
Columbia University $570,839
Skadden, Arps et al $554,439
WilmerHale Llp $554,373
US Dept of Justice $540,636
IBM Corp $534,470
UBS AG $534,166
General Electric $532,031
Morgan Stanley $528,182

http://www.opensecrets.org/pres08/contrib.php?cid=N00009638

[ucrdem]

110. GS was not his "biggest donor" in 2008 either. Busted. nt

[RiverLover]

126. Reading comprehension issues? Here are some more, plus open secrets, again.

Goldman Sachs was top Obama donor
April 2010
http://www.cnn.com/2010/POLITICS/04/20/obama.goldman.donations/index.html?

Romney and Obama Share Same Bankster Campaign Contributors
Jan 2012
http://www.infowars.com/romney-and-obama-share-same-bankster-campaign-contributors/

President Obama on Thursday said he will nominate Goldman Sachs banker Bruce Heyman, a top bundler to his 2012 campaign, to be his ambassador to Canada.
Sept 2013
http://thehill.com/policy/international/323513-obama-names-goldman-sachs-bundler-to-canada-ambassadorship-

JPMorgan Employees Join Goldman Sachs Among Top Obama Donors
March 2012
http://www.fa-mag.com/news/jpmorgan-employees-join-goldman-sachs-among-top-obama-donors-10097.html

Goldman Sachs' PAC, employees top donor to Obama campaign
April 2012
http://www.syracuse.com/news/index.ssf/2010/04/post_210.html

Barack Obama(D)
Top contributors

University of California $1,799,460
Goldman Sachs $1,034,615
Harvard University $900,909
Microsoft Corp $854,717
JPMorgan Chase & Co $847,895
Google Inc $817,855
Citigroup Inc $755,057
US Government $638,335
Time Warner $617,844
Sidley Austin LLP $606,260
Stanford University $603,866
National Amusements Inc $579,098
Columbia University $570,839
Skadden, Arps et al $554,439
WilmerHale Llp $554,373
US Dept of Justice $540,636
IBM Corp $534,470
UBS AG $534,166
General Electric $532,031
Morgan Stanley $528,182
Percent of Contributions Coded How to read this chart
legend Coded $295,117,752 (76%)
legend Uncoded $91,448,176 (24%)
Total $386,565,928

[ucrdem]

128. You're posting links to Infowars? Alex Jones' Infowars?

That explains a lot frankly.

[RiverLover]

130. This is so predictable. Can't trash CNN or THE Hill or Open Secrets too? They all say same thing.

Face it, Obama is bought & paid for by Wall Street.

It is sad, and it is true.

[ucrdem]

131. NONE of those support your false claim that GS was "his biggest donor." nt

[TM99]

177. Pay attention.

GS is his largest corporate donor, and they have been paid back handsomely.

The UoC is his biggest non-corporate donor cause you know they are a state university and NOT a corporation.

Got it now?

[ucrdem]

185. Better ask Santa for a calendar:

http://www.opensecrets.org/pres12/contrib.php?id=N00009638&cycle=2012

[TM99]

195. Hmmm....look again.

Check that site for the 2008 election, ok?

By 2012, the banks got we they paid for...well a little something extra over the weekend.

Now it was time for tech and media to be the big contributors. Let's see what did they get for their money? Oh, yeah, a swell EO on immigration that gives them more cheap foreign labor at the expense of US STEM employees and the TPP which will bring back draconian IP laws & excessively long term copyright protocols.

Like pigs to a trough, my friend, for the best 'government' your money can buy.

[SidDithers]

152. Yup...

Sure does, doesn't it.



Sid

[ucrdem]

162. The wisdom of AJ in three smileys:

[woo me with science]

143. Excellent posts. Ugly truths.

Also heavily supported by the telecoms, which is why we have the typical, insulting theater of Obama pretending his FCC has gone rogue, while the corporate vulture he appointed refuses to defend net neutrality.

