My thoughts on the Obama era

[Thundercrack85]

Okay, but most historians would disagree with you.

 

[Matt]

JFK, Johnson, Lincoln, FDR

All enacted huge changes to America. I'm not saying their changes were good or bad, just that it's possible.

JFK? No. JFK didn't get much done during his time in office due to his inability to work with Congress. His only real accomplishment was the Cuban Missile Crisis.

 

[Kelly]

Well that certainly changed our "let's not piss them off" policy...

 

[Thundercrack85]

JFK? No. JFK didn't get much done during his time in office due to his inability to work with Congress. His only real accomplishment was the Cuban Missile Crisis.

Being killed didn't help. But JFK did have several legacies. He helped usher in the space age, and did a lot for the civil rights movement (especially compared to his predecessors).

 

[Kelly]

Peace Corp...

And Obama puts us right back where we started as far as space...way to go bro.

 

[Paradoxium]

Okay, but most historians would disagree with you.

Well it's their fault if they think Smallville is awesome

 

[Matt]

Being killed didn't help. But JFK did have several legacies. He helped usher in the space age, and did a lot for the civil rights movement (especially compared to his predecessors).

But the legacies are the result of LBJ, being the masterful politician that he was, using Kennedy's death to rally the nation behind the agenda. Kennedy did far more in death (through Lyndon Johnson turning him into a figurehead) than he did in life.

 

[Paradoxium]

Universities come up with ideas, media facilitates it to the public, public forms that opinion. That opinion being mainstream (depending how successful the media is) gets sniffed up by the candidates, and thus run on it. It is no shock the government tends to lag behind usually.

 

[chaseter]

....that black people still have the voting patterns theyve had for years?

Democrats usually get most of the black vote anyway, black candidate or not

You don't think that's racist? It's not racist for 95% of a minority population to vote for the same skin colored candidate? Why would 95%, a number which has never been seen from any group, vote for a politician with the same skin color?

What if 95% of caucasians had voted for McCain? What would that implicate?

 

[Thundercrack85]

But the legacies are the result of LBJ, being the masterful politician that he was, using Kennedy's death to rally the nation behind the agenda. Kennedy did far more in death (through Lyndon Johnson turning him into a figurehead) than he did in life.

True, but I wouldn't say they were entirely LBJ's doing / accomplishments. They worked together quite well, if posthumously. They share credit.

 

[Paradoxium]

For example, I am pretty sure Obama is NOT responsible for repealing DADT on his own. That was the gay rights advocate, academia and the media. It's their effort that resulted in the politico to act on it.

Obama did not say, "yoooo gay rights advocates, lets repeal DADT!". And the gay rights advocates went, "**** why didn't I think of that".

 

[Paradoxium]

you think in symbolic anchors and figures, I am just going one step more meta on it

 

[DACrowe]

I proudly voted for Obama, went to see Joe Biden speak in my area, and bought (and wore) ObamaBiden and LGBT for Obama campaign pins. When he won, I blogged about how it was a new day for America and basically rambled excitedly about it all over the internet.

In retrospect, I feel a little silly.

I do not by any means hold Obama anything close to singlehandedly responsible for the state of the economy. But I am disappointed in his presidency. I have seen someone who promoted himself as a uniter spend an inordinate amount of time making snide remarks about Fox News, Rush Limbaugh, and Sarah Palin when they should be beneath his attention, and be wishy-washy on the deplorable policy of DADT when he swore up and down his whole campaign to repeal as one of his first official acts of business. I don't agree with his government bailouts, or "spreading the wealth", or raising the debt ceiling. How are we going to learn fiscal discipline and responsibility if we can just raise the debt ceiling every time we hit it?

I'm also really sick of him bragging about how we have avoided a depression and came out of a recession when I see no evidence of it.

And what the hell are we doing in Libya??

He came into a terrible state of affairs, but I don't think he knows how to fix it.

Just a few things: While I was vocally critical of how he handled DADT's repeal as a slow walk with the ridiculous coverage he gave the Pentagon to allow him to do it....his strategy worked. He gave moderates enough coverage and made it seem so redundant an issue in Congress that it passed with a clear majority. So, I don't hold much fault on that, in the end.

Also, most of the "bailouts" (if you're referring to the near-$800 billion TARP package) happened under George W. Bush's presidency. However, Obama did vote for it as a senator (as nearly everyone did). Raising the debt ceiling is not about raising it for future ventures....the money is spent and if we don't raise it, we default. It's not about cutting spending, it's about fulfilling our obligations for money spent.

Otherwise interesting post.

P.S. When has he said anything about Palin? He has certainly taken shots at the GOP and for about two days he aimed at Fox News in 2009, but I don't recall him ever saying anything about Palin by name or otherwise, even back during the campaign when she was splashing onto the national scene.

