Obama should fight every idealistic battle including legalizing pot.

[ProSense]

He would lose and be crippled politically, but hey, at least everyone would be able to say: he tried.

How does one determine a great President: He fought valiantly and lost?

History will record the fight, not the achievements, right?

Obama has been office for a little over two months (January 20 - March 28), and some people have already declared him a failure (or on track to fail).

Guess what: Overseeing the economic recovery alone will propel Obama to the ranks of one of the greatest Presidents. Reforming health care, the financial system, rebuilding the nation's infrastructure, ending the war in Iraq and a host of other things will clinch it.

It can be argued that the degree to which these efforts are successful will determine whether or not he is a viewed as a good or great president. On the other hand, he will likely be viewed as a failure in the absence of an enomomic recovery.

Still, it's not clear why some people seem so determined to declare Obama's Presidency a failure after nine weeks in office.







Edited typos

[Fovea]

1. You are so right.

And if he follows your advice, I have no doubt he will go down in history!!!

Beside Neville Chamberlain.

:sarcasm:

[ProSense]

3. Yeah, people will

hate the economic recovery and blame him for not legalizing weed.

[Fovea]

12. Oh, you think the cave in stops here?

This is a *Martin Niemoller* moment.

You fight the right fights, and the staggering number of Americans who;ve had their lives fucked over for simple possession
deserved better than the smarmy answer he gave.

[ProSense]

14. Cave?

He brought it up and made a joke about. You can claim it was in response to a direct question, but that doesn't make it a fact. He made a joke absent a direct question.

People need to get a grip.

[MadBadger]

2. K Fuckin R

[Dawgs]

4. Care to give any examples, because you can be critical and still think he's doing a great job?

For instance, I was one of the loudest critics of his marijuana answer yesterday, but I just voted in a poll stating that he's doing an excellent job as President.

I don't remember ever seeing anyone say his Presidency is a failure. Do you have some examples?

[damonm]

7. How you can have 1000+ posts and

NOT have seen the many voices here calling Obama a failure is a little hard to swallow...
Here's one example:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=8296438&mesg_id=8296438

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

9. 1/2 of those 1000+ posts are exactly the ones you're talking about. (nt)

[Dawgs]

13. Prove it.

I've been a supporter of Obama since early 2007. That doesn't mean I can't criticize him.

Now show me one o fmy posts where I said he's failing. I'll be waiting.

[denem]

5. No! They will say because he lost the Legalization initiative, he was a failure.

NOT the GOP, not the MSM. they would blame Obama. Failed to Legalize Pot = Carter II. A good man but not up to the job.

[Autonomy]

6. Is this sarcasm?

I'm not sure what you're getting at. No president should ever pursue policies that would crippling him or her politically, but I don't think a pro-marijuana position would do that. Polls show a majority in favor of some degree of decriminalization. But I agree that the economy will make or break his presidency.

And, last, it's very clear why some people are so determined to declare the Obama presidency a failure, nine weeks in, and even before it started: they have some agenda that includes his presidency being a failure.

[Brazenly Liberal]

10. "they have some agenda that includes his presidency being a failure."

Exactly!

And let us not forget that one of the major factors keeping the GNOP somewhat in check right now is Obama's very high popularity. Much of the negative crap flung around about him - and I mean HERE at DU, too - is designed to chip away at that popularity.

Anyone who wants to reply to this by calling me a bot or making other silly comments of that sort is more than welcome to. I can see a major difference between someone who disagrees with SOME things he's said or done (as I do, myself) and someone who is just out to trash him. Popping up under my post and calling me a mindless sheep or whatever will help me to populate my ignore list more efficiently.

Edited to clarify reference to "here at DU" not "here in this OP."

[cbc5g]

8. No rational person wants Obama to fight for legalization in the mess we are in right now

We are asking him for respect and to at least talk about it, is that really so hard? Perhaps encouraging the passing of state bills that decriminalize marijuana like he has been in favor of before? Obama made a mistake laughing and deriding probably millions of voters, like myself, who voted for him. Because make no mistake, the drug crusaders and the puritans HATE Obama and didn't vote for him. Sure they'd get pissed if he talked about it and use it to continue their beliefs that Obama is a marxist, but so what? They are already pissed at Obama over gay marriage and abortion.

[Bluenorthwest]

11. I expect nothing of him but to be respectful

of the citizens who asked him questions at his own damn request. Smirking about important issues is not helpful. It added nothing, it took away a bit.
That is clear as a bell I think. But you can restate it in extreme hyperbolic form if you'd like.