Telecoms Give Obama $200,000+ For His Election Campaign ...
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x3594897

(That linked discussion is now missing from DU. Had to search for a link online:

Obama bundler Tom Wheeler (appointed FCC Chairman) helps his former industry from FCC perch
http://sunlightfoundation.com/blog/2014/04/24/obama-bundler-tom-wheeler-helps-his-former-industry-from-fcc-perch/

Thanks to lists of bundlers voluntarily disclosed by the 2008 and 2012 Obama campaigns (available on OpenSecrets.org), we know that Wheeler raised between $200,000 and $500,000 in the 2008 cycle, and at least half a million dollars for the President's reelection campaign. Wheeler personally gave $28,500 to the Obama Victory Fund in 2008. In Feb. 2012, he hosted a high-priced fundraiser for the president, where attendees to Washington's Mayflower hotel forked over between $5,000 to $20,300 to eat lunch and snap pictures with the First Lady.

With corporate control of the internet being solidified, you wonder how long we will be able to access any of this information.

[Autumn]

146. Reading comprehension issues aren't what is going on.

It's a case of arguing for other reasons, and those reasons are obvious.

[99Forever]

27. Obama is what he does.

The man who campaigned and made promises he had no intention of keeping, is the facade he hid behind to further his own wealth and power.

[CJCRANE]

37. President Obama is a better and more intelligent person than the entire Republican caucus

and most of the Democrats in Washington and pundits in the MSM.

However...he has proved the limits of representative democracy.

Representative democracy will remain but we need to move to a more direct and participatory version of it.

Voting is not the be all and end all of democracy.

Activism is important even when your choice gets into office. He or she can't do everything on their own.

[1StrongBlackMan]

47. +1. n/t

[kelliekat44]

139. ++++10000000 nt

[Mustellus]

48. You want a Savior.. a Jesus....

... and are surprised that Obama is a politician?

Well, you convinced me....

Obama is no better than "Everyone Loves a War President, Let's Torture" Bush.

Obama is no better than "Never Met a War I Didn't Love, BombBombIran" McCain.

Obama is no better than "I'm a Job Creator (TM) Not a Leech Taker" Romney.

No difference here. Might as well stay home next election. It don't matter no how...

<\Snark Off>

and yes, Perfect is the enemy of Good

[RiverLover]

58. Not a savior, we want a person who is the same when campaigning as when in office once elected.

Pretty sad when a junior senator is better at walking Obama's talk than he is.

[CJCRANE]

66. The trouble is most of us thought he could take on the MSM and the establishment on his own

and ceded the limelight to the Tea Partiers.

There should have been a *Liberal* version of the Tea Party from day one pushing the President to fulfill his promises, backing him when he did and chiding him when he didn't.

Now we've learned our lesson there will be more direct democracy in the future, in the form of more marches, protests, demonstrations, consumer and media boycotts, online campaigns etc.

[KoKo]

241. We did have Progressive Activism...through the Bush Years..

Fighting to get the corruptable Electronic Voting Machines out of our Elections working for Candidates who would support our positions with Act Blue and exposing the Bush/Cheny crimes and "9/11" questions.

We attended Demonstrations against the Iraq Invasion in Cities and Locally that went on for years. Supported Cindy Sheehan and others who challenged Bush working for Peace. Worked to give control of House and Senate to Dems in 2006 making Pelosi "Madam Speaker." Dem Activism helped build the Internet as we know it from the early days of "Windows 95" through our Blogs and Progressive Leaning Websites.

It was "Not to Be" once the Campaign for 2008 began between Hillary and Obama.

Rahm Emmanuel and the Party Powers that Be....made sure that" Progressive/Anti-Iraq Invasion/Hold Bush/Cheney Accountable Movement Activists" were put "Under the Bus"....where they stayed. Funding dried up for many Progressive Activist Sites & Blogs and attacks and name calling (Firebaggers, etc.) were used to belittle those who wanted more Progressive Democrats elected. "Compromise" was the word and too much hope was invested in Obama to really be the "Change You Can Believe In."

That is a very simplified explanation, but those of us who've been on this site since it was founded lived through it.

[woo me with science]

64. The familiar, cynical talking point

hoping to get Americans to accept serial lying and predatory behavior from our representatives as acceptable and to be expected.

Normalize the unconscionable and mock expectations for a representative government.

[sorefeet]

56. If the Republiucans liked Bush

they surely must like Obama. The rich ones anyway, they got exactly what they wanted.

[kentuck]

71. He is an innocent abroad...

He was an idealist that came into office believing he could unite this nation and that the primary concern of Americans was whether or not they had a job.