 

[Kelly]

What has he said about Sarah Palin...

In two different interviews I believe...

1. "Sarah Palin is no expert on nuclear weapons"
2. "I don't think about Sarah Palin"

Neither really all that exciting, but he has a spoken about Sarah Palin.
Both of these were after he became President.

 

[The Batman]

You don't think that's racist? It's not racist for 95% of a minority population to vote for the same skin colored candidate? Why would 95%, a number which has never been seen from any group, vote for a politician with the same skin color?

What if 95% of caucasians had voted for McCain? What would that implicate?

Once again....Black people tend to vote for democrats. Nothing has changed on that front. Whether more black people voted in this election, im not sure, because more young people apparently voted in this election than before.

Do I think its racist? Not necessarily, I believe a lot of black people just wanted to see a black guy finally elected in the white house, rather than "trying to stick it to the man". Is it silly? Somewhat, but again, most black people wouldve voted against mccain anyway, so the whole thing isnt that big of a deal to me, really.

 

[chaseter]

Once again....Black people tend to vote for democrats. Nothing has changed on that front. Whether more black people voted in this election, im not sure, because more young people apparently voted in this election than before.

Do I think its racist? Not necessarily, I believe a lot of black people just wanted to see a black guy finally elected in the white house, rather than "trying to stick it to the man". Is it silly? Somewhat, but again, most black people wouldve voted against mccain anyway, so the whole thing isnt that big of a deal to me, really.

Why do they tend to vote Democrat? The vast majority of African Americans live in the South. Is it because the face of the GOP is shown to be a white, old, rich man? Is it because the DNC promises the most to them? Fact of the matter is, both GOP and DNC politicians haven't really done anything substantial for the black population in this country.

That is racist. They wanted to see a black man get elected so they voted based on the color of his skin. That is the definition of racism! Giving preferential treatment or denying something to someone based on their skin color is by definition racism. Nobody in the media wants to call that racist because they then will themselves be labeled racist. Now, anybody that opposes Obama, like the Tea Party, are all deemed white racists and bigots. Pictures are shown of a large white crowd at a Tea Party rally and the left claim that is evidence that racism fuels their agenda. Oh but nobody wants to mention that not only are African Americans only 10% of the population, but they also vote with the DNC 80-something percent of the time. So in a crowd of 1000, statistics would say that only about 20 African Americans should be in the crowd. If you go by the 2008 election statistics, only 5 African Americans should mathematically be in a crowd of 1000 Tea Partiers. It's ridiculous. It's ridiculous that since a black man is President, it's now the race card that is being used prevalently in today's politics.

People always mention about wanting to move on in this country and get past racism yet the popular leaders of the black community like Sharpton and Jackson throw out the race card at every moment they can. The DNC use the race card at any moment that they can to try and fend off attackers of Obama. You can't get past racism in this country as long as people like that are using it to their advantage. I would even go as far as to say that some of the popular black leaders fear a day when racism is gone. Remember Henry Louis Gates Jr from a few years back?

 

[Kelly]

I have always found it strange that blacks vote for Dems as opposed to Reps.....polls show that they are usually conservative thinking, religious, etc....same with Hispanics, this has always been a question for me, but that is how it is.

 

[Bat-Mite]

You don't think that's racist? It's not racist for 95% of a minority population to vote for the same skin colored candidate? Why would 95%, a number which has never been seen from any group, vote for a politician with the same skin color?

What if 95% of caucasians had voted for McCain? What would that implicate?

I'll tell you what's racist: implying that 95% of an ethnic group voted for a candidate solely based on skin color. Are you next going to tell us that you believe that only 5% of black people are capable of voting based on the issues?

 

[MessiahDecoy123]

Clinton in 1996 recieved 84 percent of the black vote so an 11 percent bump for Obama isn't that big of a deal when you consider the prospect of having the first black president.

 

[chaseter]

I'll tell you what's racist: implying that 95% of an ethnic group voted for a candidate solely based on skin color. Are you next going to tell us that you believe that only 5% of black people are capable of voting based on the issues?

There we go. Of course it's racist of me to mention that. How dare me imply that 95% didn't vote for Obama because of his policies.

Funny thing about the last election is that less caucasians voted in 2008 than in 2004. You would think that if racism was still huge in this country that the whites would have ran out in full force to vote for McCain.

It's interesting to see how racism in this country has sharply decreased over the years but it's still big business to point out white racism.

 

[chaseter]

Clinton in 1996 recieved 84 percent of the black vote so an 11 percent bump for Obama isn't that big of a deal when you consider the prospect of having the first black president.

But that is racist.

