My policy for the time being: Give the President the benefit of the doubt.

[pnwmom]

I never did this for Bush, and I wouldn't for McCain, either.

But Obama has done nothing to earn the degree of suspicion some DUers have for him, much less the hate of those on the right.

So I may wonder about some choices he's made, but I don't have the full picture of how he arrived at the decision. I may disagree, based on what I know, but I don't know everything. I can't see into his head, but his actions thus far haven't shown me that he has nefarious motives or is an idiot. (Like Cheney/Bush).

So for now, for the time being, I'm giving him the benefit of the doubt. The fact is, he's going to need the support of the public if he's going to get anything good through Congress. So he's going to get mine.

[tabatha]

1. Obama is walking through a mine field.

I don't think any president in history has had to face what he is facing.

Some of his decisions may seem questionable; but I try to understand what he is doing.

However, having some of the left angry at him actually works for him.

[BlooInBloo]

2. :)

[stray cat]

3. My impression is he is more on my side than against me

He is working from a different set of data than I have available. I also didn't get elected president so I am less constrained by responsibilities to all of America and the world.

I just noticed - my hearts multiplied - thank you! Its a long week and the family is waiting on the outcome of my stepfather's cancer surgery to determine his prognosis. The hearts have been really nice this week - so thanks to all who have given them to me and to others.

[BlooInBloo]

4. ... and by a proportion that isn't even close, I assume you mean.

[stray cat]

6. Completely and absolutely - its great to have a president who knows how to work for a living

[Runcible Spoon]

5. Every politician "deserves" suspicion.

Even a Dem, and especially one who crams his Cabinet full of DLC neolibs.

You're free to do whatever you like, that doesn't mean those who save faith for religion deserve scorn or to be labelled bad Dems.

Quite frankly, your attitude is quite frightening. You may think Obama hasn't done anything to earn suspicion; from where I'm standing he hasn't done anything to gain my trust. I trust politician about as far as I can throw them.

[Jennicut]

7. True, every politician does deserve suspicion.

But equally frightening is the fact that we have been so burned by Bush AND the Dems in congress that we have whiplash or abused voters syndrome. We trust no one and therefore no movement gets built up to change the way things are done. Thankfully that has happened to only a few of us or there would have been no backing to Obama's presidency and we would be stuck with much worse. Just looking on the bright side.

[Runcible Spoon]

13. and it's good to look on the bright side.

As long as we don't sacrifice objectivity and think it's safe to sit back and trust the government to do what's in our best interest without demanding it.

[Jennicut]

27. Agreed. We need to test government at every turn. Itsa two way street

relationship. But pouncing on Obama every single minute for no reason other then to say you tested your government today is kind of silly. I will disagree with him when I feel he is wrong and praise him when I feel he is right.

[pnwmom]

9. Do you understand what "give the benefit of the doubt" means?

It means that when the situation isn't completely clear, when additional facts could change my point of view and I know I don't have the fullest picture -- then I will allow him the benefit of the doubt.

He doesn't deserve the deep, pervasive, constant suspicion with which many of us viewed Bush's actions, because Obama's own actions up till now haven't warranted it.

[Runcible Spoon]

12. You can blather on about who "deserves" suspicion and who doesn't until you go blue.

It's not a quantifiable thing, and everyone has his/her own standards. You WANT to like the president as a personality, you WANT to feel some personal connection and trust on an emotional level; I could give a rat's ass either way. I care about policy and positions, and sorry Obama has done plenty in my estimation to warrant keeping an eye on him and continuing to give him feedback. This is really no different than any other politician at the national level that has governed in my lifetime.

Quite frankly, it doesn't matter one tiny little bit whether or not you give him the benefit of the doubt. What does that even MEAN in practical terms? Will it affect the way you respond to your government? Let's just be honest, the only thing that changes is the number of posts you feel you have to author to jump on other people about not adequately fawning over Obama. So your whole approach exists merely to validate yourself, and doesn't accomplish much else. *golfclap*

[pnwmom]

17. I'm jumping on other people? No, you're the one doing that. n/t

[Runcible Spoon]

19. I've read your posts here, and responding to your OP is not jumping on you just bc you don't agree

The implicit message in your OP, and the hundreds of others just like them, is that people are being too harsh and critical and should STFU and just trust Obama. That we should all somehow follow your golden example. If you're really just talking about yourself, what makes you think it warrants its own OP? OK, I take it back, I'll give you the benefit of the doubt and just assume you like to read your own words.

