Could you do better?

[Splinter Cell]

Could any of you that spend everyday pissing on Obama do the job better? Could you snap your fingers and make everything the way you want it? Could you win over the right and go through your term without assholes standing in the way of progress?

Could you abolish all war and make the whole world live in peace and harmony? Could you make America safe (one of the chief responsibilities of the President) without standing up for it?

Could you get the entire country to accept the idea of gay marriage? Even though it's not up to the President anyway, it's up to the various local governments and the voters in general?

Could ya? Huh?

I didn't think so. Some of the people here have no clue about reality. They think that Obama makes every decision himself, about everything, everywhere. He is President, not God. It's really not that hard to understand, but instead of understanding, some folks just stamp their feet and cry like a spoiled child.

Obama is a good leader. He can't give you everything you want, not in a year, a term or even two terms. He will however, work to make as much of it happen as possible. He will be far, far better then any dick-headed rethuglican would be, and he has not given up on the left or the promises and goals he has made.

You have got to have a little patience, and YES, faith in the man. I'm not talking about blind allegiance. I'm talking about giving him the benefit of the doubt as he wades into the sea of IMPOSSIBLE bullshit that Dumbya left him to fix. He can't do everything at once. He can't do it alone. He is trying. He does care. Sometimes that has to be enough to tide you over.

He promised change, and he's bringing it, but change is a delicate plant. You have to plant the seeds, water and nurture it, and let it grow.

[Clio the Leo]

1. Watching the jobs forum today reinforced this in my mind....

...... there were so many people with so many ideas and so many pet projects (which is not to diminish their importance) wanting the President to go in so many different directions .... it did my head in.

I dont know how he does it.

[Rosa Luxemburg]

45. I think he is marvellous I don't think I could do it!

He looks so fresh! Can you imagine getting up in the morning and thinking hmmm jobs, economy, helath care, Afghanistan.......all those speeches and have a family life too. I can hardly get myself out of the driveway!

[Sebastian Doyle]

2. Yes, I could.

Because I never would have kept Chimpy's "defense" secretary. Or assembled an economic team made up of Wall $treet/DLC/"Federal" reserve tools. Or hired anyone from MonSatan, even to be official White House dog shit shoveler.

And whatever I did to end the clusterfuck in Afghanistan would NOT be framed in the Chimp/PNAC mythology of "9/11".

[Splinter Cell]

3. Then tell us...what would you do instead?

Don't just bitch about what's been done. Actually tell us what you would do.

[Sebastian Doyle]

8. End all the occupations, bring all the troops home.

There are no valid reasons to remain in either Iraq OR Afghanistan.

[Hutzpa]

4. Then YOU should be the President

President Sebastian Doyle

:hi:



:sarcasm:

[Sebastian Doyle]

10. Yes, I should be.

:hippie:

[treestar]

11. Now if he could just get elected

But that would take a lot of compromise.

[Rosa Luxemburg]

46. Alll that stuff will be over soon look on the bright side

look forward to a single payer health care system. No wars. Loads of jobs!

[PVnRT]

5. Wow, you've convinced me!

I have no need for any personal beliefs or ideology. Simple acceptance of whatever we're given is far more preferable than activism or criticism! Thanks!

[Xenotime]

6. Simple...

He should do what he promised. He is getting RW advice from somewhere and I don't know where it is. He should just do what he said he was going to do.

[HughMoran]

17. Ummm, he has

doh!

[WonderGrunion]

21. He promised to commit more troops to Afghanistan

He did it many times before the election or the primaries. I'm glad to see you approve of his AfPac policy.

[Better Believe It]

31. I don't recall Obama promising to escalate the war and triple the U.S. troops in Afghanistan.

Can you provide a link for that?

[WonderGrunion]

35. How's this from August 1st, 2007

www.barackobama.com/2007/08/01/the_war_we_need_to_win.php

Specifically this:

According to the National Intelligence Estimate, the threat to our homeland from al Qaeda is "persistent and evolving." Iraq is a training ground for terror, torn apart by civil war. Afghanistan is more violent than it has been since 2001. Al Qaeda has a sanctuary in Pakistan. Israel is besieged by emboldened enemies, talking openly of its destruction. Iran is now presenting the broadest strategic challenge to the United States in the Middle East in a generation. Groups affiliated with or inspired by al Qaeda operate worldwide. Six years after 9/11, we are again in the midst of a "summer of threat," with bin Ladin and many more terrorists determined to strike in the United States

As President, I would deploy at least two additional brigades to Afghanistan to re-enforce our counter-terrorism operations and support NATO's efforts against the Taliban. As we step up our commitment, our European friends must do the same, and without the burdensome restrictions that have hampered NATO's efforts. We must also put more of an Afghan face on security by improving the training and equipping of the Afghan Army and Police, and including Afghan soldiers in U.S. and NATO operations.

Sounds like he's implementing the plan he advocated over two years ago.

[Better Believe It]

36. And from that you assumed he would more than triple U.S. troops in Afghanistan?

Well, if his campaign slogan had been "Escalate The War, Change We Can Believe In" do you think he would have gotten more votes?

[WonderGrunion]

44. At least two brigades means at least 10,000 more troops.

Nothing he has done is out of line with the words "at least".

