He didn't close Gitmo immediately...he is responsible for all of the deaths

[Raven]

in Gaza... he's made lousy appointments... he's moving too slowly.

This came in a conversation, not from a RW Republican, but from a friend of mine who is a lefty Progressive. This was yesterday. Obama had not located the mens' room in the WH yet.

Just what do you do with that???

[FrenchieCat]

1. Tell 'em it will take more than 3 days to clean up Bush's messes!

[Hellataz]

39. It'll take more than 3 days just to find all the cow patties Bush left on the WH lawn.

[PresidentObama]

2. He can't do everything at once.

He's already moved faster and swifter than any other President in modern times, maybe in history.

[PetrusMonsFormicarum]

3. Ask him

what HE has done for the country in the past couple of days. And then tell him:

[TTUBatfan2008]

4. Laugh in their face...

He's doing a good job so far. No one is perfect but he's been far more active in pushing a liberal agenda than I ever expected.

[Zodiak]

11. Agreed.....I was getting worried in the PE period, but any liberal should be happy

...with his progress in just a few days. I am absolutely floored that he has exceeded my wildest expectations. There is a lot of work to do, but seriously...did ANYONE expect him to move this fast and this decisively?

[Ishoutandscream2]

27. You echo my thoughts exactly

I was a little nervous myself during the PE period, starting to get in a tizzy about Obama perhaps going too far to the right. But these last three days have been absolutely incredible. I am thrilled thus far, and I am confident that Obama will be an excellent president.

[Window]

38. President Obama is, indeed, quite a guy and the right man for the job.

He has given new meaning to "hitting the ground running."


Peace:thumbsup:

[Ian David]

5. Ask him what HE has done to make sure all those things happen... TODAY.

Has your friend taken action on every single one of the things that are important to him TODAY?

[gardenista]

6. Tell them to put down the bong and roll up their sleeves

And get to work making change.

[SidneyCarton]

7. Laugh, and ask them how exactly (in detail) such policies may come about.

Then ask the likelihood of any politician (Ralph Nader and Dennis Kucinich excepted) doing what they suggest. A poster here on DU uses this as a sigline, and I think it's applicable here "Reality is a harsh mistress."

[Shiver]

8. Wait, wait, wait!

I could see the reasoning behind three of those, flawed and debatable as it may be... but how the hell is he "responsible for the deaths in Gaza?" :wtf:

[pleah]

9. Find a new friend.

:crazy:

[kenny blankenship]

24. or make one up!

[ieoeja]

10. Find out what responsibilities he has in his job.

Figure out a dozen things he could possibly be called upon to do. Ask him if he could do it all in one day. Then point out that the President has a gazillion more responsibilities than that.

He will then tell you that nothing is more important than stopping the killing. And that Obama should have ordered an immediate retreat from Iraq.

At that point just shake your head and sigh. Then put on a real friendly smile and tell him, "you have to buy me a beer if you expect me to keep listening to your stupid shit."

I figure you have about 50-50 odds of getting a free beer out of this.

Cheers! :toast:

[Fleshdancer]

12. All you can do is laugh

Some people aren't convinced yet and that's ok. Other people just prefer to remain cynical and that's ok too. At the end of the day, all you can really do is appreciate the absurdity of it all and laugh.

[Two Americas]

13. listen

Your friend may not be living in the binary world where we define everything by how it conforms to hero worship of a politician.

I doubt that you are characterizing what your friend is saying accurately. If you are, then just ignore them, and stop trying to use them to smear any and all critics with a false and pejorative insinuation.

[Raven]

14. Come again? I did characterize his comments accurately. I do not worship Obama.

Maybe he's as quick to judgment as you seem to be.

[Two Americas]

18. ok

Just a suggestion.

Judgment? That is coming the other direction is it not?

I didn't say you worshiped Obama.

For many of us, the issue of judging or not judging Obama is not important, as you are saying it is for you. That does not mean that we oppose Obama nor are tearing him down. Nor should that open people up to unfair criticism and ridicule. You can see the responses you are getting, and I am sure that they come as no surprise to you. No doubt this was intended as a private party, where "they" could be mocked and ridiculed and bashed.

[Raven]

20. I'm sorry, I didn't understand a word you said.

[ShortnFiery]

15. No, don't paint all us lefty LIBERAL pinkos with one broad brush. No, don't do that.

Many of us do live in "the real world" and understand that these things take a number of steps and a little time to get accomplished.