He was naive to the disaster that was happening to our economy and to our political system. He surrounded himself, not with friendly views, but with people with contrary views to the Democratic Party.
He is a hostage to his own flawed political philosophy.

In the end, it will be up to history to judge him. In an extraordinary political maneuver, he has managed to turn many in his own Party against him. But that can probably be traced to the advisers he chose to surround himself with?

[amandabeech]

212. It seems to me that he came into office thinking that what everyone wanted was healthcare,

and didn't understand that the sands made a major shift under him and made jobs much more important to most people than healthcare.

After the market crash, he refused to listen to a wide variety of voices and just stuck with the old Clinton crowd, maybe because they thought that they could fix the economy quickly and Obama could move to the only thing he seems to have cared about, healthcare.

I dislike Rahm, but Rahm is rumored to have told Obama to do a few easy things on healthcare at first, but concentrate on jobs and the economy. Do the rest of healthcare after the jobs come back.

I knew that we were in trouble when he didn't start playing down the Lincoln thing, and start talking a little more about FDR.

You know, I've never felt like I had a fix on Obama's personality. And that has always given me a very uncomfortable feeling.

[gwheezie]

76. Obama is a better president than I thought he'd be

For the part he's played in governing I thought he got more done than I expected. I never thought he was a liberal. I didn't think he was going to be a liberal president. I'm glad I voted for him twice. Let's face it he had no cooperation from dems and GOP in congress.

[leeroysphitz]

79. Fool me once, shame on...shame on you.

Fool me — you can't get fooled again

[ann---]

86. I don't know either

[Jesus Malverde]

88. In the words of Oliver Shea Jackson...

But don't let it be a black and a white one
'Cause they'll slam ya down to the street top
Black police showing out for the white cop

[ucrdem]

90. Pure political genius. While we were raving over a ham sandwich he got immigration reform passed

in the teeth of brutal opposition. Remarkable politician. Best of this century so far, that's for damn sure.

[Scuba]

95. He got immigration reform passed? When? I guess I missed that.

[ucrdem]

97. I guess you did. That doesn't surprise me. Here:

Senator Cruz was very upset by the immigration EO implemented in this spending bill and tried to block it. Oh, so was Senator Vitter, Senator Warren's new comrade-in-arms -- they also co-wrote a blocking amendment -- but that's another embarrassing tale. Anyway:

“I think it is critical for the Senate to have an opportunity to have a clear up or down vote on funding President Obama’s illegal executive amnesty. I am using every tool available to help bring about that vote,” said Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.).

http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/spending-bill-forces-rare-weekend-session-for-the-senate-with-shutdown-hours-away/2014/12/13/81832bf6-82e8-11e4-81fd-8c4814dfa9d7_story.html?

[Scuba]

111. An EO doesn't qualify as a bill "passed".

[ucrdem]

114. Oh please. nt

[ucrdem]

170. p.s. sorry if I misread your remark but yeah it passed late last night.

The LBN headlines are a little confusing so if you weren't aware of it before I can understand. Evidently it passed in the wee hours right after it was postponed:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/1014964753

[Scuba]

182. Was it also passed by the House?

[ucrdem]

183. Yes, on Thursday, but not without a kerfufle:

Pelosi pulled out after making sure it had the votes to pass LOL. LBN story:

The measure passed the House on Thursday after a day of drama but by a relatively comfortable 219-206 vote. The vote came after GOP leaders sent the House into a seven-hour recess to give the White House time to lobby Democrats angry that the measure weakens rules on trading risky financial products known as derivatives and allows wealthy donors to pour hundreds of thousands of dollars into political parties.

In the end, 57 House Democrats voted for the bill, including two of the party's top three leaders. Democrats argued that there was too much good in the bill to scuttle it and get a worse deal next year when Republicans seize control of the Senate.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/1014963360

[Scuba]

213. This is the CROmnibus bill. Is this what you call "getting immigration reform passed"?

Good grief. The CROmnibus bill is poison!

Deregulation of derivatives, more anonymous money in our elections and you're cheering???? Holy fuck!

[ucrdem]

221. Some also said ISIS is our No. 1 priority.

Go figure eh?