This is the reason why racism will never die in this country. People crying racism are the ones that are using racism to their advantage. When his election became about electing the first black president and not about electing the right man for the job showed that racism is still alive and profiting in this country. I guess this means that Michelle Bachman could be the first woman President ever. Women, you are the majority in this country. If women voters showed an 11% increase in a Bachman/Obama 2012 election then that would imply sexism would it not?

 

[MessiahDecoy123]

But that is racist.

This is the reason why racism will never die in this country. People crying racism are the ones that are using racism to their advantage. When his election became about electing the first black president and not about electing the right man for the job showed that racism is still alive and profiting in this country. I guess this means that Michelle Bachman could be the first woman President ever. Women, you are the majority in this country. If women voters showed an 11% increase in a Bachman/Obama 2012 election then that would imply sexism would it not?

I wouldn't call a black person who wanted to see the first black president racist and I wouldn't call a female who wanted to see the first female president sexist.

But Obama wasn't a terrible candidate who happened to be black. Black people voted for him not only because of his race but because at the time he had a very energized campaign full of promise and he had great speeches. If it was Alan Keyes running I am certain he would never recieve 95% of the black vote.

 

[Bat-Mite]

There we go. Of course it's racist of me to mention that. How dare me imply that 95% didn't vote for Obama because of his policies.

Funny thing about the last election is that less caucasians voted in 2008 than in 2004. You would think that if racism was still huge in this country that the whites would have ran out in full force to vote for McCain.

It's interesting to see how racism in this country has sharply decreased over the years but it's still big business to point out white racism.

It has already been pointed out to you that black people do historically tend to vote for democrats. You have this knee jerk reaction to call it racism because you don't like how things turned out, but if you're going to accuse almost an entire ethnic group of being racist, it would be nice if there was something of substance to back it up. Otherwise, that's a very inflammatory and offensive accusation to make against 95% of black voters.

Do you recommend that we resort to using literacy tests on black skinned people to weed out that pesky 95% (who voted only on skin color, it seems) and allow only the 5% that vote republican to do so?

Yes, a big deal was made out of Obama being the first black president. A big deal would have been made of Hillary being the first female president if she had won (people were likewise talking about how it would be a big deal if she DID win). A big deal was made of Kennedy being the first Catholic president. ANY time there's a presidential candidate that's going to be the "first _____", it's always going to be a big deal. If we had a first gay president, it would be a big deal, if we had a first atheist president, it would be a big deal.

Also, do you have any proof that racism is decreasing in this country? I would like to think that's true, but I have my doubts, especially after a man was brutally murdered just a couple of weeks ago solely based on the color of his skin.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/07/06/ap/national/main20077408.shtml

 

[DACrowe]

Why do they tend to vote Democrat? The vast majority of African Americans live in the South. Is it because the face of the GOP is shown to be a white, old, rich man? Is it because the DNC promises the most to them? Fact of the matter is, both GOP and DNC politicians haven't really done anything substantial for the black population in this country.

If you mean recently, I'd agree....if you're referring to ever....huh? The first Republican President emancipated slavery (which was unofficial) and got the 13th Amendment passed (which officially ended slavery) and his party would protect their rights with future 14th and 15th Amendments.

More recently, Democrats became the party of civil rights as opposed to the party of segregation. While Northern Republicans fought for civil rights, it was the Administration of two Democratic presidents (JFK and LBJ) that passed the Civil Rights Act and Voting Rights Act which brought real, substantial change to the South. African-American voters then saw the "Dixiecrats" for the most part either become marginalized or switch parties and the South overnight turn from solid blue to solid red (well the Deep South anyway, it was a few more elections before Republicans like Atwater, Nixon, Ailes and Reagan would perfect white resentment for the whole region). It is no coincidence that the whites of the South became staunch Republicans after Civil Rights and the Democrats, whose leadership pushed through these laws, became the new party of African-Americans. By the same token the Republican Party wins the white vote in national elections by large margins as well.

So, to generalize and say that the Democrats have done nothing to obtain that vote is dishonest. As for now, I agree that the party takes the black voting bloc for granted. But then again, when you have someone like Donald Trump rise to the top of the GOP polls in a matter of weeks by running on heated, race baiting rhetoric, that sends a signal to more than just Tea Partiers. Black voters see that and it doesn't do the GOP any favors of changing their image. Same with how latinos are becoming a huge voting bloc and they still run on anti-immigrant rhetoric every election cycle every few years.

 

[SuperFerret]

I wouldn't call a black person who wanted to see the first black president racist and I wouldn't call a female who wanted to see the first female president sexist.

He's got a point. If these were their only reasons to vote, then it is racist and sexist, but not the obvious, malicious type of racism.