More LIBERAL hatin' going on here. :(

[Raven]

21. Um, I'm a lefty liberal...maybe just with a little more patience...I think

I'll give Obama a week.

[ShortnFiery]

25. LOL, but IMNSHO, telling stories "out of school" about fellow liberals is just trashing our REP more

and we don't need any more "slings and arrows" given that the M$M are so afraid of us "pinko librrrls."

I just don't get it? Why not privately help make this "fellow liberal" SMART instead of trash them on a message board?

Sorry, it just does not make sense to me. :shrug:

[DainBramaged]

16. Tell them that God took seven days to make the heavens and earth

how long should we give one man to change the evil wrought by the Devil?

[dcindian]

17. You do what any loving progressive would do.

You wipe up his or her drool puddle smile, and softly say there there now.

[Orsino]

19. There's some truth in that, I suppose.

But if he's stopping the torture and restoring due process as quickly as possible, then little blame falls on him, IMO.

If you take the wheel from a lousy driver during a car wreck, you do buy a share of the responsibility for what happens. It can be a measure of Obama's character, however, that he was willing to wear that stigma just for the chance to end it--and perhaps undo it.

[crispini]

22. LOLWUT

Duuuuuuuuuuuuuuuude. Give the man a break. That's what I'd say.

[kenny blankenship]

23. Obama is moving fast

your friend is imagining things or imaginary himself.

[KittyWampus]

26. Ask your friend if they know where the magic wand is and if they do, please forward it to Obama

ASAP.

This is a prime example of a Magic Wand Democrat.

[TheKentuckian]

28. You're probably a liberal and your friend is a progressive.

Progressives are idealists, all they see is what is right but seldom the path to get there from wrong. They also have that totalitarian thing kickin' that stems from their unwieldiness. Wrongs must be righted and if it takes a little "So, let it be written...so, let it be done" then by all means so be it.

Of course we liberals probably are responsible for great things like triangulation born from willingness to compromise and allowed ourselves to be punked into the fringe for many years in the name of inclusiveness.

We need to combine the two mentalities and be loud, proud, relentless, and reasoned.

[ncteechur]

29. tell him to shut up or run for office.

[bigtree]

30. should we believe that the things he actually has done are solid

. . . and able to withstand scrutiny?

Like the Pakistan drone attack, for example. The reports, citing 'senior officials' are that he may not have signed off on the attacks, but that he must have been briefed on it. Is it really acceptable to brush that off on start-up difficulties? Besides, the reports this morning are that this attack may be a deliberate policy. When is it acceptable to criticize that?

I don't believe that excuse of it being early will suffice for each and every complaint. Plus, you have to account for the politics which demands early and loud advocacy to just get recognized.

This isn't a campaign. And the Obama presidency intends to be recognized as competent in at least what they set out to do. In the Gitmo review there should be input into the year-long deliberative process that Pres. Obama outlined. Other initiatives demand input, as well, if you really care about the outcome of these issues and concerns. As, I said, you can't win those fights without early and vocal advocacy. We should be more understanding of that here.

[JVS]

31. Kick in kneecap

[bos1]

32. They are KILLJOYS who will never be remotely happy. n/t

[LatteLibertine]

33. Ask him

if he would rather have Mr. Magoo and Mooselini in there.

[4lbs]

34. There's only so much Obama can do without Congressional support.

Your friend should be directing his comments toward the heretofore spineless Congress that allowed Bush and Cheney to do pretty much whatever they wanted for 8 years. It was Congress that passed a lot of deregulation that got us into this financial mess. Had they not passed it, Bush wouldn't have gotten the chance to sign those deregulations.

Executive orders will accomplish a lot, but they alone won't solve the economic crisis.

It still requires Congress to pass the stimulus package without overloading it with pork, before the document hits the POTUS' desk for signing. This seems like it won't happen until mid-February at the earliest.

If Obama was given near dictatorial/authoritative powers, he would have done it the day after the inauguration. However, that's not how it works in this country. It requires BOTH the President AND Congress to get things done.

[elleng]

35. Say as you have suggested

that he needs time to locate the men's room, and if they're not smart enough to understand that, say bye!

[AnnieBW]

36. We're draining a swamp the size of the Everglades here

Patience, grasshopper!

[zulchzulu]

37. Just tell him it was good seeing him, but you have to return to Planet Earth now

People like that haven't clue how things get done. We don't live in a dictatorship and your friend could do well by taking a Civics 101 class... that's if the black helicopters don't get him first...

[MadMaddie]

40. Tell him to grow up!

That's all....