You can cloak this in whatever language you want, but that is exactly what it boils down to.

[pnwmom]

21. You have been attacking me personally, and grossly distorting what I've said.

My OP didn't attack anyone personally. It was mostly a statement of support for Obama.

[Runcible Spoon]

22. nope, but your responses below tell us what "we" should/shouldn't do

Doesn't sit well with me. Pointing this out is not attacking you, sorry. However, it IS amusing that you are so thin-skinned; probably directed correlated with your paranoia that people are being too harsh on Obama!

[mitchtv]

32. Thanks fo your post Spoonie

He's done plenty to warrant suspicion

[Runcible Spoon]

47. Well it's good to know not everyone wants to relinquish their rights and responsibilities

I guess it's easier to just fawn and relax rather than push for progress.

[mitchtv]

51. I was in BsAs when Peron came back

people were expecting more freedom, boy were they disappointed

[BlooInBloo]

23. Nothing would make you happier than to be proved right in your suspcion...

Just so you could shove it all in our face.

What a novel reason to hope for Obama to fail.

[Runcible Spoon]

26. What a load of horseshit; not surprising coming from you.

Show me one place where I EVER said I want him to fail. I didn't even want BUSH to fail. Petty personal feelings and political emotions mean absolutely NOTHING when people's lives and livelihoods are on the line. I don't care who the fuck is in office; I ALWAYS want politicians to do what is in the best interest of ALL Americans. Recognizing that this is RARELY what happens and nudging people to wake the fuck up and not assume ANY politician is going to sit there and be a perfect leader on his/her own is QUITE DIFFERENT from wanting them to fail.

However, given your propensity for shallow, inflammatory, disingenuous, and stale rhetoric I wouldn't expect you to comprehend that. Nor do I much care. Toodles Bloo.

[pnwmom]

30. You want the impossible, because "all Americans" don't have the same interests.

[Runcible Spoon]

33. Yeah you're prolly right, it's only about 99,9% of Americans who want:

A job that pays (at least) a living wage, decent healthcare, quality education, a fair justice system, a stable economy, prevent catastrophic global warming, etc.

How silly of me to generalize; I didn't realize these were controversial interests. :crazy:

[pnwmom]

45. It's how to achieve those goals that causes Americans to disagree. n/t

[Runcible Spoon]

46. Yet strangely enough, the majority of Dems and Repubs seem to be in perpetual agreement:

Whoring out to corporate interests.

[pnwmom]

31. Now I get it. You go around kicking people, while telling yourself

that you're "nudging" people, and accusing them of being "thin-skinned."

[katandmoon]

8. No can do. I will give him credit where deserved. But no pass in advance. He must earn it.

[pnwmom]

10. I didn't say he should have a pass in advance. I'm saying that when we know

that we lack full information, we should reserve judgment. Unlike with Bush, I don't assume in advance that Obama has nefarious motives. Until he proves otherwise, I'm giving him the benefit of the doubt.

[Runcible Spoon]

14. Full information? Snarf.

You're NEVER going to know everything about anything. Educated people are trained to make the best judgments about situations with what information is available. There is PLENTY of information out there to question some of Obama's choices. Not everything he does is negative, certainly not, but it would be disingenuous for us to assume that a few flowery stump speeches means that he is willing or even ABLE to shake corporate influence unless it is specifically demanded of his administration by the people.

I have had the benefit of living in Buenos Aires for almost two years, where it was a sight to behold people dropping their everyday lives to STOP the functioning of the city and protest. And guess what? Things got changed. People might have a romantic infatuation with Cristina, but trust me the moment she tries to levy a new tax it doesn't matter one iota...they are THERE in front of the Casa Rosada demanding their government respond.