[Scuba]

224. You sound like Fox "News".

[ucrdem]

232. "Former" Republicans don't do it for me, sorry. nt

[RiverLover]

242. You mean like Hillary? I don't blame you, she acts like a rethug & supports rethu policies. nt

[ucrdem]

251. I'll give Warren this much credit: she makes HRC look good. nt

[woo me with science]

135. +1 Just like an executive order banning "some" "enhanced interrogation techniques"

while actively protecting the architects and perpetrators and hiding the evidence of deliberate policy by the government of the United States of America to break bones, rape, and sodomize for the purpose of extracting false confessions for propaganda...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10025959095

doen't even resemble actually ending torture.

[QC]

127. That's why he has 97.86% approval among liberal Democrats. n/t

[fredamae]

96. Umpteenth Dimensional Chess

Master who is Waiting for the right moment to set "them" up for Checkmate? hahahahahahahahaha

Well, I'll agree with the premise...but "we was the ones who got had"!!!

[olegramps]

104. I too am disappointed. But save some venom for the obstructionists Repuks.

I understand his position on the budget vote. Many may not agree, but the argument that if the Dems don't take it a worst budget awaits them when the Repuks take over the Senate.
This is a sad fact. I well knew after reading his two books that he longed for cooperation between the parties, but the Republicans are so consumed with racial hatred that it was difficult to achieve even minimal support.

[spanone]

107. Your President.

[Number23]

172. Thread. Win.

Sorry for the crappy prize.

This is probably one of the dumbest, worst threads I've seen this year. But it's horrible in a "terrible but unintentionally hilarious" way.

[jehop61]

116. I would suggest

that all you naysayers get yourselves on the next ballot in your own communities and run and fight for the principles you embrace. If you didn't vote in recent elections, you have nothing to contribute to the discussions either. That's the American way. This man is not evil or incompetent. He's trying to navigate very rough waters for us all Deal with it.

[99Forever]

123. This "naysayer" hasn't missed a vote in 44 years.

However, I don't give a pass to those that have mislead me. I guess you do. And no, I won't shut up, but I damn sure WILL "deal with it."

[1StrongBlackMan]

238. You also haven't done what the poster recommended ...

get yourself on the ballot to fight for what you wish to occur.

[DrDan]

229. "for us"????? Did you forget to add the sarcasm thingie?

cutting pension benefits is "for us"?
easing banking regulations is "for us"?
increasing big-donor contribution limits is "for us"?

I could, of course, be misunderstanding your post. Do you work on Wall Street? Are you a banker or big contributor? Then, yes, he would be navigating the waters for you.

[1StrongBlackMan]

239. Well ...

"for us" could also mean, those safety net beneficiaries that would have to do without if the CR had been voted down ... only to see a new CR written during the next congress that would/will be far worse.

[JoePhilly]

117. He's a Socialist Corpratist.

[woo me with science]

120. Pathetic, transparent Third Way attempt to conflate absurd claims of socialism

with the ugly, proven, indisputable reality of Barack Obama's financial connections to Wall Street and relentless advancement of their predatory agenda of economic looting, perpetual war for profit, and dismantling of civil liberties.

[bigwillq]

129. A cyborg from the planet Obamula

sent to Plant Earth to provide entertainment for deranged posters on a democrat-leaning message board.

[democratisphere]

136. It may be time to rethink what we have done and where we are going.....

BEFORE it's TOO LATE!?!?!?

[CrispyQ]

137. We will find out the next two years.

Will he use his veto pen or will he order a supply of commemorative sets for signing republican legislation?

I half think we might end up with a republican president & a democratic congress in '16.

[Proud Liberal Dem]

138. I'm disappointed too

but I'm going to give him the benefit of the doubt that he pushed for this in order to avoid a government shutdown rather than because he's a soulless corporate shill for Wall Street. And, as far as the larger issue of the Democratic Party goes, no single President, no matter how progressive he/she is, is going to be able to do much if they don't have a large progressive (super-)majority to muscle things through. A Bernie Sanders or Elizabeth Warren may scream bloody murder at Republicans for their behavior and may get a few more people's attention but, at the end of the day, they aren't going to make Republicans stop being Republicans any more than President Obama will and vote our way. If we really want some change, we need to hold the WH and elect so many (progressive) Democrats to the Congress that Republicans have virtually no leverage at all, like what has happened to the Democrats here in Indiana.

[CountAllVotes]

145. He is a Wall Street shill IMO

and yes, I am very disappointed!