No, but he also used the slogan "You are the change you've been waiting for".

[spoony]

7. I can't fly a plane

but if I'm on one headed for a mountain I don't have to be a pilot to be critical of the job being done.

[QC]

9. So nyahhhhh!

[demmiblue]

Very à propos.

[timeforpeace]

39. You can say that again.

[demmiblue]

12. Very à propos.

[demmiblue]

13. I guess the DU goddess felt the need to duplicate my message!

[asdjrocky]

14. From now on we'll judge world leaders by this standard?

Could I do it? If that is the case than we are indeed in some deep shit.

Grow up.

[HughMoran]

15. You're right

...the unrecs prove it.

[NYC_SKP]

24. +1 It's fascinating...

Lately the unrecced threads are the ones that aren't batshit crazy.

And many of the ones with a high count are, well, ya know.

:P

[Forkboy]

26. Which is like saying that if someone posts something totally racist...

...and it gets a lot of unrecs, that proves the racist screed is correct.

The simplicity is mind boggling. :crazy:

[BeFree]

16. I think so, but

After 10 months they'd have killed me.

The president has a target on him from day one. Everybody wants a piece of the prez.

Obama's doing ok, as well as can be expected. Folks need to chill a bit and work locally to bring up thru the ranks folks who are like them. Like us. Liberal Progs. With a real base like that Obama would be freer to do what needs to be done. Like crush the MIC, which I would do and die trying.

[Starry Messenger]

18. *yawn*

[damntexdem]

19. We didn't elect him to do as poorly as we would.

But on Afghanistan, we should give him grudging and limited support.

[Tejas]

20. I sure wouldn't have made some of the

appointments he's made, and I would've hit the ground running a little bit faster.

[Umbral]

22. Sorry, Sam. This ain't an argument, it's a deflection. nt

[frylock]

23. it's hard work

[Lyric]

25. If I had all of his information, all of his resources, and the office he holds?

Probably. I'm every bit as smart as he is, although I'm not done with college yet, so I'm not quite as educated as he is. However, that's the kind of job where your judgement, intelligence and rationality are of primary importance, so I think I could probably do a little better than he's doing. But not because I'm smarter/more capable--only because *I* don't consider holding an elected office a "career", so I wouldn't be constrained by the desire to maintain my "image" or build a "legacy." I'd be free to just do the right thing, pollsters be damned, and take my case straight to the people, media be damned.

However, America will never vote for a liberal lesbian Atheist, so I'll never get the chance to find out. Ah well.

[arcadian]

27. This

+1

[mr_show_time]

28. How convenient

Replace "Obama" with "Bush" in the OP and you'd get your typical Republican apologist.

[Lindsey]

30. Great Post! What he was left with is unbelievable beyond

words and we all know who we have to thank for that. People need to chill out and give this man a chance. Jesus f'in Christ. He's been in office less than one year!

[mr_show_time]

32. It's not so much about what he didn't do

It's about what he has already done. He is responsible for shielding government policies (including torture) from judicial review, denying all rights to Bagram detainees, retaining some of Bush's extreme detention powers. His bank rescue plan is a sleazy give-away to Wall Street. His Afghan policy is a disaster in search of a strategy.

But, Jesus Christ, he's only been president for a year! Give him a chance to make even more horrible decisions!

[shadesofgray]

42. +1

[AllentownJake]

29. STFU thread #3025

You left out the Pony.

[HipChick]

33. I applaud you..well said..

Civil rights wasn't won overnight...change takes time, look at our history

[dflprincess]

38. The time has never been right for progressive change

and the public has generally been ahead of the politicians when it comes to progress. However, meaningful change has never happened unless there were leaders in Congress and/or the White House with enough courage to force it along even at the risk of their own careers.

That is what we're lacking today as so many of "our" leaders fall all over themselves to protect the status quo while telling us to "be patient".

[JVS]

34. I could pick a much better cabinet than him, and have them do all the work. Net result: I'd win

[Cha]

37. Hell no they couldn't but you won't see them

admitting that.

[TheKentuckian]

40. I'd make a much better benevolent dictator but a much less effective President

My weekly tirades to Congress, demanding more out of the people, locking out of moneychangers, leashing of the military industrial complex, and scoffing at and ignoring Confederates would likely utterly lock up the legislative process and have the media crying bloody murder.

I also suspect I'd have to really bone up on my bullet dodging, bogus scandal evasion, and flying without an aircraft to get through the average day.

[Kurt_and_Hunter]

41. Yes, I could. And on inauguration day I would have thought that impossible.

[Hippo_Tron]

43. Frankly I don't think I could do it at all

If somebody came to my office and said "Mr. President you can either send troops to Afghanistan or you can get your ass kicked in 2012 and President Palin will send them to Iran" I don't think I could give them an answer.

Being President requires you to make decisions between doing things that are unethical or losing the next election and letting people come to power who will do things that are even more unethical. I really don't know how these people manage to sleep at night.

Don't get me wrong, I think I could offer the president some good advice and I think I could possibly offer him some good insights that maybe his current advisors haven't offered him. But as far as making the difficult decisions, there's not a chance in hell that I could do that let alone do it better.