It would be sad if the US had to undergo another meltdown to get that kind of accountability from their government.

[Runcible Spoon]

20. I see "I" in the OP has changed to "we".

So you ARE telling us what we should or shouldn't think. Thanks for clarifying.

[demokatgurrl]

11. Yeah, let's give him a month or two

before we get the knives out.

[Runcible Spoon]

15. It doesn't work that way.

We can't simultaneously praise him for accomplishing so much in such a short time, INCLUDING the biggest stimulus bill in our nation's HISTORY, and then say that it's too soon to examine what's going on. It's always better to ask questions BEFORE something big goes down, not after.

[wroberts189]

18. How about 6 months? No ? ok how about 3-4 months ..a compromise.

And I will join those with pitchforks at the castle walls.

[BlooInBloo]

24. You're clearly new to the ihateobama forum.

[wroberts189]

16. I'm with you .... nt

[azmouse]

25. Me too.

The man's barely had time to warm the chair in the Oval Office. I can't believe how many are willing to give up on him already. I just have to assume they never believed in him to begin with.

[EraOfResponsibility]

28. Hear Hear

I don't begrudge those who are always on edge with every piece of news from him however, but as for me, I just don't have the energy for that, I can't handle that level of anxiety. You can tell which people expect too much from him, because they're usually the first ones saying "he betrayed us" etc. That's going from high to low, and I can't take that.

[firedupdem]

29. I agree with you. He's walked into a steaming pile of shit

and I know he cares about regular people like me. He didn't run for office to fuck it all up.

Also, after looking at the other thread that made me think I was in freeperville, I know he needs good vibes from people like me!

[mmonk]

34. My policy for always is never give elected politicians the benefit of the doubt.

[EraOfResponsibility]

35. To each his own. You do what works best for you n/m

[mmonk]

37. I got that idea from those that wrote the Constitution.

They expressed that the people must always question. It worked for awhile.

[EraOfResponsibility]

39. What-the-fuck-ever. There's questioning and then there's

looking for a reason to be mad about anything. :eyes:

[mmonk]

40. Sorry you look at it that way. It's nothing personal against Obama

or you.

[EraOfResponsibility]

42. yes it is n/m

[mmonk]

43. So if I take that approach to all elected officials in the course of being vigilant,

its personal?

[EraOfResponsibility]

48. You can personally stomach being cynical and angry all the time

good for you. But some people can't handle that. Others don't have the temperament (sp?) for that. And that's okay. We're all different. It doesn't make me or the OP bad people just because we choose to give Obama the benefit of the doubt about his decisions. (even though that's what you're trying to make us out to be). But it doesn't necessarily make you a bad person that you DON'T want to give Obama the benefit of the doubt. People like you serve a purpose, just like people like the OP and I serve a purpose. That's all I'm saying.

[mmonk]

49. Good enough.

[mmonk]

44. Here's a quote put less delicately by a founding father

All men having power ought to be distrusted to a certain degree.

James Madison, speech at the Constitutional Convention, July 11, 1787


I didn't go that far. I merely said I don't give the benefit of the doubt to elected officials in response to the OP.

[grytpype]

36. I say he definitely deserves trust right now.

He "gets it" as much as any of us do, but in addition he's super smart, he's surrounded by super smart people, and he has way more information AND responsibility than any of us.

He is not in office to give liberals everything they want, he HAS to succeed for the good of the nation and he has to consider many, many factors.

Obama thinks going after the Bush administration might threaten the ABSOLUTELY CRITICAL missions of saving the world economy and restoring world peace.

If you disagree with that, fine, but look around and see if you're in the Oval Office or your rec room.

[Runcible Spoon]

38. I looked around, and I didn't see any corporatist neolib shills so I guess I'm still at home.

:shrug:

[kwenu]

41. Given the fact that it's been barely a month I think that's good advice.

[eridani]

50. As for myself, I want to be one of many helping to SHAPE Obama's agenda--

--not just uncritically support it.

[laylah]

52. I am with you...

OUR PRESIDENT inherited a travesty. He has my full support for the time being.....