Sticks it to Americans with no insurance that cannot afford it.

The few that believe that they have benefited from this are just beginning to see the reality of it -- premium increases as much as 50% in some cases.

Lets face it, we were duped!

As to "who" he is well, as I stated before, nothing much more than another Wall Street shill IMO.

Sad as all hell IMO.

[TwilightGardener]

147. I've stopped defending him, for the most part.

[G_j]

149. well he ruined one of my favorite MLK Jr. phrases for me

"The Fierce Urgency of Now"

[steve2470]

150. He can't be an FDR, yet....

Why you ask ?

Do we have 25% OFFICIAL-on-the-books unemployment ? Yea yea, I know about the unofficial rates, but those never get headlines or attention. Do we have long breadlines in the cities ? Do we have very similar economic conditions to March 1933 ?

Does he have an overwhelmingly Democratic Senate and House of Representatives to work with ?

Does he have an overwhelming public revulsion for trickle-down-economics and failed economic policy ?

If you think FDR was a REAL socialist or communist or that he was going to shut down or nationalize all banks, and put the investment bankers (like Goldman) out of business, you're living in fantasyland and you don't know history.

FDR was FDR because of the truly desperate times he was operating in. EVEN BACK THEN, THE LEFT DID NOT LIKE FDR.

I hate fucking threads like this. TRASH THREAD.

[Autumn]

154. He is whatever people see him as according to their values and priorities.

[ohheckyeah]

155. I knew exactly who he was as did many

others who all got shouted down. When you get past 50 you've seen and heard all of the politicians bullshit. Hope and change - really? LOL

Is he better than the alternatives we had - undoubtedly, but he isn't who he pretended to be.

[Blue_In_AK]

180. +1

I knew, too. Also got shouted down.

[ohheckyeah]

218. I was even told I was old and just didn't get it. n/t

[LittleBlue]

156. Kennedy is rolling in his grave

Senator Obama/President Obama is one of the greatest bait-and-switch operations in political history

[CountAllVotes]

160. Poor Ted

You are so right, he must be rolling in his grave. This is NOT what he had in mind, that much I know and it does give me some comfort knowing that Senator Kennedy would have liked to have seen this whole thing go in a completely different direction.

This was no Robin Hood steal from the rich and give to the poor sort of a thing on any level whatsoever.

It has been more like steal from the poor until they are squandering in a hellish pit from which there is still no escape.

Same story different year. Reminds me too much of those Reagun years in retrospect.

[L0oniX]

161. First you need to spell his name backwards kinda like a Beatles record.

amabo
Latin[edit]
Verb[edit]
amābō

first-person singular future active indicative of amō
Adverb[edit]
amabo

Please. (Short for amābō tē.)
Vide, amabo, num sit domi.
Please see if he is at home.

[Tatiana]

163. I believe he began with good intentions.

I knew him when he was a state senator. I do believe he was sincere in his desire to improve the lives of everyday people.

But something happens when people get elected to Washington. That is why Senators hang on and fight like hell to remain in Congress for decades, even when there are other more financially lucrative corporate opportunities.

Elizabeth Warren is trying to tell us something about who really owns and runs this nation. It's not the people we elected to do so.

But back to your original question... Obama is another corrupted official bought and paid for by Wall Street and powerful interests. He's doing the bidding of Citigroup, not the American public.

[Blue_In_AK]

178. He's about who I thought he would be

because I never bought into the hope and change thing in the first place. Expect the worse, and you won't be disappointed.

[ucrdem]

186. I don't suppose you'd consider adding "Barack" to your subject line?

Sounds a little less wingy that way.

[2banon]

210. We say, Carter, Kennedy, Roosevelt, Clinton even... what's wingy about that?

[NoJusticeNoPeace]

193. Given the obstruction and hate he has had to deal with, I think he is Superman

[deutsey]

198. I voted for him twice

In '08, I really wanted to jump on his bandwagon along with so many of my friends and family who were energized by him, but when I heard Summers and Geithner were part of his inner circle as he became the front runner, I just couldn't stomach being a big cheerleader for him.

I had hoped during his first inauguration that the size of that enthusiastic groundswell of support would move him to be bold in fighting for the interests of ordinary working people. I think he's done some good (more good than McCain and Romney, certainly), but I think the presidency as an institution is so firmly under the boot of Wall Street and the military, his hands and legs were tied and his mouth gagged, assuming he really did want to do some good for us serfs.

[JaneyVee]

204. Best prez of my lifetime so far.

[Peregrine Took]

211. He knew 20 years ago he wanted to run for Prez and 'vetted Michelle's jobs so they woudnt come back

and embarress him.

[woo me with science]

219. Outstanding post.

and you bet it will be coming around again...

[1StrongBlackMan]

226. Interesting that you would applaud ...

a Name Removed post that, in a designed anti-President Obama thread with hundreds of anti-President Obama posts, the community felt went too far.

Interesting.

[msanthrope]

227. I have no doubt that the troll you applauded will be coming around again. You Better Believe It!!nt

[woo me with science]

230. The post was spot on.

and said nothing different than has been said throughout this thread by those who are honest.

I have no idea what else the poster may have posted to get a PPR, but if MIRT has started banning people for commenting on the reality of the president's corporate connections and aggressive, deliberate enactment of corporate policy and a corporate agenda, then MIRT apparently would like to ban much of DU.

I am proud of DUers who care about the Democratic Party and this nation for calling out the corporate infiltration of the Democratic Party and speaking clearly about the bait-and-switch it has been perpetrating on voters. The only way to fix a cancer is to identify it and excise it, which is exactly what must be done with corporate money and influence that are corrupting the direction of virtually all important policy now. The party needs to work for the people, and it's not doing that now.

[1StrongBlackMan]

240. LOL ...

I have no idea what else the poster may have posted to get a PPR, but if MIRT has started banning people for commenting on the reality of the president's corporate connections and aggressive, deliberate enactment of corporate policy and a corporate agenda, then MIRT apparently would like to ban much of DU.

Come on ... "much of DU" ... ... you give yourself WAYYYY to much credit.

[msanthrope]

243. MIRT is now censoring? Maybe you should let admin know! nt

[treestar]

244. if you keep using the word "corporate" it might start to mean something

As it is, you've gotten to a point where you expect it to be magical.

[Marr]

217. A footnote. A corporate stooge.

If we ever manage to dig our way out of this dark stretch of corporatocracy, Obama and those like him will be forgotten; only occasionally remembered as bought-and-paid-for Wall Street toadies.

[NCTraveler]

231. In the eyes of most people.

A politician, just like the rest. It is what he is. From everything I know about him away from the public eye he is a very good man. A progressive. He made a life decision to be a politician and he has embraced it. He is also very good at it. He reached the highest level by taking a path that most would find to be unbelievable. Look at his campaign for 2008. Absolutely brilliant. Pure cut-throat politics built under the guise of "hope and change." Very few looked back to his campaigning days in Chicago, much of which was very hard core politics. Who is Obama? He is a very ambitious politician. He is in it for victories. That word doesn't mean the same thing to us as it does a politician.

[Doctor_J]

245. Another in a long line of sold out politicians - honorary Bush Family Evil Empire member

He has gone from disappointment to failure to disgrace over the past 6 years. And his abandonment has been soul-crushing to the party and to the nation. I really believe he could have marshalled the people to wrestle the country from the Bush & Cheney crowd. But it was all an act - he was in on the fix the entire time. So sad.

[woo me with science]

247. kick for reply #5

And the need for this OP:

Honor
http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=5964265

Corporate money out of politics.

[TheKentuckian]

248. He is Arne Duncan, Sonia Sotomayor, Tom Vilsack, Jack Lew, David Petraeus, Rahm Emanuel,

Hillary Clinton, Ray LaHood, Robert Gates, Elena Kagan, Tim Geithner, Ken Salazar, Gary Locke, John Kerry, Hilda Solis, Penny Pritzker, Joe Biden, Eric Holder, Steven Chu, Kathleen Sebelius,Denis McDonough, Ernest Moniz, Janet Napolitano, Julian Castro, Ernest Moniz, Eric Shinseki, Jeh Johnson, Robert McDonald, Shaun Donovan, Sylvia Burwell, Leon Panetta, Sally Jewell, Chuck Hagel, James Clapper, Susan Rice, John Brennan, and Bill Daley among others.

Appointees are like eyes, windows to the soul.

[still_one]

252. 24601